Feature Request: Set Maximum Subscription Cycles with Auto-Cancellation

Shopify Apps
1

Hi Shopify Community,

I’ve been using Shopify Subscriptions to offer installment-style payment plans for high-value products (e.g., a 5-month plan at NT$10,600/month). After speaking with Shopify Support, I was informed that the app currently does not support automatic subscription termination after a set number of cycles.

Current Limitation: Subscriptions run indefinitely until manually cancelled by the merchant or customer. There is no built-in option to automatically stop after a defined number of billing cycles.

Feature Request: I’d like to request the following enhancements to Shopify Subscriptions:

  1. Set maximum billing cycles — Allow merchants to define how many times a subscription should charge (e.g., 5 months), after which it automatically stops.

  2. Auto-cancellation after cycle completion — Once the maximum cycles are reached, the subscription should automatically cancel without requiring manual intervention.

  3. Flexible cycle configuration — Allow per-plan customization of cycle limits, so merchants can offer both ongoing subscriptions and fixed-term installment plans.

Use Case: This would be especially valuable for merchants selling high-ticket items who want to offer structured installment payment plans — a common need in markets like Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Many third-party subscription apps already support this feature. Having it natively in Shopify Subscriptions would greatly improve the merchant experience.

Thank you for considering this feedback. I hope to see this in a future update!

2

@RetroGame_Galaxy Completely agree with this. The lack of fixed-term subscriptions makes Shopify Subscriptions hard to use for installment plans.

We’ve had to either manually cancel subscriptions or use third-party apps, which adds extra work and risk. Native support for max billing cycles and auto-cancel would make a huge difference.

3

Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s reassuring to know we’re not alone in hitting this limitation.

You’re right — relying on third-party apps or custom automations just to cap billing cycles adds unnecessary complexity and cost. For merchants offering installment plans on high-value products, this should really be a native feature.

Hopefully with enough community support, Shopify will prioritize this. If you haven’t already, feel free to upvote the post so it gets more visibility with the product team!

Would love to hear what workaround you’re currently using — always good to share notes while we wait for a native solution. :raising_hands: