Payments & billing · Getting paid
Connect your Stripe account to get paid
Link your own Stripe account so member payments go straight to you. Connection uses secure OAuth — the platform only receives an account ID, never your secret keys — and money-changing actions stay locked until you unlock them.
How the connection works
Your platform never holds your money. You connect your own Stripe account, and every membership payment, bundle sale, and refund happens directly on that account. The connection is made through Stripe's own secure login (OAuth), so the platform only receives an account ID — it never sees your secret keys or passwords.
Once connected, you'll see a Connected badge on the Stripe account card, along with a LIVE or TEST label showing which mode your Stripe account is in. Nothing can be sold until Stripe is connected and at least one plan is live, so this is the first step in the launch checklist.
Read-only by default: the safety lock
After connecting, the platform runs in read-only mode toward Stripe. You can see payments, subscriptions, and revenue — but actions that move money (refunds, cancellations, plan changes) are disabled until you flip the 'writes' switch on the same Stripe account card. You get an extra confirmation when unlocking in live mode, and it's good practice to lock it again when you're done.
You can switch to a different Stripe account or disconnect at any time. Disconnecting doesn't touch your customers or subscriptions in Stripe — it only stops the admin panel from reading that data until you reconnect.
What happens next
With Stripe connected, head to your membership plans to create prices, or click 'Sync from Stripe' to pull in plans you've already built in your Stripe dashboard. Coupons you create in Stripe show up in the platform too — Stripe stays the source of truth for everything billing-related.
Step by step
- Open Settings in your admin and find the Stripe account card.
- Click 'Connect with Stripe' and log in to your own Stripe account.
- Approve the connection — you're sent back to your admin with a Connected badge.
- Check the LIVE/TEST label to confirm you connected the right mode.
- Leave the writes switch locked until you actually need to refund or cancel something.
- Go to Payments → Membership plans to create your first plan or sync existing ones.
Good to know
- One Stripe account per platform — connecting a new account replaces the existing connection.
- If you run test payments first, remember to reconnect in live mode before launch.
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How members buy: pricing page, guest checkout & checkout links
Your pricing page lists your public plans; anyone can buy, even without an account. After payment the buyer is signed in automatically. You can also ask the AI assistant to generate a personal checkout link for a specific member.
Use ThriveCart as your checkout (cards + PayPal)
Route buyers through ThriveCart instead of the built-in Stripe checkout — useful if you already sell there or want PayPal. Purchases, cancellations, and refunds sync back automatically, creating member accounts for you.