Billing FAQ

Billing FAQ

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Find quick answers to common questions about Kinde billing. Each section covers specific aspects of billing setup, management, and customer support.

About Billing & Core Concepts

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What is Kinde billing and how does it work?

Kinde billing allows you to monetize your product by creating subscription plans, processing payments through Stripe, and managing customer lifecycles. It integrates directly with your authentication system, so when users sign up, they can immediately select plans and start paying for your services.

The system handles plan creation, pricing tables, payment processing, subscription management, and customer self-service portals - all within your existing Kinde infrastructure.

Learn more: About billing

What billing models does Kinde support?

Kinde currently supports monthly subscription billing with plans that can include feature limits, metered usage, and tiered pricing. The system is designed for SaaS and subscription-based business models, allowing you to create multiple plan tiers with different feature sets and pricing.

Learn more: Kinde billing model

How does Kinde handle different currencies and billing cycles?

Kinde billing supports multiple currencies, but you must set your default billing currency before publishing your first plan. Currently, only monthly billing cycles are supported. The currency setting is permanent once you publish plans, so choose carefully during initial setup.

Learn more: Default billing currency

Getting Started & Setup

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What do I need to set up before starting with Kinde billing?

Before setting up Kinde billing, you’ll need a Stripe account, a clear plan structure for your product features and pricing, and billing roles configured if you’re using B2B organizations. It’s also helpful to have your feature list organized in a spreadsheet to streamline the plan creation process.

Learn more: Setup overview

How do I connect my Stripe account to Kinde?

To connect Stripe, go to your Kinde dashboard, navigate to the billing section, and follow the Stripe connection process. Kinde will automatically create a test Stripe environment when using non-production environments, allowing you to test billing features without real charges.

Learn more: Connect to Stripe

What billing roles and permissions do I need to configure?

For B2B applications, you’ll need to set up billing roles that allow users to manage subscriptions and billing for their organizations. This includes creating billing administrators who can handle plan changes, upgrades, and cancellations on behalf of their organization.

Learn more: Add billing role

Plan Management & Creation

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How do I create and structure my subscription plans?

Kinde’s plan builder allows you to create plans with different feature sets, usage limits, and pricing tiers. You can define features, set limits, and configure pricing variations. Plans can be grouped into plan groups for better organization, and you can publish them individually or in batches.

Learn more: Create plans

Can I modify plans after they’re published?

Once plans are published, you can make limited modifications, but major changes may require creating new plan versions. You can manage plan groups, add new plans, and handle plan upgrades/downgrades for existing subscribers. It’s important to plan your structure carefully before publishing.

Learn more: About plans

How do I handle plan upgrades and downgrades?

Kinde provides methods for users to upgrade or downgrade their plans, either through self-service portals or programmatically. You can configure upgrade/downgrade rules, handle prorated billing, and manage the transition between different plan tiers.

Learn more: Upgrade and downgrade plans

Payment Processing & Management

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What payment methods does Kinde support through Stripe?

Kinde billing supports all payment methods that Stripe supports, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and bank transfers. The specific payment methods available depend on your Stripe account configuration and the countries you operate in.

Learn more: Payment processor

How do I manage my Stripe connection and billing policies?

You can manage your Stripe connection through the Kinde dashboard, where you can configure billing policies, set up webhooks for payment events, and monitor your payment processing. This includes handling failed payments, refunds, and subscription lifecycle events.

Learn more: Manage Stripe connection

What happens when payments fail or subscriptions expire?

Kinde integrates with Stripe’s subscription management to handle failed payments, automatic retries, and subscription lifecycle events. You can configure webhooks to receive real-time updates about payment failures, successful payments, and subscription status changes.

Learn more: Manage customer activity webhooks

Subscription Management & Customer Lifecycle

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How do I track and manage customer subscriptions?

Kinde provides tools to view customer subscription status, manage plan changes, and handle customer lifecycle events. You can see which plans customers are on, track usage for metered billing, and manage subscription upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations.

Learn more: Manage subscribers

Can I implement usage-based or metered billing?

