How to add Payment plans to Flodesk Checkout

Payment plans let you split the cost of a product into multiple installments. This makes it easier for customers to purchase higher-cost items, flexibility that aims to increase your sales.

With Flodesk Checkout, you can now offer weekly or monthly payment plans alongside a one-time payment.

Important prerequisites:

• You must have a connected Stripe Standard account (Stripe Express is not eligible)

• Not available to members on Email-only / Pro plans

• Free trial members can create, publish, and process payment plans. When the trial ends, existing payment plans continue to process but no new payment plans can be purchased.

Step 1. Open your Checkout
Go to your Checkout builder and select the product you want to sell.

Step 2. Enable the payment plan toggle

In the One-time product tab, turn ON Allow payment plan.

• If you later turn it off, all inputs will be cleared from view.

• If the toggle is turned back on, the previous Total Price and Frequency are restored but you have to re-validate the installment field.
  
  

Step 3. Under “Allow payment plan”, set the total price

• Auto-fills from your product price, but can be increased or decreased as preferred.

• Must be greater than $0 and no more than $99,999.

Step 4. Choose the installment count

• This field is required. Without completing this field, the payment plan option won’t be displayed to the buyer.

• Enter the number of installments (minimum of 2).

• If the field is empty or set to 1, you’ll see an error.

Step 5. Select payment frequency

Choose between weekly or monthly. Default is weekly.

Step 6. Review the payment plan description
Once price and installments are entered, you’ll see an auto-generated preview. Example:
“Customer will pay $73.75 per week for 4 weeks - $295 total.”

Step 7. Read the risk warning
Flodesk does not guarantee payments. You assume the risk if a customer misses an installment.

Step 8. Finalize your Sales page
You can connect your Sales page CTA buttons to the relevant payment options you have set up on the Product tab.

Step 9. Publish your Checkout
Once everything looks good, publish your Checkout so your changes become public and start selling with payment plans.

When a discount code is used, it’s applied to the total product price.
If the order is on a payment plan, the discounted total is automatically divided across all installments based on your selected count and frequency.

Example:
If a $1,000 product has a 20% discount and is split into 4 monthly payments, the buyer will pay $200 per month (for a total of $800).

If you delete or change a discount code after a buyer has already purchased, Flodesk will still honor the original discount for that order.
Buyers will continue paying the discounted installment amounts they agreed to at checkout.

If a discount makes the total price $0, the payment plan is automatically treated as a one-time payment to avoid confusion.

• The order will appear as a payment plan with 1 installment.

• Order details will show:

  • 1 of 1 payment

  • $0 received

  • $0 upcoming

Upsells are not included in the installment structure of a payment plan. When a buyer purchases an upsell alongside a payment plan:

• The upsell amount is added only to the first installment

• All subsequent installments include only the payment plan amount

• Upsell items cannot currently be spread across all installments

Example:
A $1,200 coaching package offered as a 3-month payment plan ($400/month) plus a $50 digital download upsell results in:

• First payment: $450

• Second payment: $400

• Third payment: $400

On the Checkout page, customers will see two options:

• One-time payment (default)

• Payment plan (when applicable)

If they choose the payment plan, they’ll see a breakdown like:
“$73.75 due today, followed by 3 weekly payments of $73.75 - $295 total.”

Upon payment, on the order summary, customers will see the following:

• Total order amount

• Total due today

• Next payment due date

Your customers are charged immediately at checkout; there are no delayed start dates. Buyers will receive an email from Stripe for every successful payment.

They cannot cancel their payment plan or access a Stripe customer billing portal. They can only update their payment method.

To cancel or refund a payment plan, you (the merchant) must do so manually in Stripe. This is not yet supported in Flodesk.

Buyers are added to the checkout product segment upon first payment. They remain in the segment for the full duration of their payment plan, regardless of how many installments remain. 

Failed payments, missed installments, or attempted cancellations do not remove the buyer from the segment. If you want to remove a buyer from the segment due to non-payment or cancellation, this must be done manually.

All payment plans appear in Stripe as subscriptions.

Installments are displayed as Stripe phases. If a plan has more than five installments, the middle installment payments collapse into one “phase” line in the dashboard.

The Stripe timeline displays the invoice schedule for upcoming payments.

On your Checkout card quick analytics, you’ll see:

• Visitors: total unique visitors

• Orders: number of orders (Payment plan = 1 order, despite numerous transactions)

• Total sales: includes both one-time and full value of payment plan orders

• Upcoming payments: sum of unpaid installment amounts

Clicking “View orders” allows you to deep-dive into the data. Each payment plan order includes a detailed payment schedule so you can see which installments are completed, upcoming, or past due.

You can search, filter and download a CSV from the order overview page.

Use the Type filter to only show Payment plan orders versus One-time payments.

Clicking a specific order number displays additional information and a “Manage on Stripe” button that takes you to Stripe Standard, where you can manage the order.

Who can use payment plans?
Merchants with a Stripe Standard account. Not available to members on Email-only or Pro plans.

Can I use payment plans with Stripe Express?
No. Only Stripe Standard is supported.

How do I turn on payment plans?
In the Checkout builder, go to the One-time product tab → toggle ON Allow payment plan.

What’s the minimum number of installments?
At least 2 installments.

What payment frequencies are supported?
Weekly or monthly.

What fields are required to set up a payment plan?
Installment price, number of installments, and frequency (weekly or monthly).

What do customers see at checkout?
They’ll see two options: one-time payment (default) or payment plan with a breakdown (e.g. “$300 due today, then 3 monthly payments of $300 — $1,200 total”).

What happens if a customer misses a payment?
You assume the default risk of the customer failing to pay their installments. Flodesk doesn’t have a mechanism to recoup their goods/services that have already been sent. An email will be sent to you directly when a customer payment fails. Failed payments appear as “Past Due” in your dashboard.

Can I edit a payment plan after publishing?
Yes, but you must republish. Existing orders keep their original schedule.

Do customers see the full price upfront?
Yes. The total order amount is always shown, even if they choose a payment plan.

Can the payment plan price differ from the one-time payment price?
Yes. It can be lower, equal, or higher.

Are delayed start dates supported?
No. The first installment is charged at checkout; the schedule begins immediately.

If a customer fails to complete their payment plan, are they removed from the segment?
No, with payment plans, buyers are added to the product segment at the time of purchase and will not be automatically removed based on status.

What happens if I downgrade my Flodesk plan to remove Checkouts?
Payment plans continue processing after you downgrade; however, you cannot publish new checkouts using payment plans after the downgrade.

What does a buyer see in Stripe?
They see a subscription with an invoice schedule representing each installment.

Does the buyer get an email for every payment?
Yes—via Flodesk.

How does Flodesk calculate Total Sales for payment plans?
Total Sales = sum of all installments for all payment plans purchased in a checkout.

What is the difference between Payments Received and Upcoming Payments?
• Payments Received = the amount already collected
• Upcoming Payments = future scheduled installments

Where can I see in Flodesk how many payments are remaining?
On the order detail page. It shows completed installments and outstanding installments.

Why can’t I publish my payment plan checkout?
• You may not be on a Checkout plan
• You may be using Stripe Express
• The product price was set to free
• Your Stripe account is not fully onboarded to Standard

A customer says they can’t cancel their payment plan. What should I tell them?
Cancellations require that you manually cancel the subscription in Stripe.

Why does Stripe show fewer payment lines than I expected?
Stripe groups installment schedules with more than five payments into phases.