Billing Plans vs Subscriptions

In Onespot Payments, both Subscriptions and Billing Plans let you charge families automatically over time — but they work a little differently. This guide breaks down how each one works, the key differences, and when to use which.

Billing Plans (recommended)

A Billing Plan takes a one-time item and bills it on a repeating schedule, creating a series of linked invoices from a single setup.

• Repeats at any cadence you choose — every 2 weeks, every 2 months, twice a year, etc.
• Has a clear start and end date (a set number of invoices)
• Carries lower fees than a Subscription
• Amount and items are locked in when you create the plan, so later price changes to a product won't affect a plan already in progress

Subscriptions

A Subscription is a recurring charge on a standard cycle — daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly — that keeps billing automatically until you cancel or change it.

• Bills on a standard interval (daily / weekly / monthly / yearly)
• Can run with a set start and end date, or ongoing until canceled
• Each invoice includes a billing period — the service span the payment covers (e.g., "Jun 24–Jul 24, 2026")

When to use each

Use a Billing Plan when:

• You want a set, predictable schedule of installments (e.g., a 10-month tuition plan, Sept–June)
• You need a custom cadence that doesn't fit a standard subscription interval
• Lower fees matter

Use a Subscription when:

• A family needs a receipt showing the period of care — for example, for a childcare tax credit (like the U.S. Child and Dependent Care Credit) or an employer reimbursement program. Because Billing Plan invoices don't show a billing period, a Subscription is currently the best fit for these cases.