Subscriptions
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Audience | public |
| Page type | reference |
| Area | sg-dashboard |
| Updated | 2026-05-14 |
How subscription state is managed — plan, capacity, renewal cadence, lifecycle.
A subscription in SGEN is the account's active plan commitment. It defines the plan tier, the capacity (how many sites the plan supports), the renewal cadence, and the lifecycle of the relationship across change events. This page is the Reference definition of the Subscriptions sub-page.
What is this for?
Read this page when you want the structural definition of how subscriptions work — the lifecycle events, the renewal model, and how capacity ties to plan tier.
Good use cases
- You are scoping a new SGEN account and need to understand the subscription lifecycle.
- You are explaining to a stakeholder how plan changes affect capacity and renewal.
- You hit a "when does the plan change take effect?" question and want the model laid out.
- You are designing internal SOPs around plan upgrade/downgrade workflows.
What NOT to use this for
- Step-by-step subscription procedures — open the relevant Guide.
- Per-customer pricing — covered in the customer agreement.
- Per-release shipped subscription change — open What's New or Changelog.
- Payment method management — open Payment Methods.
How this connects to other features
- Billing Overview — parent Reference area.
- Payment Methods — what handles the renewal charge.
- Invoices — the historical record of subscription billing events.
- SG-Dashboard Overview — parent surface.
Definition
A subscription in SGEN is the active plan commitment for one account. It carries plan tier, capacity, renewal cadence, and lifecycle state. The subscription belongs to the account and applies across every site under that account.
The defining property is account-tier coverage. One subscription handles every site in the account; per-site subscription models are not how SGEN bills.
Purpose
The purpose of this page is to define the subscription primitive as a Reference layer rather than as a procedural walkthrough. It explains plan tier and capacity, the renewal cadence, and the lifecycle events that change subscription state.
Scope
This page covers Subscriptions at the Reference level.
The page covers:
- The structural shape of a subscription (tier, capacity, renewal cadence).
- The lifecycle events (start, change, renewal, lapse, recovery).
- The boundary against per-customer pricing and against payment method management.
- Per-step subscription procedures — Guides.
- Per-customer pricing — customer agreement.
- Payment method management — Payment Methods Reference.
Plan tier and capacity
Plan tier defines what the subscription supports. Capacity is the per-tier limit on how many sites the account can hold.
Plan tiers
Plans are tier-named (Starter, Growth, Pro, Enterprise are common patterns; specific tier names depend on current pricing). Each tier carries different capacity, different feature gating, and different support terms.
Capacity model
Each tier comes with a defined site capacity (e.g., Pro supports up to N sites). Adding a site uses one capacity slot; removing a site frees a slot. Capacity is checked at provisioning time.
Account · Billing · Subscription
Active plan
Renewal cadence
Renewal happens automatically on the cadence defined by the plan — most commonly monthly or annually. The renewal charge runs against the configured payment method (per Payment Methods Reference); the new invoice lands in the invoice history (per Invoices Reference).
Healthy renewal
The cadence reaches its boundary; the platform charges the configured payment method; the new invoice issues; the subscription continues without operator action.
Failed renewal
The charge fails (expired card, insufficient funds, processor error). The subscription enters a recovery state; the operator is notified per Notification Logic; the recovery flow walks the operator through payment-method update or escalation.
Lifecycle events
A subscription moves through five lifecycle events.
Start
The account is created, a plan is selected, the first invoice issues, and the subscription becomes active.
Change (upgrade or downgrade)
The plan tier changes. Upgrades typically apply immediately with a prorated charge; downgrades typically apply at the next renewal boundary so the operator does not lose paid-for capacity mid-cycle.
Renewal
The renewal cadence boundary is reached and the next invoice issues.
Lapse
A failed renewal that does not recover within the grace window moves the subscription to lapsed state. Site behavior under lapsed state depends on plan terms.
Recovery
A successful resolution of a failed renewal returns the subscription to active.
Constraints and boundaries
Subscriptions is a Reference area for the active plan commitment. It is not a substitute for the customer agreement or for payment method management.
Use this Reference for:
- Understanding the subscription lifecycle.
- Confirming the plan and capacity model.
- Reasoning about renewal and recovery flows.
- Per-customer pricing detail — customer agreement.
- Payment method changes — Payment Methods Reference.
- Per-step procedures — Guides.
Public boundary
This page is intentionally public-safe. It does not expose pricing detail, internal billing engine internals, or protected operational identifiers.
Examples
Example 1 — Operator upgrades from Growth to Pro
The operator initiates an upgrade. The plan changes immediately; a prorated charge runs against the configured payment method; capacity expands to the Pro tier limit. The operator can now provision additional sites against the new capacity.
Example 2 — Renewal fails and recovery resolves it
The renewal charge fails because the configured card expired. The subscription enters recovery state. The operator updates the payment method, retries the renewal, and the subscription returns to active.
Example 3 — Operator scopes capacity for a multi-site rollout
The operator confirms current plan is Pro (5 sites) and current usage is 3. The two-site headroom supports the planned rollout. If the rollout exceeded headroom, the upgrade path would happen first.
Documentation guidance
Use this page as the structural definition for the subscription primitive. Procedural detail belongs in Guides; per-release behavior change belongs in What's New or Changelog.
Reading order
Open this page when scoping plan changes, renewal events, or capacity decisions. Pair with Payment Methods for the renewal-target instrument and Invoices for the historical record.
Related reading
- Billing Overview — parent Reference area.
- Payment Methods — renewal-target instrument.
- Invoices — historical record.
- SG-Dashboard Overview — parent surface.
Vocabulary cross-reference
- Subscription is the active plan commitment for one account.
- Plan tier is the named level of the subscription (Starter, Growth, Pro, etc.).
- Capacity is the per-tier site limit.
- Renewal cadence is the cycle the subscription renews on.
- Lifecycle event is one of: start, change, renewal, lapse, recovery.
Maintenance discipline
When subscription behavior changes across releases (new plan tier, new capacity model, new lifecycle event), update this Reference and log the change in Changelog. The five-event lifecycle model stays valuable because it stays small.
Related reading
| Topic |
|---|
| Billing Overview |
| Payment Methods |
| Invoices |
| SG-Dashboard |