Moving recurring Stripe subscriptions to a new course platform without re-billing

First question: whose Stripe account holds the subscriptions?

Everything depends on where the subscription objects live. Podia's help centre, for example, says subscriptions are tied to the Stripe account connected when they were created, meaning the creator's own account. Other platforms process payments through accounts the creator cannot access. Log in to your Stripe dashboard and look for your members' subscriptions before choosing a path.

The table sets out the three situations and the documented route for each.

Keeping the same Stripe account

When the account stays the same, the subscriptions keep billing on their own schedule. Your work is making the new platform recognise them. MemberPress documents that its importer uses the Stripe Subscription ID, the sub_ value, for subscription imports, and its migration sequence ends with switching IPN or webhook URLs to MemberPress and checking that the gateway column shows a name rather than an ID.

Paid Memberships Pro's Import Members from CSV listing on WordPress.org describes a membership_subscription_transaction_id column and a membership_gateway column, says linking only works if the plan already exists on the payment gateway itself, and says the tool cannot create subscription plans or transactions on the gateway. That listing showed a last-modified date of 20 July 2021, so confirm current behaviour with the developer before relying on it.

Watch the old platform. Podia's documentation shows the risk: cancelling a Podia account cancels all recurring subscriptions and payment plans, and disconnecting Stripe leaves subscriptions charging while Podia stops managing access. Find out what your old platform does to subscriptions on disconnect and on account closure before you touch either.

• Export subscription IDs, customer emails, plan amounts and next renewal dates from Stripe.
• Import members into the new platform with their existing subscription IDs.
• Point Stripe webhooks at the new site; remove or disable the old platform's endpoint only once the new one receives events.
• Wait for one renewal per plan and confirm the new platform records it and keeps access active.

Copying to a new Stripe account: what moves and what does not

Stripe's self-serve data copy copies data from one account to another in the Dashboard. Stripe states it can only copy, not merge or move; afterwards the data exists in both accounts. It copies raw Customer objects and supported payment data, and states that it cannot copy Charges, PaymentIntents, Invoices, Plans, Subscriptions, Coupons, Events, Logs, Guest customers or other objects.

Customer IDs stay the same in both accounts. Payment methods get new IDs, and Stripe uploads a mapping CSV with old and new IDs to the recipient's Dashboard documents. The recipient account must be activated, deleted customers cannot be copied, and Stripe notes that if expired cards are copied and Card Account Updater is on in the destination, the destination may incur updater fees.

Subscriptions are then rebuilt. Stripe's subscription migration page says you can migrate subscriptions from a different Stripe account, using its Billing migration toolkit without code or its APIs, after copying payment data across accounts.

Avoiding double charges when subscriptions are recreated

The danger window is the overlap between an old subscription that still renews and a new one that has started. The rule is simple: each member has exactly one subscription that can charge on any given date.

Stripe's migration overview lists subscription remapping as a migration step. Stripe's billing cycle documentation describes the billing cycle anchor as the reference point that aligns future billing dates, setting the day of the month for monthly and yearly prices, so a new subscription's billing date can line up with the old one. Set each new subscription to start on the date the old one would next renew, and cancel the old one so it does not renew on that date.

Worked example: a member on a 39 dollar monthly plan renews on the 14th. Create the new subscription to start billing on the 14th, cancel the old subscription before the 14th so that renewal does not happen, and check the member is charged 39 dollars once in that month.

• Export a list of every active subscription with its next renewal date before you start.
• Recreate in small batches, grouped by renewal date.
• After each batch, compare counts: old active subscriptions cancelled equals new subscriptions created.
• Keep the old account open for refunds and disputes on past charges.

Moving from another processor

If payments sit with a processor other than Stripe, Stripe's migration overview describes a process run with its Data Migrations team: you introduce your existing processor, the payment data is imported, and Stripe sends a JSON mapping file you use to update your records and remap subscriptions. Stripe states it can only assist when a request includes both customer records and the associated payment data.

If the old platform cannot or will not release payment data, the fallback is a re-subscribe campaign: open the new checkout, email members with a clear switch date, and cancel each old subscription at the end of its paid period.

Sources & verification

Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.

1. Stripe Docs: Copy customer and payment method data across Stripe accounts Accessed 30 Oct 2026
2. Stripe Docs: Migrate subscriptions to Stripe Billing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
3. Stripe Docs: Data migrations overview Accessed 30 Oct 2026
4. MemberPress Docs: Migrating overview Accessed 30 Oct 2026
5. Podia Help Center: What happens if I disconnect or change my Stripe account Accessed 30 Oct 2026
6. Podia Help Center: What happens when I cancel my account Accessed 30 Oct 2026
7. WordPress.org: Paid Memberships Pro Import Members from CSV listing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
8. Stripe Docs: Set the subscription billing cycle date Accessed 30 Oct 2026