Setup Stripe Integration

To integrate Stripe with your SaaS application for payment processing, follow these steps:

1. Create a Stripe Account

Go to the Stripe website (opens in a new tab) and sign up for an account if you don't have one.
After logging in, you'll be directed to the Stripe Dashboard.

In the Stripe Dashboard, click on "Developers" in the sidebar.
Under "API Keys", you'll find your Publishable Key and Secret Key.
- Publishable Key: This key can be exposed in the frontend.
- Secret Key: This key should be kept secure and used only in server-side code.

Webhooks enable Stripe to send real-time event notifications to your application, such as successful payments or subscription updates.

In the Stripe Dashboard, go to "Developers" > "Webhooks".
Click "Add endpoint" to create a new webhook.
In the URL field, enter your webhook endpoint:
{your-domain.com}/api/stripe/events
Subscribe to the following events:
- checkout.session.completed
- customer.subscription.created
- customer.subscription.updated
- invoice.created
Click "Add endpoint" to save the webhook configuration.
Copy the "Signing secret" from the webhook settings.

In the Stripe Dashboard, go to the "Billing" section.
Under the "Products" tab, click "Add product" to create a new product.
For each plan, enter the following details:
- Product Name: This will be the name of your plan (e.g., "Free Plan", "Pro Plan", etc.).
- Pricing: Choose the pricing model (e.g., recurring).
- Billing Interval: Set the billing cycle (e.g., monthly, yearly).
After creating the product, you will receive a Price ID for each pricing option.

After creating the subscription plans, make sure to copy the Price IDs for each of your plans (e.g., price_xyz123, price_abc456).
These Price IDs are necessary for integrating Stripe with your application.

You need to add your Stripe keys and Price IDs to the environment variables to securely use them in your application.

To ensure the credit system works correctly, configure Stripe to handle failed payments and update subscription and invoice statuses.

Subscription Status: If payment retries fail, mark the subscription as unpaid or past-due instead of canceled. This keeps the subscription active and allows the system to track the billing cycle. You can adjust this under Billing > Settings > Subscriptions and emails in the Stripe Dashboard.
Invoice Status: If payment retries fail, mark the invoice as uncollectible. This prevents confusion in your billing system and ensures accurate accounting. Configure this under Billing > Settings > Subscriptions and emails in the Stripe Dashboard.