You know that feeling when your subscription runs out and suddenly you can't access anything? Yeah, we wanted to fix that. Grace Period gives you extra time after your subscription ends to renew before you actually lose access.
Here's the simple version: your subscription expires, but you keep working. You get warning emails reminding you to renew. Then, if you still haven't renewed after X number of days, that's when access stops.
It's fair, it's not sneaky, and it gives you a real chance to catch up on your renewal.
How It Actually Works
What Happens When Your Subscription Expires?
Two things occur:
Your subscription officially ends on the date you paid for
You keep full access to everything while warning emails land in your inbox
That's it. You don't lose anything the moment the clock hits midnight.
When Do You Actually Lose Access?
Only when the grace period runs out AND you haven't renewed. That's when the gates close, and you need to renew to get back in.
Setting This Up (For Store Owners)
Turn Grace Period On
Log into your WordPress dashboard
Head to WPSubscription → Settings
Look for Grace Period
By default, it will be set to 7 days.
Set the days as you want. (max 30 days)
If not necessary, set it to 0 days.
Pick Your Grace Period Length
How many days should customers get after expiration? Choose what feels right:
7 days – Quick and efficient
14 days – Sweet spot for most people
30 days – Generous, catches people who travel or get busy
You can change this anytime if you figure out something else works better for your customers.
A Real Example
Let's walk through what this looks like in practice:
Your subscription ends October 14th. Your store owner set up a 7-day grace period with 3 warning emails.
October 7th – First email hits: "Hey, your subscription ends in a week. Just a heads up."
October 13th – Second email: "A few more days left to renew."
October 14th – Your subscription officially expires (but you still have access)
October 20th – Last warning: "Your grace period is almost up. Renew today."
October 21st – Grace period ends. If you haven't renewed, now you're locked out.
So you've got 14 days total, with multiple reminders along the way. You'd pretty much have to ignore three emails to actually lose access.
Set Up Your Warning Emails
These are the reminders that actually get people to renew. You've got options here.
How many emails?
Send 1, 2, 3, or more. One email is simple but might get missed. Three emails spread out over the grace period? That usually works.
How far apart?
Space them out however you want. With a 14-day grace period and 3 emails, you might do them roughly 7 days apart. With 2 emails, maybe one on day 7 and one on the last day.
When should the first one go out?
Before the subscription expires (like a week before) or during the grace period? We recommended it before, so that people get a heads up before they even lose access.
That's Grace Period. It's simple, it's fair, and it helps everyone. Your customers get a break, you get better renewals. Everyone wins.