Understanding how subscription cancellation works with Stripe

[mattfdigio@gmail.com]

Hi – recently installed and configured the plugin and everything seems to be working as expected, but I can’t figure out if I have configured the cancellation settings correctly and the documentation isn’t providing clarity. Here’s the situation:
– Stripe subscription is a quarterly payment – e.g. sign up and pay for 3 months today
– User signs up, should have 3 months of access (90 days) beginning June 9, 2025
– User cancels on June 9th

Currently, I have the Access Duration set to “No Expiry” – but after cancelling, signing out, and signing back in, the user still has access to gated materials.

Will this user:
– Continue to have access until their 3 month term is over (September 7)
– Should their access have terminated immediately?
– Is the only way for this to work to have someone manually cancel this subscription in WordPress at the end of the 90 day period?
– Some other option not listed above

I’m trying to determine what the correct configuration is, but obviously can’t wait 90 days for this test to conclude. Really appreciate any help or guidance here!

[The Assurer]

Please read this first…
https://simple-membership-plugin.com/how-can-i-cancel-a-stripe-subscription-as-a-merchant/

[mattfdigio@gmail.com]

Hey – I did read that, and nothing clearly answers my question from the scenario above, which is why I asked here:
Will this user:
– Continue to have access until their 3 month term is over (September 7)
– Should their access have terminated immediately?
– Is the only way for this to work to have someone manually cancel this subscription in WordPress at the end of the 90 day period?
– Some other option not listed above

I understand referencing the documentation, but I did state I read all the documentation ahead of asking.

Perhaps the piece I’m missing is that the webhook is required to make this work, which is fine; however, it still doesn’t clearly say “this will cancel at the end of their paid 90 days” or “it will be immediate and they will lose the remainder of their 90 day term”

[admin]

What happens when a subscription is canceled depends on how the membership level is configured. If you haven’t seen it already—or if you plan to adjust your setup—this guide is a helpful reference:

https://simple-membership-plugin.com/what-happens-when-paypal-subscription-cancelled/

You’ve mentioned that the membership level is set to “No Expiry”. In this case, when a Stripe subscription is canceled, the member’s account should be set to “inactive” immediately upon receiving the cancellation notification.

If that’s not happening, it likely means the Stripe webhook isn’t configured correctly. Please follow these troubleshooting steps:

#1) Refer to the following webhook configuration section of the Stripe subscription button documentation:
https://simple-membership-plugin.com/sca-compliant-stripe-subscription-button/#create-a-webhook-in-your-stripe-account

Ensure your Stripe account’s webhook is set up exactly as described in this guide.

#2) Next, enable debug logging and perform a test transaction and cancellation. This will help confirm whether the plugin is receiving the cancellation notification from Stripe:

https://simple-membership-plugin.com/enable-debug-logging/

In some cases, overly strict server firewalls or security settings can block Stripe’s webhook events. If this happens, the plugin won’t receive the cancellation notice, resulting in the member still having access.

Let me know if this info in helpful.

[mattfdigio@gmail.com]

Thank you – think I have a couple things to go off of here to get this updated. One other question if you have a chance – if I set an expiry based in days (let’s say I set it to “Expire after 90 days” – would this be expires 90 days after access was granted, or 90 days from when they cancelled?

Thank you again for your help!

[admin]

If you set the membership to “Expire after 90 days,” the member’s account will expire 90 days after access is initially granted.

For recurring subscription payments, each successful payment extends access by another 90 days from the date of that payment—regardless of when the initial access began. This ensures continuous access as long as payments keep arriving within the expiration window.

Because there are multiple ways to configure access (such as one-time payments, recurring subscriptions, etc.), we’ve provided a detailed explanation of the various scenarios in our documentation.
https://simple-membership-plugin.com/adding-membership-access-levels-site/

Since you are using recurring payments, the following documentation will be useful for you:
https://simple-membership-plugin.com/membership-level-configuration-for-subscription-recurring-payments/

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