Zoho billing logo Help Docs
/

Renewal Pricing

Renewal Pricing allows you to control how the price of your subscriptions changes during renewals. Instead of manually updating prices for every subscription, you can set renewal pricing preferences at organization level or subscription level that apply automatically during renewals. This reduces manual effort and streamlines pricing management for your team.

Types of Renewal Pricing

Zoho Billing provides multiple ways to manage renewal pricing, giving you complete flexibility in how you handle the pricing of your subscription renewals. You can choose to:

Note: The Markup and Markdown option is currently in early access and is available only for certain plans of Zoho Billing. Reach out to our support team at support@zohobilling.com to know more.

Retain Existing Prices

You can select Retain Existing Prices to retain the same price that was set when the subscription was created for the upcoming renewals. The prices will remain unchanged even if updates are made to the prices of plans, addons, or price lists.

Let’s understand this with the help of a scenario.

Scenario: John manages subscriptions for an online learning platform. After revising the pricing for his plans and addons, he wants to keep the original pricing for his loyal customers while applying the new rates to new subscribers. By selecting Retain Existing Prices, John ensures his current customers continue at their previous rates.

Here’s how you can apply it to your subscriptions:

  • Go to Subscriptions under the Sales module on the left side bar.
  • Create or edit an existing subscription.
  • Enter all the necessary details.
  • Scroll to Renewal Pricing under Subscription Term, and select Retain Existing Prices as your preferred renewal method.
  • Click Continue and preview your subscription summary.
  • Click Create or Update to save.

Use Latest Prices

You can select Use Latest Prices to apply the most recently updated prices of the plans, addons, or price lists associated with the subscription for the upcoming renewals. This allows you to automatically apply the most recent prices of the associated plans, addons and price lists to renewals.

Scenario: When John’s online learning platform launches new course content, he updates the plan prices. By using Use Latest Prices, the specific subscription will automatically renew at the updated rates, ensuring consistent and up-to-date billing.

Here’s how you can apply it to your subscriptions:

  • Go to Subscriptions under the Sales module on the left side bar.
  • Create or edit an existing subscription.
  • Enter all the necessary details.
  • Scroll to Renewal Pricing under Subscription Term, and select Use Latest Prices as your preferred renewal method.
  • Click Continue and preview your subscription summary.
  • Click Create or Update to save.
Insight:

If you want the trial or future subscription to activate at the prices set at creation instead of the latest prices, you can enable the Use prices set at creation when activating trial and future subscriptions option. Subsequent renewals will continue to use the latest prices as configured.

Use Markup Pricing

Markup Pricing allows you to automatically increase your subscription’s total by a set percentage during renewals. You can either choose to apply this percentage to every renewal or you can set intervals between your renewals to which the markup has to be applied. This helps you save time and reduce manual efforts.

Let’s take the help of a scenario to understand this better.

Scenario:

Zylker, a cloud-based software company, offers a yearly storage subscription for $100. They regularly enhance their service by introducing advanced security features and increased storage capacity. To keep their pricing aligned with these upgrades, Zylker decides to markup prices periodically.

With Zoho Billing, they can configure a renewal preference to automatically increase the subscription amount with every renewal or assign the number of intervals between the renewals when the markup should be applied.

Zylker can apply a 10% markup to every renewal cycle.
Here’s how the prices will renew if Zylker decides to markup every cycle:

  • Jan 1, 2025: Subscription starts at $100.
  • Jan 1, 2026: Renewal amount = $100 + 10% of $100 = $110.
  • Jan 1, 2027: Renewal amount = $110 + 10% of $110 = $121.
  • Jan 1, 2028: Renewal amount = $121 + 10% of $121 = $133.1.

Alternatively, Zylker can apply a 10% markup once every two renewal cycles. This allows the subscription price to stay constant for one cycle before being increased in the next.
Here’s how:

  • Jan 1, 2025: Subscription starts at $100.
  • Jan 1, 2026: Renews at $100 (no markup applied).
  • Jan 1, 2027: Renews with a 10% markup → $100 + 10%($100) = $110.
  • Jan 1, 2028: Renews at $110 (no markup applied).
  • Jan 1, 2029: Renews with a 10% markup → $110 + 10%($110) = $121.

This way, Zylker ensures that their subscription price automatically scales with every renewal, reflecting the value of ongoing product improvements.

Here’s how you can apply it to your subscriptions:

  • Go to Subscriptions under the Sales module on the left side bar.
  • Create or edit an existing subscription.
  • Enter all the necessary details.
  • Scroll to Renewal Pricing under Subscription Term, and select Use Markup Prices as your preferred renewal method.
  • Enter the percentage of increase in the Markup Percentage field.
  • Then, assign the number of intervals between renewals for the markup percentage to be applied.
  • Alternatively, you can select Apply markup for every renewal to apply the same percentage increase to every renewal.
  • Click Continue and preview your subscription summary.
  • Click Create or Update to save.

