---
title: "How do subscriptions and recurring billing work?"
description: "Set up a subscription to charge a customer automatically — monthly, or as annual instalments over 12 months. Failed charges are retried, and each charge is recorded against the customer."
url: "/docs/accepting-payments/how-do-subscriptions-and-recurring-billing-work/"
category: "Accepting payments"
---

A subscription [charges a customer **automatically on a schedule**](/blog/retainer-billing-on-autopilot/), using a card they've saved. You can bill **monthly**, or as **annual instalments** — a yearly commitment split into 12 monthly charges. Every charge is recorded against the customer, and a charge that fails is retried automatically.

## Billing options

- **Monthly** — a recurring charge every 30 days.
- **Annual instalments** — a 12-month commitment billed as 12 monthly charges. Because it's a commitment, cancelling partway through can incur an **early-termination fee** for the remaining term.

## When a charge fails

If a scheduled charge is declined, Fynex retries it and the subscription is marked **past due** until a charge succeeds. This automatic retry (dunning) recovers most failed payments without you chasing the customer. If it keeps failing, ask the customer to update their card.

## Free trials

You can start a subscription with a free trial before the first charge — see [How do free trials work?](/docs/accepting-payments/how-do-free-trials-work/)

## Cancelling

You can cancel a subscription at any time. For a monthly plan it stops at the end of the current period. For an annual instalment plan still inside its commitment, the early-termination fee applies.

## Related

- [How do free trials work?](/docs/accepting-payments/how-do-free-trials-work/)
- [How do I charge a returning customer without re-entering card details?](/docs/accepting-payments/how-do-i-charge-a-returning-customer-without-re-entering-card-details/)