When a subscription charge fails, the subscription moves to past due. Stripe retries the charge automatically on its own schedule, and you can retry it manually as well.
You don't get a notification for a failed payment, so past-due subscriptions are something you find rather than something that finds you. Check Payments → Subscriptions, or a package's Subscribers list filtered to Past due.
Find past-due subscriptions
- Go to Payments → Subscriptions for every subscription across your packages, or open a package and use the Past due filter tab on its Subscribers list.
- Open the subscriber to see their status, card on file, and payment history.
- Look at the failed invoice in the payment history — it shows Stripe's next automatic retry date.
Retry a failed payment
- Open the subscriber drawer, or go to the client's profile and open the Payments tab.
- Choose Retry payment on the past-due subscription. Each failed invoice in the payment history also has its own Retry button and a Retry payment row-menu item.
- Confirm.
Retrying charges the client's default card on file for the open invoice. On success the subscription returns to active and the client's plan clears its past-due state. Stripe keeps retrying on its own schedule regardless of whether you retry manually.
What the client sees
In the client app, the plan shows a past-due or payment-failed state with an Update card shortcut. The retry date isn't shown to them.
If the card keeps failing, the fix is on their side: they add a new card, or switch their primary card, under Payment methods in the client app. Subscriptions always charge the primary card.
Failed payments and your notifications
| Event | Notification you get |
|---|---|
| Payment succeeds (one-time, first charge, or renewal) | "Payment received" push, plus email if payment emails are on |
| Payment fails | None — the subscription shows past due in your lists |
| Automatic or manual retry succeeds | The normal "Payment received" notification |
Things to watch out for
- A past-due subscription still holds its place in your lists, but it isn't counted toward a package's client-slots cap — slots are held by active, trialing, and paused subscribers and one-time buyers.
- Retrying isn't a fix for a dead card. If the card is expired or cancelled, the client needs to add a new one in the client app before a retry can succeed.
- Refunding doesn't help a past-due client. A refund returns money for a payment that already succeeded; it doesn't clear an unpaid invoice or cancel the subscription.