> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payreque.st/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Subscription Lifecycle

> Understand subscription statuses and how they transition

# Subscription Lifecycle

Every PayRequest subscription moves through a series of statuses during its lifetime. Understanding these statuses helps you manage billing, handle edge cases, and communicate clearly with your customers.

## Subscription Statuses

| Status              | Color   | Description                                      |
| ------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Pending Mandate** | Amber   | Waiting for customer to set up a payment method  |
| **Trial**           | Purple  | Free trial period active, no billing yet         |
| **Active**          | Green   | Subscription is live and billing normally        |
| **Paused**          | Blue    | Temporarily on hold (voluntary), billing stopped |
| **Suspended**       | Orange  | Service halted by admin due to non-payment       |
| **Failed**          | Red     | Payment failed, may be retrying automatically    |
| **Completed**       | Emerald | Fixed-term subscription finished all payments    |
| **Canceled**        | Red     | Permanently ended, no further billing            |
| **Archived**        | Zinc    | Removed from view, hidden from customer portal   |

## Status Flow

```
┌──────────────────┐
│ Pending Mandate  │──→ Active ──→ Paused ──→ Active
└──────────────────┘      │                      ▲
         │                │                      │
         ▼                ├──→ Suspended ─────────┤
       Trial ──→ Active   │    (auto on payment)  │
                          │                        │
                          ├──→ Failed ─────────────┘
                          │    (auto retry / manual)
                          │
                          ├──→ Completed
                          │
                          └──→ Canceled
```

## Status Details

### Pending Mandate

The subscription has been created but the customer hasn't set up their payment method yet. You can send a mandate activation email from the subscription detail page.

**Transitions to:** Active, Trial, Canceled, Failed

### Trial

The customer is in a free trial period. No payments are collected during the trial. When the trial ends, the subscription automatically transitions to Active and billing begins.

**Transitions to:** Active, Canceled, Expired

### Active

The subscription is live. Payments are collected automatically on the billing schedule using the customer's payment mandate.

**Transitions to:** Paused, Suspended, Failed, Completed, Canceled, Archived

### Paused

A voluntary hold — either requested by the customer or set by the admin. Billing stops while paused. You can optionally set a resume date for automatic reactivation.

**Transitions to:** Active, Canceled

Learn more: [Pausing & Resuming](/subscriptions/pausing-and-resuming)

### Suspended

An admin-initiated hold for customers who aren't paying. Unlike pausing, suspension:

* Sends the customer an email notification
* Shows an orange badge (distinct from blue "paused")
* Auto-reactivates when the overdue invoice is paid via Mollie
* Appears in the Insights dashboard Action Required section

**Transitions to:** Active (manual or auto on payment), Canceled

Learn more: [Suspending Subscriptions](/subscriptions/suspending-subscriptions)

### Failed

A payment attempt failed (insufficient funds, expired card, chargeback). PayRequest can automatically retry payments based on your retry settings.

**Transitions to:** Active (after successful retry), Suspended, Canceled

Learn more: [Failed Payment Handling](/subscriptions/failed-payment-handling)

### Completed

For fixed-term subscriptions (payment plans) that have reached their total number of payments. This is a terminal state.

### Canceled

The subscription has been permanently ended. No further billing occurs. Canceled subscriptions can be reactivated by an admin if needed.

**Transitions to:** Archived

### Archived

The subscription has been shelved and is hidden from the customer portal. Used for cleaning up ghost or duplicate subscriptions without deleting data. All linked invoices and transactions are preserved.

**Transitions to:** Active (reactivation only)

Learn more: [Archiving Subscriptions](/subscriptions/archiving-subscriptions)

## Automatic Transitions

Several status changes happen automatically:

| Trigger                | From      | To        |
| ---------------------- | --------- | --------- |
| Trial period ends      | Trial     | Active    |
| Payment fails          | Active    | Failed    |
| Retry payment succeeds | Failed    | Active    |
| Overdue invoice paid   | Suspended | Active    |
| Resume date reached    | Paused    | Active    |
| All payments completed | Active    | Completed |

## Billing Behavior by Status

| Status        | Bills automatically?  | Included in MRR?     |
| ------------- | --------------------- | -------------------- |
| **Active**    | Yes                   | Yes                  |
| **Trial**     | No (until trial ends) | No                   |
| **Paused**    | No                    | No                   |
| **Suspended** | No                    | No                   |
| **Failed**    | Retry attempts only   | Yes (until canceled) |
| **Completed** | No                    | No                   |
| **Canceled**  | No                    | No                   |
| **Archived**  | No                    | No                   |

## Related Articles

* [Creating Subscriptions](/subscriptions/creating-subscriptions)
* [Suspending Subscriptions](/subscriptions/suspending-subscriptions)
* [Pausing & Resuming](/subscriptions/pausing-and-resuming)
* [Failed Payment Handling](/subscriptions/failed-payment-handling)
* [Archiving Subscriptions](/subscriptions/archiving-subscriptions)
* [Billing Cycles](/subscriptions/billing-cycles)