I’m having trouble with my subscription?
If you're experiencing issues with your membership or monthly donation, don’t worry! Whether a payment failed, your subscription was canceled, or you need to update your card, here’s what to do.
My subscription payment failed!
A subscription payment can fail for several reasons, including insufficient funds, an expired card, or payment declines. If a subscription payment fails, you’ll see an “Overdue” label next to it in your Account & Billing.
Ko-fi will automatically retry failed payments several times before canceling a subscription. If the payment keeps failing, the subscription will be canceled.
If your payment isn’t going through, try these steps:
Check your card or payment method
If your payment failed, there may be an issue with your card or payment provider. Here’s what to check:
- Sufficient funds - Make sure your PayPal or bank account has enough balance to cover the payment.
- Card expiration - If your card has expired, update it with a new one.
- Bank restrictions - Some banks block recurring payments. Check with your bank or PayPal to see if they declined the charge.
- Payment processor issues - If you’re using PayPal, log in to check for any alerts or restrictions on your account. If you’re paying by card, contact your bank to confirm there are no purchasing restrictions on your card.
- Try again - If everything looks fine, you can retry the payment from your Account & Billing or wait for the system to retry automatically.
If you’re still having trouble, PayPal Support or your bank may have more details on why the payment isn’t going through. You can also reach out to us and we’ll be happy to take a look.
Update your card details
If your subscription continues to fail, you can add a different card or payment method. The steps vary depending on how you paid.
PayPal subscriptions must be updated directly in PayPal.
- Log in to your PayPal account and go to your PayPal Settings.
- Go to Payments > Automatic Payments.
- Under the Active tab, choose the merchant. Any Ko-fi subscriptions will show up under "Ko-fi." Check the description to confirm the creator.
- Select your current payment method. You can choose an existing payment method or link a new card or bank.
- Click Save.
Your new payment method will be used for future payments.
For a full guide, check out PayPal’s help article here.
For card payments, you can update your card directly on Ko-fi.
- Log in to your Ko-fi account associated with your subscription. If you’re unsure which email is linked, check your inbox for a confirmation email from Ko-fi.
- Go to Account & Billing to manage your subscription. Don’t see your subscription? Check out our help article here.
- Tap the three dots next to the subscription and select Update Card. Enter your new card details.
Once updated, future charges will be billed to your new card.
Retry the charge
Your subscription will automatically retry several times. If you want to retry the payment manually, some subscriptions allow you to do so from your Account & Billing.
If the payment goes through, you’ll see a confirmation pop-up. If it fails, you’ll see a message explaining why.
Note
Not all subscriptions support manual retry. If you don’t see the option, don’t worry - the payment will retry automatically.
Cancel and restart your subscription
If you’ve tried everything and your payment still won’t go through, you can cancel your subscription and start a new one from the creator’s page.
Note
Some creators have limited membership slots. Before canceling, check their Ko-fi page to make sure the tier is still available. If it’s full, the creator may not be able to add more slots.
We're here if you need us. Feel free to send any questions our way. 💌
FAQ
Subscriptions can be canceled by either you or the creator. If neither of you canceled it, your subscription likely failed due to a payment issue.
Payments will retry a few times before the subscription is automatically canceled.
Note
Subscriptions can’t be reactivated once canceled. You’ll need to start a new one if you’d like to continue supporting the creator.
If your payment doesn’t go through, your subscription will remain active while Ko-fi retries the payment.
If the payments continue to fail and the subscription is canceled, you will lose access to supporter-only content.
Subscriptions automatically bill to the card you originally used unless you update your payment details.
To update your card, follow our guide here.
If you're still being billed on the wrong card, reach out to us with the following details:
- The creator’s Ko-fi page
- The email linked to your subscription
- The last four digits of the card you want charged
We’ll be happy to help!
If the membership tier still has available slots, you can rejoin through the creator’s page.
If the tier is full, you can try messaging the creator to ask if they can open more slots. Otherwise, you may not be able to rejoin.
Right now, you can’t switch between PayPal and card payments for an existing subscription. You would need to cancel your current subscription and start a new one using your preferred payment method.
If you cancel after your auto-billing date has passed, your subscription may still renew. Subscriptions renew every 30 days, so it's best to cancel at least 24 hours before the next charge to avoid being billed.
If auto-billing has already started when you cancel, the cancellation will apply to the next billing cycle, not the current one.