Cancelled on day 3
Two support emails. One customer cancelled in October and still has Pro in December. Another lost access the moment they clicked Cancel, with 27 paid days left.
This answers: What happens when a subscription is cancelled? No coding needed. 2 quick decisions.
- Payments and webhooks
- Where your data lives
Checking your access…
What happens when a subscription is cancelled?
Usually the subscription stays active until the end of the paid period, with cancel_at_period_end (or cancel_at) set, and is deleted afterwards. Keep access until then, and handle subscription updated and deleted so access follows 's state, not just the first checkout.
Breaks at Your server: Wrong event handled, right one ignored
Why AI tools write this bug
Generated billing code often handles checkout completion only, so later changes such as cancellations and failed payments never reach the app.
How to fix it
- Handle customer.subscription.updated and deleted events.
3 more steps, and a prompt that checks your own app for this bug. Part of Pro.
UnlockCommon questions
- Should I remove access immediately on cancel?
- Usually not. Customers paid for the period; most apps keep access until it ends.