ChurnStop
Install Free
Start · 8 min read

Getting started with ChurnStop

This guide takes a WooCommerce Subscriptions store from no save flow to a working ChurnStop install in about 5-10 minutes. After you finish, a test cancellation on the My Account page will show the default save modal, and the admin dashboard will record the attempt.

Prerequisites

Before installing, confirm these version floors. ChurnStop refuses to activate on older versions because the required WooCommerce Subscriptions APIs are not present.

  • WordPress 6.0 or newer
  • WooCommerce 8.0 or newer
  • WooCommerce Subscriptions 4.0 or newer
  • PHP 7.4 or newer

If any of those are older, update first. The plugin will not run on PHP 7.3 or earlier and will not run against WooCommerce Subscriptions 3.x.

Step 1 - Download the plugin

Two paths:

  1. wordpress.org (once listed): search "ChurnStop" in Plugins > Add New, click Install, then Activate. This is the recommended path once the listing is approved.
  2. Direct download: grab churnstop.zip from churnstop.org/downloads and upload manually. Use this while the wp.org listing is in review.

The zip is around 70 KB and contains the PHP plugin plus the compiled React admin and modal bundles. There is nothing to build locally; the plugin is ready to activate.

Step 2 - Upload and activate

In your WordPress admin:

  1. Go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
  2. Pick the churnstop.zip file.
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate Plugin.

You will see a top-level ChurnStop menu item appear in the sidebar. If you do not, WooCommerce Subscriptions is probably not active - ChurnStop hides its admin menu when the dependency is missing.

Step 3 - Open the admin

Click the ChurnStop menu item. The dashboard shows three zeros (MRR preserved, save rate, cancel attempts) and a "Default save flow" row in the flow list. That default flow is active automatically; you do not need to configure anything to intercept your first cancellation.

Step 4 - License (paid tier only)

If you are on Starter, Growth, or Agency, paste your license key into ChurnStop > Settings > License. You get the key from the customer portal after checkout. The free tier needs no key and never contacts ChurnStop servers.

If you skip this step on a paid tier, ChurnStop falls back to the free-tier feature set until a valid license is entered. It will not lock you out.

Step 5 - Run a test cancellation

From a fresh incognito browser window:

  1. Log in as a test customer who owns an active subscription (create one first if you don't have a test subscription).
  2. Go to My Account > Subscriptions.
  3. Click Cancel on a subscription.

The ChurnStop save modal should appear. The default flow asks one question - why are you cancelling - and shows an offer based on the answer. Select a reason, view the offer, then click the No thanks, cancel my subscription link at the bottom of the modal.

The subscription should cancel immediately with the usual WooCommerce Subscriptions cancellation notice. Back in the admin, the ChurnStop dashboard should now show 1 attempt and 0 saved.

Step 6 - Confirm compliance

FTC click-to-cancel compliance is non-negotiable. Before you ship to real customers, verify the decline-and-cancel link is one click from completing cancellation on every screen of the flow. The default flow is compliant out of the box; changes to the flow pass through the ClickToCancel validator, which will reject anything non-compliant at save time.

Read the click-to-cancel compliance page for the full rule-by-rule breakdown.

What to configure next

The default flow is a sensible starting point but not the most effective flow for any specific store. Once you have ChurnStop running, the highest-leverage changes in order:

  1. Customize the cancellation reasons to match your store's actual churn patterns. Generic "too expensive" and "too busy" work fine; reasons specific to your product (for instance "can't find the product I want" for a subscription box) work better.
  2. Tune the default offer values per reason. A 20% discount for 3 cycles is a safe default; your mileage will vary.
  3. Enable A/B testing (Starter+) once you have at least 50 cancellation attempts per month. Test offer amount or reason wording first; those move the needle the most.

Where to go from here

  • Offer types reference - what each of the six offer types does and how it maps to native WC Subs APIs.
  • API and hooks reference - WordPress actions, REST endpoints, and payload shapes for piping events into your own analytics.
  • Pricing - when to upgrade from free.

If anything breaks during install, open an issue at github.com/talbotarden/churnstop or email support@churnstop.org.