checkout and customer portal
checkout starts a plan upgrade and the customer portal lets a paid user manage billing through the payment provider.
quick answer
use checkout to upgrade. use the customer portal to manage an existing paid subscription.
use this for
- billing support
- explaining where invoices or subscription changes happen
- debugging upgrade and portal links
steps
- open billing or pricing.
- choose the plan.
- complete checkout with the payment provider.
- return to the app after payment.
- use the customer portal later for provider-side billing changes.
details to know
- checkout and portal links are generated server-side.
- the app plan updates after payment provider confirmation.
- billing docs should not duplicate provider legal or payment details.
limits and edge cases
- do not hardcode checkout urls in docs.
- do not promise billing-provider features that are not available.
- if a plan does not update instantly, check webhook and plan state before asking the user to pay again.
ready to use the product instead of reading about it?
open app