Yes, Kinde supports metered billing where customers are charged based on actual usage rather than fixed plans. You can track usage metrics, set up usage-based pricing tiers, and implement pay-as-you-go billing models alongside traditional subscription plans.

Learn more: Add metered usage

How do I handle customer cancellations and refunds?

Kinde provides methods for customers to cancel their subscriptions through self-service portals, and you can handle cancellations programmatically. Refunds are processed through Stripe, and you can configure cancellation policies and grace periods for your plans.

Learn more: Cancel plans

Pricing & User Experience

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How do I create and customize pricing tables?

Kinde allows you to build customizable pricing tables that display your plans and features to customers. You can customize the appearance, layout, and content to match your brand, and integrate these tables into your signup flow or dedicated pricing pages.

Learn more: Add pricing table

Can I customize the billing pages and user experience?

Yes, you can customize billing pages to match your brand and user experience requirements. This includes customizing plan selection flows, pricing table displays, and integrating billing into your existing application URLs and SDK implementations.

Learn more: Customize billing pages

How do I integrate billing into my application’s signup flow?

Kinde provides SDK methods and URL parameters to integrate billing directly into your authentication flow. Users can select plans during signup, and you can redirect them to appropriate billing pages based on their selections and requirements.

Learn more: Add billing to URL SDK

Customer Support & Troubleshooting

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How do I help customers who can’t access their billing information?

Kinde provides self-service portals where customers can view their subscription details, update payment methods, and manage their plans. For B2B customers, you can also access billing information on their behalf through the Kinde dashboard to provide support.

Learn more: Self-serve portal setup

What should I do if a customer reports billing errors?

First, check the customer’s subscription status in your Kinde dashboard and verify their payment method in Stripe. Common issues include expired cards, insufficient funds, or plan configuration problems. You can also check webhook logs for any payment processing errors.

Learn more: Manage customer activity webhooks

How do I handle customer requests for plan changes or refunds?

For plan changes, customers can use self-service portals or you can make changes on their behalf through the Kinde dashboard. Refunds are processed through Stripe, and you can configure your refund policies based on your business requirements and customer service standards.

Learn more: Upgrade and downgrade methods

Best Practices & Advanced Features

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What are the best practices for structuring my billing plans?

Start with a clear understanding of your product’s value proposition and create plans that align with different customer segments. Use feature flags to control access, implement clear usage limits, and design plans that encourage upgrades. Test your billing flow thoroughly in non-production environments before going live.

Learn more: Plan selection

How can I optimize my pricing strategy with Kinde?

Use Kinde’s plan builder to create tiered pricing that captures different customer segments. Consider implementing metered billing for usage-based services, and use plan groups to organize related offerings. Monitor customer behavior and adjust pricing based on conversion rates and customer feedback.

Learn more: Pricing models

What monitoring and analytics should I set up for billing?

Configure webhooks to track payment events, subscription changes, and customer lifecycle events. Monitor failed payments, plan upgrade/downgrade patterns, and customer churn rates. Use Stripe’s dashboard alongside Kinde’s billing insights to get a complete picture of your revenue and customer behavior.

Learn more: Manage customer activity webhooks

Integration & Development

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How do I integrate billing into my existing authentication flow?

Kinde provides SDK methods and URL parameters that allow you to seamlessly integrate billing into your signup and authentication processes. You can redirect users to plan selection pages, handle plan selection in your application, and manage the entire customer journey from signup to subscription.

Learn more: Add billing to URL SDK

Can I use Kinde billing without the full authentication system?

Kinde billing is designed to work with the complete Kinde platform, including authentication, user management, and organization handling. While you can customize many aspects of the billing experience, the system is optimized for use with Kinde’s full feature set.

Learn more: About billing

What webhook events should I listen for in my billing integration?

Key webhook events include subscription creation, payment success/failure, plan changes, and subscription cancellations. These events allow you to sync billing data with your application, trigger feature provisioning, and maintain accurate customer records across your systems.

Learn more: Manage customer activity webhooks