Subscription Confirmation Email: What to Send and How
Learn what a subscription confirmation email should include, what to tell Claude Code to set it up, and how to handle plan changes and cancellations.
Quick answer
A subscription confirmation email goes out the moment someone starts a paid plan. It confirms the plan name, price, billing frequency, next billing date and how to cancel. With Claude Code, you describe the email in plain English, approve a preview, and Claude Code connects it to your payment provider so it sends automatically.
Last checked: October 2026
On this page
- What should a subscription confirmation email include?
- How does your project know someone subscribed?
- What to tell Claude Code to set up your subscription confirmation email
- How should you handle plan changes and cancellations?
- Sample subscription confirmation emails
- How do you connect SimpleSends to Claude Code?
When someone pays for your SaaS, they want to know it worked. A subscription confirmation email tells them their plan is active, what they're paying, when they'll be charged next and how to cancel. For many customers, it's the first email they read from you after paying.
This guide covers what to put in a subscription confirmation email, the message to give Claude Code, how to handle plan changes and cancellations, and sample emails you can adapt.
What should a subscription confirmation email include?
A subscription confirmation email should confirm the plan, the price, how often they'll be charged, the next billing date and how to cancel. Put those near the top. Everything else comes after.
| What to include | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Plan name and what it includes | Confirms they bought what they meant to buy |
| Price and billing frequency | For example, $29 a month or $290 a year |
| Amount charged today and next billing date | Prevents surprise charges later |
| How to change or cancel | A link to the billing page in their account |
| Receipt details, or a note that the receipt is coming separately | Gives them a record for their accounts |
| One next step | A single button back into your product |
| Contact details | A reply-to address or support email |
In some places, this email is required. California's automatic renewal law, for example, requires an acknowledgment the customer can keep, covering the renewal terms, cancellation policy and how to cancel, including how to cancel a free trial before being charged. Rules vary by location, and this guide isn't legal advice.
You can combine it with a subscription welcome email that shows what the plan unlocks, as long as the plan details stay at the top.
How does your project know someone subscribed?
Your payment provider tells it. If you use Stripe, it sends your project a webhook (an automatic notice from one service to another) every time a subscription starts, renews, changes or ends. Claude Code sets your project up to listen for the right notice and send the matching email.
Once your SaaS is live, this runs on its own. When a customer subscribes at 3am, your project sends the confirmation through your email service, with nobody in the chat. Our guide to sending your own emails after a Stripe payment covers the Stripe side in more detail.
What to tell Claude Code to set up your subscription confirmation email
Brief Claude Code the way you'd brief a person.
When someone starts a paid plan, send them a subscription confirmation email. Include the plan name, what it includes, the price, how often they'll be charged, today's charge, their next billing date, and a link to change or cancel their plan from their billing page. Keep it short and friendly, and match the look of our other emails. We use Stripe for payments. Show me a preview first, then send a test to me.
Claude Code drafts the email and shows you a preview. Once you approve it, Claude Code connects it to the right moment and sends a test to your inbox.
If your plans start with a free trial, add this:
Our paid plans start with a 14-day free trial. In the confirmation, say when the trial ends, how much they'll be charged after that, and how to cancel before then so they aren't charged.
If a customer says the email never arrived, ask Claude Code. With SimpleSends connected, it can read your send logs and tell you what happened. See how to check whether your emails actually sent.
How should you handle plan changes and cancellations?
Send a short email every time a subscription changes. Each one should say what changed, what it costs now and when the change takes effect.
| Event | What the email says | When it goes out |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade | New plan, new price, any extra charge today | Right away |
| Downgrade | New plan, new price, the date it takes effect, features they'll lose | Right away |
| Cancellation | The date access ends, that no further charges will be made, how to restart | Right away |
| You change your prices | Old price, new price, the date it starts, how to cancel | Before the change (California requires 7 to 30 days' notice) |
Also send an email whenever someone upgrades, downgrades or cancels, saying what changed, the new price and when it takes effect. For cancellations, include the date access ends and that they won't be charged again. Show me all three first.
Failed payments and trial reminders need their own emails. See our guides to payment failed emails and trial ending and renewal reminder emails. For one-off purchases, read how to send order confirmation and receipt emails.
Sample subscription confirmation emails
Use these as a starting point. Claude Code can adapt the wording to your product.
SubjectYou're on the Pro plan
Hi Sam,
Thanks for subscribing. Your Pro plan is active now.
Plan: Pro (unlimited projects, 5 team seats, priority support) Price: $29 a month Charged today: $29 Next billing date: November 5, 2026
Your plan renews each month until you cancel. You can change or cancel it anytime from Settings, then Billing, and you won't be charged again after you cancel. Your receipt is on its way in a separate email.
Questions? Reply to this email or write to support@yourcompany.com.
The YourCompany team
SubjectYour subscription has been canceled
Hi Sam,
Your Pro plan has been canceled. You'll keep access until November 5, 2026, and you won't be charged again.
Changed your mind? You can restart your plan anytime from Settings, then Billing.
The YourCompany team
How do you connect SimpleSends to Claude Code?
SimpleSends connects to Claude Code through a connector, which uses MCP, an open standard that lets AI tools work with other services.
- Sign up on the SimpleSends website and follow the steps there to set up the email address you'll send from. To send from your own domain, this includes adding a few DNS records (settings that tell email providers your domain is yours) where your domain is registered.
- In Claude Code, open Customize, then Connectors, choose Add, then Add custom connector. Enter SimpleSends as the name and https://mcp.simplesends.com/mcp as the MCP server URL.
- When Claude prompts you to connect, log in to SimpleSends.
- Back in the Claude Code chat, tell Claude Code: "I've connected SimpleSends for all transactional email." It takes it from there, including adding what your project needs to send email.
For the rest of your emails, see the transactional emails every SaaS needs.
Frequently asked questions
Is a subscription confirmation email the same as a receipt?
Not quite. A receipt is a record of one payment. A subscription confirmation explains the ongoing agreement: the plan, the price, how often they’ll be charged, the next billing date and how to cancel. Many SaaS products send both, or fold the receipt details into the confirmation for the first payment.
Can Stripe send subscription emails for me?
Stripe can send receipts for paid invoices and billing reminders, such as trial ending, upcoming renewal and failed payment emails, once you turn them on in its settings. Your own confirmation email lets you explain the plan and next steps in your own words and design. Decide which emails come from where so customers don’t get duplicates.
When should the subscription confirmation email be sent?
Send it as soon as the first payment has gone through, so the email never confirms a plan that didn’t start. If your plan starts with a free trial, send it when the trial begins, and make the trial end date and the first charge clear.
What if the first payment needs extra verification from the customer’s bank?
Some cards ask the customer to approve the payment, for example with a code from their bank. Stripe marks the subscription as incomplete until that’s done. Ask Claude Code to send the confirmation only once the payment succeeds, so nobody gets a confirmation for a plan that never started.
Should I send a confirmation every time a subscription renews?
For monthly plans, a receipt for each renewal is usually enough. For yearly plans, send a reminder before the renewal date. California, for example, requires a notice 15 to 45 days before a plan with a term of a year or longer renews.
Sources (4)
- Using webhooks with subscriptions(checked October 5, 2026)
- Automate customer emails(checked October 5, 2026)
- California Business and Professions Code § 17602 (2025)(checked October 5, 2026)
- Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP(checked October 5, 2026)
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