Plan Model

• Create a Plan
• Get Plan details
• Trial modes
  • If plan has trial
  • If plan does not have trial
  • Trial period time related functions new in v5.0
• Tiers
  • Example
• Grace new in v5.0
  • Grace related functions
• Subscription period time related functions new in v5.0

This is the main model of the package, there is nothing without plans. After creating a plan, you can attach it to a subscription.

Create a Plan

use Bpuig\Subby\Models\Plan;

$plan = Plan::create([
    'tag' => 'basic',
    'name' => 'Basic Plan',
    'description' => 'For small businesses',
    'price' => 9.99,
    'signup_fee' => 1.99,
    'invoice_period' => 1,
    'invoice_interval' => 'month',
    'trial_period' => 15,
    'trial_interval' => 'day',
    'grace_period' => 1,
    'grace_interval' => 'day',
    'tier' => 1,
    'currency' => 'EUR',
]);

Get Plan details

You can query the plan for further details as follows:

$plan = Plan::find(1);

// Or querying by tag
$plan = Plan::getByTag('basic');

// Get all plan features                
$plan->features;

// Get all plan subscriptions
$plan->subscriptions;

// Check if the plan is free
$plan->isFree();

// Check if the plan has trial period
$plan->hasTrial();

Both $plan->features and $plan->subscriptions are collections, driven from relationships, and thus you can query these relations as any normal Eloquent relationship. E.g. $plan->features()->where('tag', 'social_profiles')->first() or $plan->getFeatureByTag('social_profiles').

Also read:

• Get Plan Feature value

Trial modes

There are two available trial modes: inside or outside. This defines how the trial will be counted when renewal time is due.

USAGE WILL NOT BE CLEARED when user has had trial time. This is what gives sense to both methods.

When a new subscription to a plan is made:

If plan has trial

If plan has trial, subscriber does not have subscription but only a trial. Subscription period starts and ends at null and this is considered subscription is not made. Because in a real case scenario, when a subscriber has a trial it does not have a subscription yet, so the invoice period is made and charged after the trial has ended.

Renewal when trial is "inside"

If trial mode is inside; when trial ends and is renewed invoice period will have substracted the days of trial that have been used.

Example: 7 day trial in a 30 day subscription period.

• User uses 3 days, likes the app them and renews the subscription. Result: The next subscription renewal will be in 27 days.
• User uses all 7 day trial. Forgets about the app and comes back a week later. Result: The next subscription renewal will be in 23 days.

In summary: this is NOT a free trial. User always ends up paying the full price for full period.

Renewal when trial is "outside"

If trial mode is outside; when trial ends and is renewed, invoice period will start at the moment it's renewed.

Example: 7 day trial in a 30 day subscription period.

• User uses 3 days, likes the app them and renews the subscription. Result: The next subscription renewal will be in 30 days. User got 3 days for free.
• User uses all 7 day trial. Forgets about the app and comes back a week later. Result: The next subscription renewal will be in 30 days. User got 7 days for free.

In summary: this is IS a free trial. User does not pay for the trial period, but for the next subscription period.

If plan does not have trial

If plan does not have trial, subscriber has subscription. Because when a plan does not have trial, a new subscription activates a new invoicing period.

Trial period time related functions new in v5.0

You can get some information about duration of your trial with:

$plan->getTrialTotalDurationIn('day'); // Returns number of days trial lasts

You can use Carbon accepted intervals (in singular): year,month,day,hour,minute,second,microsecond...

Tiers

The use of tiers is optional. Usually a tier is a "level" of subscription.

It helps with upgrading or downgrading because usually an upgrade is changed, billed and renewed instantly, and a downgrade is changed and billed at the end of period ( see laravel-subby-schedule (opens new window)).

Example

The way it's thought is:

You have 3 plans: Basic, Intermediate and Pro. How do you now which is better than the other? You can look at the price.

But... what if there is a promo during some time and the price of Intermediate is lower now than Basic will be next month when there is no promo? When you change the subscription plan from your promo Intermediate to Basic normally would be a downgrade, but now prices are reversed and action is an upgrade. Weird, huh?

What if you customize your user subscription and now it is somewhere in the middle between Intermediate and Pro? You can change the tier to a number in between, so you know what to do when changing (downgrading) to existing Intermediate or upgrading to Pro.

Comparing tier numbers, you can know which subscription or plan is superior to another.

// Example comparing current plan subscription to another plan

if ($user->subscription('main')->tier < $newPlan->tier) {
    myUpgradeFunction();
} else {
    myDowngradeFunction();
}

Grace new in v5.0

Grace period is the extra time the subscription will be considered active after it has ended. By default is disabled, you can set it when creating the plan with a grace_period and grace_interval. It will be inherited by new subscriptions and also will be synchronized when using syncPlan.

Grace related functions

$plan->hasGrace(); // Returns boolean indicating if plan has grace period
$plan->getGraceTotalDurationIn('day'); // Returns duration integer in set Carbon interval (second, day, month...)

Subscription period time related functions new in v5.0

You can get some information about duration of the subscription with:

$plan->getSubscriptionTotalDurationIn('day'); // Returns number of days subscription lasts

You can use Carbon accepted intervals (in singular): year,month,day,hour,minute,second,microsecond...