Use Markdown Pricing

Markdown Pricing allows you to automatically reduce your subscription’s total by a specific percentage during renewals. You can either choose to apply this percentage to every renewal or set intervals between renewals for when the markdown should be applied. This helps you easily manage subscriptions prices.

Scenario:Zylker wants to offer customers a special end-of-season sale. During this period, customers who subscribe to Zylker’s yearly storage plan for $100 will receive a percentage-based reduction on their renewal price.

With Zoho Billing, Zylker can configure a renewal preference to automatically apply a markdown. This ensures that the subscription price decreases by a fixed percentage during each renewal — without any manual intervention.

Here’s how the prices will renew when Zylker applies a 2% markdown on every cycle:

  • Dec 1, 2025: Subscription starts at $100.
  • Dec 1, 2026: Renewal amount = $100 - 2% of $100 = $98.
  • Dec 1, 2027: Renewal amount = $98 - 2% of $98 = $96.04.
  • Dec 1, 2028: Renewal amount = $96.04 - 2% of $96.04 = $94.12.

Alternatively, Zylker can choose to apply a 2% markdown once every two renewal cycles. This allows the subscription price to remain the same for one cycle before being reduced in the next.
Here’s how:

  • Dec 1, 2025: Subscription starts at $100.
  • Dec 1, 2026: Renews at $100 (no markdown applied).
  • Dec 1, 2027: Renews with a 2% markdown → $100 - 2%($100) = $98.
  • Dec 1, 2028: Renews at $98 (no markdown applied).
  • Dec 1, 2029: Renews with a 2% markdown → $98 - 2%($98) = $96.04.

This way, Zylker can automatically reduce subscription prices during renewal cycles, allowing customers to benefit from ongoing discounts while saving Zylker time and manual effort in managing pricing.

Here’s how you can apply it to your subscriptions:

  • Go to Subscriptions under the Sales module on the left side bar.
  • Create or edit an existing subscription.
  • Enter all the necessary details.
  • Scroll to Renewal Pricing under Subscription Term, and select Use Markdown Prices as your preferred renewal method.
  • Enter the percentage of decrease in the Markdown Percentage field.
  • Then, assign the number of intervals between renewals for the markdown percentage to be applied.
  • Alternatively, you can select Apply markdown for every renewal to reduce the price at each renewal.
  • Click Continue and preview your subscription summary.
  • Click Create or Update to save.
Insight:

You can view the subscription’s renewal details such as pricing method, markup or markdown intervals, and the next markdown schedule in subscription’s details page under the Other Details section.

Use Prices Set at Creation for Trial and Future Subscriptions

If you’ve configured Use Latest Prices as the subscription’s renewal method, you can enable the Use prices set at creation when activating trial and future subscriptions option to ensure that trial and future subscriptions activate at the prices that were set when the subscription was created.

When the price of the plan or addon changes between the time you create a trial or future subscription and the time it activates, the subscription will activate with the price configured at creation instead of the latest price, and subsequent renewals will continue to use the latest prices as configured.

Scenario:

Zylker offers a 14-day free trial for their Premium plan, currently priced at $50/month. They have configured Use Latest Prices as their renewal pricing method. A customer signs up for the trial on 1 June. On 10 June, Zylker increases the Premium plan price to $60/month. With this option enabled, when the customer’s trial ends on 15 June and the subscription activates, they will be billed at $50/month — the price that was set when the subscription was created. From the next renewal onwards, the subscription will renew at $60/month as per the Use Latest Prices configuration.

Insight:

This also applies to any custom prices you configure on the subscription creation page. If you override the default plan or addon price with a custom amount while creating a trial or future subscription, that custom price will be used when the subscription activates.

Here’s how you can enable it:

  • Go to Settings at the top right corner of the page.
  • Select General under Subscriptions.
  • Scroll to the Renewal Pricing section.
  • Check the Use prices set at creation when activating trial and future subscriptions option.
  • Click Save.

Set Default Renewal Pricing for Your Organization

You can configure a default renewal pricing method for your entire organization. This ensures all newly created subscriptions automatically follow the same renewal preference. Let’s take help of a scenario to understand this.

Scenario: Brandon runs a subscription business with a large customer base and wants to reduce manual effort by setting a renewal pricing method at the organization level, so all subscriptions follow the same rules automatically. Zoho Billing makes this easy by allowing him to configure default renewal pricing for the entire organization.

Here’s how you can set a default renewal pricing preference for your organization:

  • Log in to your Zoho Billing organization.
  • Go to Settings at the top right corner of the page.
  • Select General under Subscriptions.
  • Scroll to Renewal Pricing and choose how you want to handle renewals in your organization; Retain Existing Prices or Use Latest Prices.
  • Optionally, check Use prices set at creation when activating trial and future subscriptions to lock in prices for trial and future subscriptions at their creation-time rates.
  • Click Save.

This default preference will automatically apply to all new subscriptions created in your organization as well as existing subscriptions.

Note:

The Use Markup Prices and Use Markdown Prices options can only be applied at the subscription level.

Was this document helpful?
Yes
No

Thank you for your feedback!

ON THIS PAGE