Product & plan types

Every subscription model, one native engine.

From subscribe-and-save to gift, prepaid, build-a-box, and metered access — the models merchants actually sell, plus the knobs to tune any plan. Each is tagged for how far it’s come: live means a shopper can walk it today; configurable means the engine is built and a merchant sets it up in the BigCommerce admin.

Ways to subscribe

The subscription models, what each is for.

Read each card two ways — what the shopper gets, and what the merchant configures. “Live in the demo” is verified against the running demo store (last checked 2026-06-29), not asserted from a spec.

Live — a shopper can do this today

live storefront ↗
● Live in the demo

Subscribe & save

Shopper
Buy on a recurring schedule and save a set percentage on every order.
Merchant
Choose the discount, the cadence options, and which products qualify.
● Live in the demo

Free trial

Shopper
Start a subscription with a free trial period before the first charge.
Merchant
Set the trial length; the first charge is suppressed until it ends, and a cancel during the trial bills nothing.
● Live in the demo

Intro offer

Shopper
Get a discount on your first order — “X% off your first box, then regular price.”
Merchant
Apply a first-cycle (or first-N-cycle) discount that doesn’t carry into renewals.
● Live in the demo

Annual billing

Shopper
Subscribe on a yearly cadence and hold the rate for the term.
Merchant
Offer yearly billing alongside monthly or weekly, with optional commitment terms.
● Live in the demo

Prepaid

Shopper
Pay up front for several cycles — often at a discount — and get each delivery without re-charging.
Merchant
Sell N cycles in one payment; each cycle still generates its own order with no per-cycle processor call.
● Live in the demo

Gift a subscription

Shopper
Buy a subscription for someone else; they claim it from an email link against their own account.
Merchant
Reach gift-givers — the gifter pays, the recipient receives and manages it.

Gift purchase runs through the subscriber portal today; a storefront “gift this” button is the next step.

● Live in the demo

Build-a-box

Shopper
Pick the items in your box each cycle from the merchant’s curated set.
Merchant
Let subscribers compose a box from an eligible-product list, with a customization window before each shipment.

Box customization happens in the portal after subscribing; building a box on the product page first is next.

Configurable — built in the engine, set up in the admin

advanced-subs preview ↗

These run end-to-end in the engine and a merchant configures them in BigCommerce — the self-serve storefront path for the shopper is on the roadmap.

Configured in the admin

Bundle plans

Shopper
Receive a fixed set of products together on one recurring schedule.
Merchant
Define a multi-SKU bundle that ships as a single recurring order, and align several subscriptions onto one charge date.
Configured in the admin

Membership / access

Shopper
Subscribe for access — a customer group, a discount, or digital content — with nothing to ship.
Merchant
Grant and revoke entitlements on a recurring basis; pure access, no fulfillment.
Configured in the admin

Usage-based / metered

Shopper
Pay for what you use — the charge reflects reported usage each cycle.
Merchant
Bill “base + usage × unit price” from per-cycle usage events.
Configured in the admin

Curation / surprise-me

Shopper
Get a curated pick each cycle — a surprise selection instead of the same item.
Merchant
Rotate the item per cycle by rule or hand-pick it; built for discovery.
Configured in the admin

Allotment / wallet

Shopper
Draw from a recurring quota or wallet that refreshes on a cadence — e.g., four pickups a quarter.
Merchant
Grant a refreshing allowance independent of a paid charge; useful for B2B and loyalty.
Configured in the admin

Multi-actor

Shopper
Let a subscription have different people as owner, payer, and beneficiary.
Merchant
Model gifts, family plans, and B2B-managed subscriptions where the payer isn’t the recipient.
Configured in the admin

Calendar-anchored billing

Shopper
Renew on a shared calendar date — everyone bills on, say, January 1.
Merchant
Anchor all subscribers to a fixed renewal date, with first-cycle proration for mid-period signups.

Set on the admin / API subscription path, not the self-serve storefront.

On top of any plan

Every plan is configurable with…

These aren’t separate models — they’re settings a merchant layers onto any of the above.

Lock price at signup
Snapshot the subscriber’s price so later catalog changes don’t touch them.
Minimum term & early-cancel policy
Commit to N cycles; block, charge a fee, or route to support on early cancel.
Proration
Charge a fair partial amount for a mid-period start, or skip the stub.
Out-of-stock renewal policy
On a stockout at renewal: proceed, pause, skip the cycle, or notify and wait.
Free shipping
Apply free shipping to every renewal on the plan.
BigCommerce price lists
Price renewals from a B2B or customer-group price list.
Sales mode
Offer subscribe-only, subscribe-and-one-time, or one-time-only on the product.
Discount base
Apply the subscribe-and-save discount to the sale price or the list price.

Product types

Physical or digital — the engine adapts.

Physical goods

Shipped each cycle, with shipping recalculated per renewal.

Digital goods

Memberships, access, and downloads — fulfilled instantly, nothing to ship.

See a model in action.

Open the live storefront, or step through a guided journey — one preview password throughout.

Open the demos →