Improving Coupons & Free/Paid Plan Transitions

Hi Climbers,

We’ve received several comments and tickets about the new coupon feature and how you currently work with both free plans and Stripe plans.

Here’s the current situation that can feel limiting:

Right now, coupons created via the platform apply to all plans. So if a client uses a coupon on a Bronze plan and later upgrades to Silver, the discount automatically transitions to the new plan as well.

Customers can apply a coupon when signing up through a payment link. However, for existing customers, you cannot directly apply a coupon from the client’s billing portal unless you trigger a subscription update (like upgrading/downgrading the plan or changing quantity). Only in that case does the “apply coupon” field appear.

Also, you cannot directly move a paid (Stripe) client to one of your free plans. To do this, you currently need to delete the subscription, recreate the client manually under a free plan, redo onboarding, reconnect integrations, and regenerate links. Essentially, the client starts from zero.

Here’s how we want to improve this:

First, when creating a coupon, you will be able to select exactly which plans it applies to (for example, only Bronze). If a client on Bronze with an active coupon upgrades to Silver, the discount will not automatically transition unless that plan is explicitly included in the coupon configuration.

Second, via the Stripe API, it is possible to apply a coupon directly to an existing subscription without modifying the plan. We will add an “Apply Coupon” button inside the Clients area. This will allow you to manually apply a coupon to an active subscription without forcing an upgrade, downgrade, or quantity change. Coupons will support one-time discounts or forever discounts — and with the new logic, they can remain tied only to the client's plan.

Third, we want to introduce a simple “Move to Free Plan” button in the Clients area. This will allow you to move a paid client (in trial or active subscription) to a free plan without rebuilding the account. Integrations, links, and settings will remain intact. This opens up cleaner flows for trial expirations and freemium strategies.

Finally, we also want to support the opposite transition: moving a client from a free plan to a paid plan without creating a new account. If a free client subscribes through your payment link, instead of generating a new client record, the system will upgrade the existing account and preserve all integrations and links.

With this setup, the Billing section in your clients’ settings will display both your free and paid plans, allowing clients to switch between them on their own—free to paid or paid to free—without affecting their existing account settings.

Why this matters:

This setup will give you much more flexibility in pricing, promotions, and long-term strategy. You’ll be able to run true freemium models, apply strategic discounts to specific plans, and manage upgrades/downgrades without friction or account resets.

Let us know your thoughts. We’re planning to implement these improvements in the coming weeks once we gather final feedback from you.

As always, we build this together.

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