Installments · Pro · Stripe

Pay in installments, and the price stops being the reason not to.

A course, a retreat, a weekend announced eight months out. Let the buyer pay for it monthly: the first payment at checkout, the ticket valid straight away, and the rest charged to the same card on dates they agreed to before they agreed to anything.

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No interest and no fee. The total is the same whichever way they pay.

Payment plan

1,000.00

4 March 333.34 Paid at checkout - ticket issued
4 April 333.33 Charged to the saved card
4 May 333.33 Plan complete, 21 days before the doors

The buyer sees exactly this before they commit, confirms they authorise the later charges, and is charged only the first one.

Three settings

Decided once, on the event.

Turn it on under Tickets, then Payment, and answer three questions. Everything after that follows from the date somebody buys.

How many payments

The order total split into that many monthly charges, the first at checkout. An amount that will not divide evenly puts the odd cent on the first payment, so a thousand over three is 333.34 and then 333.33 twice.

How much runway

How long before the event the last payment has to land, so a failed charge can be chased while it still matters. Fourteen days is a sensible floor, and the editor tells you live whether the number of payments you picked actually finishes in time.

A floor for the option

Offer monthly payments only above an order value you set, so it appears on the full course and not on a single tasting. Leave it blank to offer it on everything.

Where it will not be offered, and why

Each payment has to clear Stripe's own minimum charge, so an order split too many ways simply is not offered the option - and a promo code or a gift card applied at checkout can take an order under that line, or under your own floor, with the same result. It is also not offered on a basket spanning several events, or one containing a pass. The buyer is never shown a plan that cannot be carried out.

At checkout and after

Nothing about it is a surprise.

Paying in full is the default, and choosing monthly is a decision the buyer makes with the whole schedule in front of them.

They see the whole plan first

Every date and every amount, before committing, with an explicit confirmation that they authorise the later charges. There is no interest and no fee, so the total is identical either way.

The ticket works immediately

It is valid from the first payment. Nobody waits until the plan finishes to have something to show at the door.

A reminder before each charge

Two days ahead, naming the card and the amount, so the money leaving is expected rather than noticed afterwards.

Their own plan page

Linked from every one of those emails: pay early, clear the balance in one go, or change the card. It is the only place the saved card is shown.

If a payment fails

A declined card is retried, and a plan that still falls into arrears puts the ticket on hold. At the door the scanner shows the name and the balance still owed rather than a flat refusal, and paying, or giving a new card, lifts the hold. The runway setting exists to leave time for all of that: the editor warns you while you are setting it up if the schedule you picked would not finish in time, and the checkout is the backstop, where an order whose last payment would land too late is simply not offered monthly payments.

What you see

An Installments tab on the Sales page with each plan's progress and balance, plus a forecast of what is due and when. Money you have agreed but not yet collected is worth being able to look at.

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Zero platform fees on ticket sales, on every plan. The only deduction is your payment processor's own.

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$0 forever, no card

Everything you need to publish a schedule, and enough selling to find out whether you need more.

Unlimited events, sub-schedules and recurring dates
Two-way Google, Outlook and CalDAV sync
25 paid tickets a month, each one scanned at the door

No expiry, and no card asked for.

Pro Most picked

$5 per month

The ceilings come off, and the rest of the selling kit arrives with them.

Unlimited ticket sales and the live check-in dashboard
Promo codes, add-ons, passes and gift cards
The REST API, webhooks, and no Event Schedule branding

7-day free trial, cancel any time.

Enterprise

$15 per month

For a room with a seating chart, a team, and a domain of its own.

Reserved seating, drawn once and reused every date
Your own domain, and up to five team members
Internal and unlisted events, and 1,000 newsletter recipients

Included free on every selfhosted install.

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Installment questions

Does the buyer pay more for spreading it out?

No. There is no interest and no fee - the total is exactly the same whether they pay once or monthly. What you are giving up is the cash today, not a margin.

Do they get the ticket straight away?

Yes. The ticket is valid from the first payment, which is taken at checkout. Waiting until the plan finished would make the option useless for anything announced far in advance, which is the only kind of event this is for.

Can I use it with PayPal or another gateway?

No. Installments need a card that can be charged automatically later, and Stripe is the only method here that can do that. The option appears only on events paid through Stripe. PayPal, Payfast and the other methods still sell the same tickets, paid in one go.

What happens if a monthly payment fails?

The card is retried, and if the plan still falls into arrears the ticket goes on hold: at the door the scanner shows the name and the balance still owed rather than a flat refusal, and paying, or giving a new card, lifts the hold. That is what the runway setting is for: it makes you leave enough time before the event to notice and chase it, and the editor warns you if the schedule you picked would not finish in time.

Why is the option missing on some orders?

Because the plan could not actually be carried out. Each individual payment has to clear Stripe's minimum charge, so a small order split several ways is not offered it - and a promo code or a gift card can take an order under that line, or under the minimum you set. It is also not offered on a basket spanning several events or one containing a pass.

Can a buyer clear the balance early?

Yes. Their payment-plan page, linked from every reminder, lets them pay a single installment early, clear the whole balance, or change the card the rest will be charged to.

How does a refund work on a plan?

Leg by leg, and in full only, from the Sales page. Every payment that was actually taken goes back through Stripe, each through the account it was charged to - installment plans are the one case that records which account that was, so a seller who has since reconnected Stripe is not refunding from the wrong place. The payments not yet taken are cancelled rather than refunded, so the card is never charged again, and the seats go back on sale.

Which plan do I need?

Installments are on the Pro plan, and on every selfhosted install at no cost. Selling tickets at all is free, within the free plan's 25 paid tickets a calendar month, and there is no platform fee on any tier.

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Sell the thing worth saving up for.

Three payments, no interest, and a ticket that works from the first one.

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