Understand Planless Subscriptions
Last updated on Aug 26, 2026
Planless Subscriptions let you create and manage Subscriptions by selecting Products a la carte. Instead of relying on a single Plan to define billing behavior, you can build a Subscription entirely from individual Products, giving you more flexibility and precise control over billing.
This model is especially useful for flexible selling motions that don't rely on packaged bundles of Products.
Terminology update: Products and Components are renamed
Advanced Billing's Product Catalog is renaming its core objects. Plans now refer to what were previously called Products. Products now refer to what were previously called Components. See Using the New Product Catalog for the full terminology change.
How data changes for Planless Subscriptions
Planless Subscriptions introduce a few changes to how data displays elsewhere in Maxio.
| Location | Field/Column Change | Value for Planless Subscriptions |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions Index | Plan column | Displays "X Products" (for example, "3 Products") instead of a Plan name. A separate Product Family column also appears. |
| Subscription Summary | Product label renamed to Plan | Displays "(Product Family Name) X Products" instead of a Plan name. The Price Point line is hidden. |
| Transactions Report | Product column renamed to Plan | Displays "X Products" in the report, column selector, and CSV export. |
| Filters | Product and Component filters | The Product filter becomes Plan; the Component filter becomes Product. |
| Signup Invoice | Trial line item name | Displays "Trial" instead of a generic hidden Product name when the Subscription includes a trial. |
How Planless Subscriptions work
In a traditional, Plan-based Subscription, the Plan determines the billing interval (such as monthly or annual), and all of its Products inherit that cadence. Planless Subscriptions remove this dependency:
- Each Product (formerly called a Component) can define its own billing interval.
- A Subscription can include multiple Products with different billing frequencies.
- There is no base Plan selected for the Subscription.
This ensures billing is explicit and predictable for every Product in the Subscription.
Key behavior and requirements
A planless Subscription follows these rules:
- Every Product must have a defined billing interval.
- Billing is determined at the Product level, not the Subscription level.
- Subscriptions can contain a mix of billing frequencies.
- Validation prevents incomplete billing configurations.
- All Products in a planless Subscription must belong to the same Product Family.
When to use Planless Subscriptions
Planless Subscriptions are ideal when:
- You need custom combinations of Products per customer.
- Products have different billing intervals.
- You want to avoid maintaining multiple Plans for similar configurations.
- Your pricing model is modular or usage-driven.
Next steps
Now that you understand how Planless Subscriptions work, see Create a Planless Subscription to build one.
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