On-Demand Subscriptions

Integrate on-demand subscriptions by authorizing mandates, creating variable charges, handling webhooks, and implementing safe retry policies.

Overview

On-demand subscriptions let you authorize a customer’s payment method once and then charge variable amounts whenever you need, instead of on a fixed schedule.

This feature may need to be enabled on your account. Contact support if you don’t see it in your dashboard.

Use this guide to:

• Create an on-demand subscription (authorize a mandate with optional initial price)
• Trigger subsequent charges with custom amounts
• Track outcomes using webhooks

For a general subscription setup, see the Subscription Integration Guide.

Prerequisites

• Dodo Payments merchant account and API key
• Webhook secret configured and an endpoint to receive events
• A subscription product in your catalog

If you want the customer to approve the mandate via hosted checkout, set payment_link: true and provide a return_url.

How on-demand works

1. You create a subscription with the on_demand object to authorize a payment method and optionally collect an initial charge.
2. Later, you create charges against that subscription with custom amounts using the dedicated charge endpoint.
3. You listen to webhooks (e.g., payment.succeeded, payment.failed) to update your system.

Create an on-demand subscription

Endpoint: POST /subscriptions

Key request fields (body):

Request Body Parameters

product_id · string · required

Product ID for the subscription.

quantity · integer · required

Number of units. Minimum 1.

billing · object · required

Billing address for the customer.

customer · object · required

Either attach an existing customer or provide customer details.

payment_link · boolean · default: "false"

If true, creates a hosted checkout link for mandate authorization and optional initial payment.

return_url · string

Where to redirect the customer after completing hosted checkout.

on_demand.mandate_only · boolean · required

If true, authorizes the payment method without charging the customer during creation.

on_demand.product_price · integer

Initial charge amount (in the smallest currency unit). If specified, this value overrides the product’s original price set during product creation. If omitted, the product’s stored price is used. Example: to charge $1.00, pass 100.

on_demand.product_currency · string

Optional currency override for the initial charge. Defaults to the product currency.

on_demand.product_description · string

Optional description override for billing and line items.

on_demand.adaptive_currency_fees_inclusive · boolean

If true, includes adaptive currency fees within product_price. If false, fees are added on top. Ignored when adaptive pricing is disabled.

Create an on-demand subscription

Node.js SDK

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
});

async function main() {
  const subscription = await client.subscriptions.create({
    billing: { city: 'SF', country: 'US', state: 'CA', street: '1 Market St', zipcode: '94105' },
    customer: { customer_id: 'customer_123' },
    product_id: 'prod_sub_123',
    quantity: 1,
    payment_link: true,
    return_url: 'https://example.com/billing/success',
    on_demand: {
      mandate_only: true, // set false to collect an initial charge
      // product_price: 1000, // optional: charge $10.00 now if mandate_only is false
      // product_currency: 'USD',
      // product_description: 'Custom initial charge',
      // adaptive_currency_fees_inclusive: false,
    },
  });

  // If payment_link was true, redirect the customer to authorize the mandate
  console.log(subscription.payment_link);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Python SDK

import os
from dodopayments import DodoPayments

client = DodoPayments(bearer_token=os.environ.get('DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY'))

subscription = client.subscriptions.create(
    billing={
        "city": "SF",
        "country": "US",
        "state": "CA",
        "street": "1 Market St",
        "zipcode": "94105",
    },
    customer={"customer_id": "customer_123"},
    product_id="prod_sub_123",
    quantity=1,
    payment_link=True,
    return_url="https://example.com/billing/success",
    on_demand={
        "mandate_only": True,
        # "product_price": 1000,
        # "product_currency": "USD",
        # "product_description": "Custom initial charge",
        # "adaptive_currency_fees_inclusive": False,
    },
)

print(subscription.payment_link)

