Chaining plans lets you link two (or more) PayWhirl plans so that a customer automatically rolls from Plan A to Plan B when the final payment on Plan A succeeds. It’s perfect for loyalty discounts, limited-time trials, prepaid bundles, and other custom billing scenarios.
Typical Reasons to Chain Plans
Loyalty or interval pricing – lower the price after a set number of payments.
Custom trials – start with a reduced trial plan, then move to the full-price plan.
Pre-paid or mixed schedules – bill up front but ship or fulfil more frequently.
Sequential digital content – switch plans each period to deliver different files or access levels.
Setup in a Nutshell
Create Plan A – Set your regular price, choose the billing frequency, and limit the number of installments (e.g., three).
Create Plan B – add a trial period to create a gap between charges.
Link the plans – Go back to Plan A, open After the last installment, select Plan B, and save.
Publish – Place only Plan A in your storefront widget; PayWhirl will handle the automatic transition once the final payment on Plan A processes.
Heads-up: The first installment of any chained plan charges immediately. Use a trial period on the next plan to keep the billing cycles properly spaced out.
Loyalty-Discount Example (3 payments → $2 off forever)
In this example, we’ll copy exactly what you saw in the video: a customer pays $19.99 every two weeks for three payments, then is switched to a permanent $17.99 every two weeks loyalty price with a built-in 14-day delay so billing stays on the same cadence.
Step-by-Step Setup
Create the Introductory Plan
Name: PayWhirl’s Best Coffee Roast
Price & frequency: $19.99 every 14 days
Installments: 3
After last installment: leave as Unsubscribe for now, then Save.
Create the Loyalty Plan
Name: Discount After Three Payments
Price & frequency: $17.99 every 14 days
Match the SKU to the original plan
Installments: leave blank (unlimited)
Trial period: 14 days to match the two-week cycle
Save the plan.
Link the Two Plans
Re-open the first plan (PayWhirl’s Best Coffee Roast).
Change After the last installment to Discount After Three Payments.
Save again.
Publish
Add only the first plan to your storefront widget.
Optional: turn off the “New subscription” email in Plan 2 so customers don’t receive a second welcome message.
Why add a 14-day “trial” delay?
The first charge on any chained plan happens instantly. Without a delay, your customer would be billed for the discounted plan on the same day their third $19.99 payment posts. A 14-day free-trial period on the second plan spaces the next invoice two weeks later, keeping the frequency intact and preventing double billing.
What the Customer Experiences
Checkout: one $19.99 charge posts immediately.
Weeks 2 & 4: the next two $19.99 payments process as scheduled.
Week 6: the subscription shifts to the loyalty plan; no charge is taken because of the 14-day trial.
Week 8 and onward: the customer is billed $17.99 every two weeks until they cancel.
Other Ways to Use “After the Last Installment”
Change the billing cadence after a milestone
Example: charge weekly for the first 8 payments to help new customers budget, then switch them to a monthly plan so invoices line up with their paycheck cycle.Swap the product (SKU) once the intro pack is finished
Send a three-month “starter kit” of assorted coffees, then move the subscriber to a single-origin roast delivered every month.Auto-renew a prepaid bundle
Bill $299 upfront for a six-month prepaid subscription. When the sixth installment posts, roll the customer onto another six-month prepaid plan so they never experience a service gap.Graduate customers to a premium tier
Offer basic access at $9.99 for the first three months; after that, transition them to a $14.99 “Pro” plan that unlocks extra features.Seasonal frequency shifts
Garden club charges monthly November–February, then moves members to a bi-weekly plan March–October when shipments are more frequent.Intro-price then price increase
Run an “early-bird” plan at $5 per month for six payments and automatically bump to the regular $8 plan afterward—no manual updates needed.Installment-then-fulfill models
Collect four equal layaway payments, then switch the customer to a $0 fulfillment-only plan that triggers a shipment without charging again.
Tips & Caveats
Plans with a single installment can't be secondary in the chain - unless they have a billing start day or a trial period.
Always test in a sandbox to confirm dates, emails, and amounts.
Promo codes apply only to the first plan in a chain; discounts don’t carry forward automatically.
If a customer cancels and re-subscribes, they’ll start over on the original full-price plan.
Need a different gap? Adjust the trial period on Plan 2 to match your preferred spacing.
That’s all there is to it—a few quick configurations and your loyalty discount runs itself. If anything feels off while you’re testing, reach out to our support team and we’ll help fine-tune the setup.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
The PayWhirl Team