Overview

Use Cashfree Subscriptions to automate recurring billing across UPI mandates, eNACH, debit cards, and netbanking with one API for the full lifecycle.

Cashfree Subscriptions enables you to automate recurring payment collection from your customers. It streamlines the payment process while providing flexibility in payment schedules and methods.

Install Cashfree Agent Skills to bring Cashfree product knowledge into your AI coding assistant (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Gemini CLI, and more) to answer integration questions and generate accurate code without leaving your editor.

What’s a mandate

A mandate is a contract between you and your customer that authorises you to debit funds from your customer’s account either at a pre-decided frequency or on-demand, up to a pre-decided maximum amount.

Cashfree supports various payment methods that are compliant with RBI regulations. Your customers can pay using:

• Cards (both Indian and international)
• eNACH
• UPI Autopay
• Physical NACH (paper-based NACH)

Mandates are valid for the maximum amount specified and can be used until the expiry date or the maximum number of debits is reached.

Types of subscriptions

Cashfree supports two types of subscriptions based on how you want to charge your customers:

Periodic subscriptions

Debit a fixed amount from your customers at fixed intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly). Ideal for:

• Monthly or annual membership fees
• Regular service charges
• Recurring product deliveries

On-demand subscriptions

Debit variable amounts at any time. Ideal for:

• Utility bills where the amount changes each cycle
• Usage-based billing
• Variable payment schedules

Charge any amount up to the maximum mandate amount, at any time.

Plans

A plan is a template that defines the terms of a recurring subscription service. Plans include key information that determines the billing structure for a subscription.

Example: Netflix Plans such as Premium, Basic, Standard, and Mobile. Each plan caters to a specific use case with different features and pricing.

Here’s a breakdown of what a plan usually consists of:

Parameter	Description
Plan Name	Name of the plan visible to customers during mandate authorisation.
Plan Type	Periodic for fixed amounts at fixed intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) or On-Demand for variable amounts and timing.
Currency	Currency for maximum and recurring amounts. See supported currencies.
Maximum Amount	Maximum amount you can charge for this subscription. Mandate is created for this amount.
Recurring Amount	Amount debited from customer on a recurring basis.
Charge Customer Once Every	Billing frequency: days, weeks, months, or years.
Max. No. Of Debits	Maximum number of debits allowed. If blank, subscription expiry date applies.
Description	Plan description text.

You can create a new plan either through the dashboard or through the Create Plan API. To provide flexibility for certain use cases, you can also create a subscription without a plan.

Subscriptions

A subscription represents the relationship between a customer and a plan, indicating that the customer is actively using the service and is being billed on a recurring basis.

Parameter	Description
Customer Details	Customer details such as customer name, email, and phone number. Email and phone number are required for triggering communications via email or SMS to your customers.
Subscription ID	The ID through which the subscription is identified.
Select Plan	Select an existing plan or create a subscription without a plan. In case no pre-defined plan is to be used, all necessary details will have to be given for this subscription.
Subscription Type	Select the Subscription Type - Periodic or On-Demand.
Plan Name	Provide the plan name if you aren’t selecting an existing plan. This will be visible to the customer during the mandate authorisation process.
Currency	Currency in which the maximum amount and recurring amount is to be charged. For the list of supported currencies, see the international payments documentation
Maximum Amount	The maximum amount you can charge your customer for this subscription.
Recurring Amount	If the Subscription type is periodic, specify the recurring amount you want to charge your customer as per the agreed payment schedule.
Charge Customer Once Every	The time interval in which you want to charge your customer.
Max. No. of Debits	The maximum number of times you want to charge your customer for this subscription.
First Charge Date	The date on which your customer will be charged for the first time for this subscription. Applicable only for periodic subscriptions.
Subscription Ends	The date on which this subscription ends. It can end on a particular date or will remain active until you or your customer cancels it.
Expiry Date	The last date the customer will be charged for this subscription.
Return Address	The web address to which your customers will be redirected once the subscription is authorised.

Related topics

• Create Plan API
• FAQs