Go SDK

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"
  "github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go"
  "github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go/option"
)

func main() {
  client := dodopayments.NewClient(
    option.WithBearerToken("YOUR_API_KEY"),
  )
  subscription, err := client.Subscriptions.New(context.TODO(), dodopayments.SubscriptionNewParams{
    Billing: dodopayments.F(dodopayments.BillingAddressParam{
      City:    dodopayments.F("SF"),
      Country: dodopayments.F(dodopayments.CountryCodeUs),
      State:   dodopayments.F("CA"),
      Street:  dodopayments.F("1 Market St"),
      Zipcode: dodopayments.F("94105"),
    }),
    Customer: dodopayments.F[dodopayments.CustomerRequestUnionParam](dodopayments.AttachExistingCustomerParam{
      CustomerID: dodopayments.F("customer_123"),
    }),
    ProductID:  dodopayments.F("prod_sub_123"),
    Quantity:   dodopayments.F(int64(1)),
    PaymentLink: dodopayments.F(true),
    ReturnURL:   dodopayments.F("https://example.com/billing/success"),
    OnDemand: dodopayments.F(dodopayments.OnDemandSubscriptionReqParam{
      MandateOnly: dodopayments.F(true),
      // ProductPrice: dodopayments.F(int64(1000)),
      // ProductCurrency: dodopayments.F(dodopayments.CurrencyUsd),
      // ProductDescription: dodopayments.F("Custom initial charge"),
      // AdaptiveCurrencyFeesInclusive: dodopayments.F(false),
    }),
  })
  if err != nil { panic(err) }
  fmt.Println(subscription.PaymentLink)
}

cURL

curl -X POST "$DODO_API/subscriptions" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "billing": {"city": "SF", "country": "US", "state": "CA", "street": "1 Market St", "zipcode": "94105"},
    "customer": {"customer_id": "customer_123"},
    "product_id": "prod_sub_123",
    "quantity": 1,
    "payment_link": true,
    "return_url": "https://example.com/billing/success",
    "on_demand": {
      "mandate_only": true
    }
  }'

Set payment_link: true, redirect the customer to payment_link to complete mandate authorization.

Success

{
  "subscription_id": "sub_123",
  "payment_link": "https://pay.dodopayments.com/checkout/...",
  "customer": { "customer_id": "customer_123", "email": "[e-mail]", "name": "Alex Doe" },
  "metadata": {},
  "recurring_pre_tax_amount": 0,
  "addons": []
}

Charge an on-demand subscription

After the mandate is authorized, create charges as needed.

Endpoint: POST /subscriptions/{subscription_id}/charge

Key request fields (body):

Charge request body parameters

product_price · integer · required

Amount to charge (in the smallest currency unit). Example: to charge $25.00, pass 2500.

product_currency · string

Optional currency override for the charge.

product_description · string

Optional description override for this charge.

adaptive_currency_fees_inclusive · boolean

If true, includes adaptive currency fees within product_price. If false, fees are added on top.

metadata · object

Additional metadata for the payment. If omitted, the subscription metadata is used.

Node.js SDK

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({ bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY });

async function chargeNow(subscriptionId) {
  const res = await client.subscriptions.charge(subscriptionId, { product_price: 2500 });
  console.log(res.payment_id);
}

chargeNow('sub_123').catch(console.error);

Python SDK

import os
from dodopayments import DodoPayments

client = DodoPayments(bearer_token=os.environ.get('DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY'))

response = client.subscriptions.charge(
    subscription_id="sub_123",
    product_price=2500,
)

print(response.payment_id)

Go SDK

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"
  "github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go"
  "github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go/option"
)

func main() {
  client := dodopayments.NewClient(option.WithBearerToken("YOUR_API_KEY"))
  res, err := client.Subscriptions.Charge(context.TODO(), "sub_123", dodopayments.SubscriptionChargeParams{
    ProductPrice: dodopayments.F(int64(2500)),
  })
  if err != nil { panic(err) }
  fmt.Println(res.PaymentID)
}

cURL

curl -X POST "$DODO_API/subscriptions/sub_123/charge" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "product_price": 2500,
    "product_description": "Extra usage for March"
  }'

Success

{ "payment_id": "pay_abc123" }

Charging a subscription that is not on-demand may fail. Ensure the subscription has on_demand: true in its details before charging.

