Pause immediately

Pausing stops all billing activity. No invoices are generated and no payments are collected while the subscription is paused.

The subscription transitions to Paused state. The lifecycle engine stops scheduling billing cycles.

Pause at period end

Schedule the subscription to pause at the end of the current billing period. The customer continues to be billed through the current period.

$
curl -X POST https://api.paymentkit.com/api/{account_id}/subscriptions/{subscription_id}/pause \
>
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
>
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
-d '{
>
  "pause_behavior": "pause_at_end"
>
}'

The subscription remains Active until the current period ends, then automatically transitions to Paused.

Cancel a scheduled pause

If a subscription has a scheduled pause (pause_at_end), you can cancel it before the pause activates. The subscription continues billing normally.

$
curl -X DELETE https://api.paymentkit.com/api/{account_id}/subscriptions/{subscription_id}/scheduled-pause \
>
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

Auto-resume

Configure the subscription to automatically resume after a set time.

Resume after a number of cycles

Set pause_for_cycles to calculate the resume date based on the subscription’s billing interval:

$
curl -X POST https://api.paymentkit.com/api/{account_id}/subscriptions/{subscription_id}/pause \
>
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
>
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
-d '{
>
  "pause_behavior": "pause_immediately",
>
  "pause_for_cycles": 2
>
}'

A monthly subscription paused for 2 cycles resumes 2 months after the current period end.

Resume on a specific date

Set resumption_date to specify exactly when the subscription should resume:

$
curl -X POST https://api.paymentkit.com/api/{account_id}/subscriptions/{subscription_id}/pause \
>
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
>
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
-d '{
>
  "pause_behavior": "pause_at_end",
>
  "resumption_date": "2026-05-01T00:00:00Z"
>
}'

The lifecycle engine schedules the resume automatically. No manual action is needed.

Resume a paused subscription

Manually resume a paused subscription at any time. Resuming reactivates billing, creates a prorated invoice for the remaining time in the current period, and advances to the next billing cycle.

When a subscription resumes:

1. A prorated invoice is created covering the period from now until the original period end
2. Payment is attempted on the prorated invoice
3. The billing period advances to the next cycle
4. The lifecycle engine schedules the next renewal

Pause options reference

When to pause vs. cancel

Webhook events