A payment link is a shareable URL backed by a product, price, or package. When a customer opens it, PaymentKit creates a fresh checkout session and sends them to the hosted checkout page. The same link can be reused by any number of customers.

Use payment links for one-off charges, subscription sign-ups, or saving a payment method — without writing any checkout integration.

Create a payment link

Dashboard

API

Go to Payment Links in the sidebar
Click Create Payment Link
Choose the mode (one-time payment, subscription, or setup)
Add the prices or a package to charge for
Optionally set a coupon, success URL, and expiry
Click Create, then copy the shareable URL

The response includes a url you can share directly and a secure_token used by the public endpoint below.

Modes

Mode	Use for	Notes
`payment`	A one-time charge	Prices must be one-time. Default mode.
`subscription`	Recurring billing	Requires at least one recurring price. Supports `free_trial_days`.
`setup`	Collecting a payment method with no charge	No line items, coupon, or trial.

Request fields

Field	Type	Description
`name`	`string`	Internal label for the link (max 255 chars).
`mode`	`string`	`payment`, `subscription`, or `setup`. Defaults to `payment`.
`line_items`	`array`	List of `{ price_id, quantity, description }`. Mutually exclusive with `package_ids`. Required for `payment`/`subscription` unless a package is used.
`package_ids`	`array`	Package IDs to sell instead of individual prices. Mutually exclusive with `line_items`.
`customer_id`	`string`	Pre-assign the link to an existing customer.
`coupon_id`	`string`	Apply a coupon at checkout.
`free_trial_days`	`integer`	Free trial length, 1–730 days. `subscription` mode only.
`success_url`	`string`	Where to send the customer after a successful payment.
`return_url`	`string`	Where to send the customer if they cancel.
`expires_in_hours`	`integer`	How long the checkout session created from the link stays valid, 1–720 (max 30 days). Defaults to `24`.
`allow_cart_edit`	`boolean`	Let customers change quantities at checkout. Defaults to `false`.
`accepted_payment_methods`	`array`	Restrict to specific methods, e.g. `["credit_card", "apple_pay"]`. Omit for all enabled methods.
`metadata`	`object`	Free-form JSON.

All line items (or the chosen package) must share a single currency — mixed-currency links are rejected. Prices and packages must be active.

The payment link object

1 {
2   "id": "pl_live_x7k9m2n4p8q1",
3   "secure_token": "dGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3QgdG9rZW4",
4   "url": "https://api.paymentkit.com/api/pay/share/dGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3QgdG9rZW4",
5   "name": "Pro plan signup",
6   "mode": "subscription",
7   "is_active": true,
8   "line_items": [ /* ... */ ],
9   "total_amount_atom": 4900,
10   "currency": "USD",
11   "expires_in_hours": 72,
12   "success_url": "https://example.com/welcome",
13   "created_at": "2026-06-17T14:00:00Z",
14   "updated_at": "2026-06-17T14:00:00Z"
15 }

Field	Description
`id`	Payment link identifier, prefixed `pl_`.
`secure_token`	Opaque token used by the public share endpoint.
`url`	The full shareable URL. This is what you give customers.
`is_active`	`false` once the link is deactivated. Inactive links can’t be opened.
`total_amount_atom` / `currency`	Computed cart total in the smallest currency unit, and its currency.

How customers pay

When a customer opens the link, the public share endpoint creates a checkout session and routes them to the hosted checkout:

GET /api/pay/share/{secure_token}

This endpoint is public — no API key required — and is rate-limited to 10 requests per minute per IP.

Browsers (HTML requests) are redirected straight to the hosted checkout page.
API clients (JSON requests) receive the session details to redirect themselves:

1 {
2   "checkout_session_id": "cs_live_x7k9m2n4p8q1",
3   "checkout_url": "https://checkout.paymentkit.com/checkout/tok_abc123"
4 }

Each open creates a new checkout session, so a single link serves many customers. After payment the customer is sent to success_url; if they cancel, to return_url.

Manage payment links

Method	Path	Purpose
`GET`	`/api/{account_id}/payment-links`	List payment links (paginated, filterable).
`GET`	`/api/{account_id}/payment-links/{id}`	Retrieve a single link.
`PATCH`	`/api/{account_id}/payment-links/{id}`	Update name, coupon, URLs, accepted methods, or set `is_active`.
`DELETE`	`/api/{account_id}/payment-links/{id}`	Deactivate the link (soft delete; `is_active` becomes `false`).

Deactivating a link is permanent in effect for shared URLs — once is_active is false, opening the link returns a generic error and no checkout session is created. Existing checkout sessions already created from the link are unaffected.