Payment retries

Our fraud detection system may block aggressive retry patterns (and can flag them as potential card testing). Follow a safe retry policy.

Burst retry patterns can be flagged as fraudulent or suspected card testing by our risk systems and processors. Avoid clustered retries; follow the backoff schedule and time alignment guidance below.

Principles for safe retry policies

• Backoff mechanism: Use exponential backoff between retries.
• Retry limits: Cap total retries (3–4 attempts max).
• Intelligent filtering: Retry only on retryable failures (e.g., network/issuer errors, insufficient funds); never retry hard declines.
• Card testing prevention: Do not retry failures like DO_NOT_HONOR, STOLEN_CARD, LOST_CARD, PICKUP_CARD, FRAUDULENT, AUTHENTICATION_FAILURE.
• Vary metadata (optional): If you maintain your own retry system, differentiate retries via metadata (e.g., retry_attempt).

Suggested retry schedule (subscriptions)

• 1st attempt: Immediate when you create the charge
• 2nd attempt: After 3 days
• 3rd attempt: After 7 more days (10 days total)
• 4th attempt (final): After another 7 days (17 days total)

Final step: if still unpaid, mark the subscription as unpaid or cancel it, based on your policy. Notify the customer during the window to update their payment method.

Avoid burst retries; align to authorization time

• Anchor retries to the original authorization timestamp to avoid “burst” behavior across your portfolio.
• Example: If the customer starts a trial or mandate at 1:10 pm today, schedule follow-up retries at 1:10 pm on subsequent days per your backoff (e.g., +3 days → 1:10 pm, +7 days → 1:10 pm).
• Alternatively, if you store the last successful payment time T, schedule the next attempt at T + X days to preserve time-of-day alignment.

Time-zone and DST: use a consistent time standard for scheduling and convert for display only to maintain intervals.

Decline codes you should not retry

• STOLEN_CARD
• DO_NOT_HONOR
• FRAUDULENT
• PICKUP_CARD
• AUTHENTICATION_FAILURE
• LOST_CARD

For a comprehensive list of decline reasons and whether they are user-correctable, see the Transaction Failures documentation.

Only retry on soft/temporary issues (e.g., insufficient_funds, issuer_unavailable, processing_error, network timeouts). If the same decline repeats, pause further retries.

Implementation guidelines (no code)

• Use a scheduler/queue that persists precise timestamps; compute next attempt at the exact time-of-day offset (e.g., T + 3 days at the same HH:MM).
• Maintain and reference the last successful payment timestamp T to compute the next attempt; do not bunch multiple subscriptions at the same instant.
• Always evaluate the last decline reason; stop retries for hard declines in the skip list above.
• Cap concurrent retries per customer and per account to prevent accidental surges.
• Communicate proactively: email/SMS the customer to update their payment method before the next scheduled attempt.
• Use metadata only for observability (e.g., retry_attempt); never try to “evade” fraud/risk systems by rotating inconsequential fields.

Track outcomes with webhooks

Implement webhook handling to track the customer journey. See Implementing Webhooks.

• subscription.active: Mandate authorized and subscription activated
• subscription.failed: Creation failed (e.g., mandate failure)
• subscription.on_hold: Subscription placed on hold (e.g., unpaid state)
• payment.succeeded: Charge succeeded
• payment.failed: Charge failed

For on-demand flows, focus on payment.succeeded and payment.failed to reconcile usage-based charges.

Testing and next steps

1. Create in test mode

   Use your test API key to create the subscription with payment_link: true, then open the link and complete the mandate.

2. Trigger a charge

   Call the charge endpoint with a small product_price (e.g., 100) and verify you receive payment.succeeded.

3. Go live

   Switch to your live API key once you have validated events and internal state updates.

Troubleshooting

• 422 Invalid Request: Ensure on_demand.mandate_only is provided on creation and product_price is provided for charges.
• Currency errors: If you override product_currency, confirm it’s supported for your account and customer.
• No webhooks received: Verify your webhook URL and signature secret configuration.