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Your customers can change their subscription plan directly through the Self Service Center, allowing them to upgrade, downgrade, or switch to a different plan within the same plan group. This guide explains how plan switching works from your customer’s perspective and how contract terms are handled during the switch.

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How customers switch plans

When plan switching is enabled for your project, customers can change their subscription plan by following these steps in the Self Service Center:
  1. The customer logs into the Self Service Center using their Shopify account or via a magic link sent to their email address.
  2. From their subscription dashboard, they navigate to their current plan details.
  3. They click on the option to change their plan, which displays all available plans they can switch to.
  4. After selecting a new plan, they confirm the change.
The plan switch takes effect immediately, and the new plan’s pricing will apply from the next billing cycle.

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Plan group requirements

Customers can only switch between plans that belong to the same plan group. Plan groups allow you to organize related plans together, such as different tiers of the same subscription offering (e.g., Basic, Standard, Premium). This ensures customers can only switch to plans that are logically related to their current subscription. If you want to allow customers to switch between specific plans, make sure those plans are assigned to the same plan group in your project configuration.

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How contract terms are handled during plan switches

When a customer switches plans, the handling of minimum contract terms depends on your project’s configuration. There are two possible behaviors controlled by the “Contract terms” setting in your project’s subscription model settings.

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Option 1: Preserve existing contract terms (default)

By default, when a customer switches plans, their existing contract terms are preserved. This means:
  • The customer’s original commitment end date remains unchanged
  • If they had 3 months remaining on their commitment before switching, they still have 3 months remaining after switching
  • Only the plan itself, billing cycle, and delivery cycle are updated
This approach is useful when you want to honor the original commitment the customer made when they first subscribed, regardless of which plan they’re on.

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Option 2: Reset contract terms based on new plan

When the “Apply and start contract terms from the new plan” option is selected, the contract terms are completely recalculated based on the new plan’s settings. This means:
  • The new plan’s minimum commitment period is applied to the subscription
  • The commitment end date is recalculated from the moment of the plan switch
  • A new commitment period effectively starts when the customer switches plans
For example, if a customer switches to a plan with a 12-month minimum commitment, their new commitment period starts from the date of the switch, not from their original subscription date. This approach is useful when you want each plan to enforce its own commitment terms, ensuring customers commit to the new plan’s terms when they switch.

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Configuring contract term behavior

To configure how contract terms are handled during plan switches:
  1. Go to Settings in your project sidebar in the Firmhouse portal.
  2. Click on Subscription model.
  3. Scroll down to the Plan switch behavior section.
  4. Find the Contract terms setting and choose one of the following options:
    • “Keep current contract terms of the customer (if any) unchanged” to preserve existing terms
    • “Apply and start contract terms from the new plan (if any)” to reset terms based on the new plan

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Billing considerations

When a customer switches plans, the new plan’s pricing takes effect from the next scheduled billing date. The switch itself does not trigger an immediate charge or proration. For example, if a customer switches from a €10/month plan to a €20/month plan five days before their next billing date, they will be charged €20 on that billing date.

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Cancellation eligibility

If your project uses minimum commitment terms, customers must still meet the cancellation requirements before they can cancel their subscription, regardless of any plan switches. The Self Service Center automatically displays the customer’s commitment status and informs them when they become eligible for cancellation. You can also configure how cancellations behave for each plan using cancellation strategies. For example, if you have enabled the “Cancel at the end of the billing period” strategy, customers can initiate a cancellation request at any time, and the actual cancellation will be scheduled for when their commitment period ends. Learn more about the available options in the Cancellation Strategy documentation.