Short answer
Stripe has no account-wide “switch everyone to this price on June 1” setting. You can build it with a subscription schedule per subscription, with your own cron job that runs the API update on the date, or with a Stripe App that schedules bulk jobs. Whichever you choose, create the new price now, announce the change now, and make sure the switch runs with no prorations.
The simplest option is the Change Subscription Price App: set up the job today, pick the date, and it runs itself. No cron jobs and no per-subscription schedules.
Change Subscription Price App — by FinriteUpdate a price across all your Stripe subscriptions from the dashboard, in bulk. Built by former Stripe Billing product managers and engineers.
View on Stripe MarketplaceStep 1: Work backwards from the notice period
The effective date depends on the notice you owe customers. If your terms promise 30 days' notice, the switch date must be at least 30 days after the announcement. After the switch, every customer's next renewal bills the new price, including someone who renews the next morning.
That makes the rule simple: switch date ≥ announcement date + notice period. Annual subscribers are the exception worth thinking about. After the switch, their next renewal might be eleven months away, so send them a reminder closer to their actual renewal.
Step 2: Pick a scheduling method
A. Subscription schedules (built into Stripe)
A subscription schedule attaches future phases to a subscription, and each phase can specify a different price. You can add a phase that starts at the next renewal with the new price. It's precise, but it's set up per subscription, and it changes how the subscription is managed from then on. Direct edits can be overwritten when phases advance. It fits a few contract customers, not a base of thousands.
B. Your own scheduled job
Write the migration script (example here) and trigger it from a scheduler on the switch date. You have full control, and you also own monitoring, retries and the audit trail on the day.
C. A Stripe App with scheduled jobs
The Change Subscription Price App lets you set up the job today and choose a future date for it to run. On that date it moves the selected subscriptions to the new price with no prorations, then produces a CSV report of the results. Rehearse in “run now” mode on a small batch before scheduling the real one.
Note: scheduling covers subscriptions you created yourself. Subscriptions created by a platform like Substack, beehiiv or Ghost run immediately. Start those jobs on the day the change should take effect.
Why schedule with the Change Subscription Price App
- Set it and forget it. No cron job to write, monitor or remember.
- No prorations. After the switch, each customer pays the new price from their next renewal, with no partial charges.
- No duplicate items or reset quantities. It swaps the price on each existing item and keeps quantities.
- Proof it ran. A CSV report tells you exactly what changed on the day.
Change Subscription Price App — by FinriteUpdate a price across all your Stripe subscriptions from the dashboard, in bulk. Built by former Stripe Billing product managers and engineers.
View on Stripe MarketplaceStep 3: Write the announcement
A good price-change notice answers four questions in the first two sentences:
- What's the new price?
- When does it start applying to me?
- Why is it changing? One honest sentence is enough.
- What can I do? Switch plans, lock in annual, or cancel.
Stripe doesn't send this email for you. Send it from your own email tool or product.
Step 4: Check on the day
Once the switch runs, reconcile the job report and open the upcoming invoice for a few subscriptions: new amount, same renewal date, no proration lines. Look out for subscriptions attached to a subscription schedule, which can revert to the scheduled price when the next phase begins.
Frequently asked questions
Can Stripe change a subscription's price automatically on a future date?
Only through subscription schedules, which you set up per subscription with phases. Otherwise the change has to be triggered on that date, either by your own scheduled job or by a Stripe App that can schedule bulk price changes, such as the Change Subscription Price App.
Should the new price start on a fixed date or at each customer's renewal?
Either works if you update with no prorations. Swapping the price on a fixed date means each customer's next renewal after that date bills the new amount. The customer who renews the day after pays it almost immediately, so set the date far enough out that your notice covers them too.
How much notice should I give before a subscription price increase?
Follow your own terms of service first, then the consumer rules where your customers live, which vary by country and US state. A common practice is at least 30 days before the first renewal at the new price. Stripe doesn't send price-change notices, so you send them.
What if I'm unsubscribed from the scheduling app when the date arrives?
For Finrite's app, you must still be subscribed to the app at the scheduled time for a scheduled job to run. Keep the subscription active until the job has completed and you've checked its report.
Related guides
Set the date once. The price change runs itself.
Schedule a bulk price change for any future date from inside your Stripe Dashboard, or test it with “run now” on a small batch first.
Install from the Stripe App MarketplaceRead the app user guide first · Questions? contact@finrite.co