Now that you have defined your Product and how to price it using Plans and Prices, the next step is to connect your offering with the end-users who will consume it. This is managed through Customers and Subscriptions.

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Customers

A Customer resource represents the relationship between your Merchant Organization and a Consumer Organization that uses your Product. A customer connects a specific consumer (who holds a wallet and pays) to your merchant account. When you report usage events against a customer ID, Paygentic can identify the correct consumer wallet to bill and the correct merchant wallet to credit. Customer resources are typically created automatically as part of the Subscription Flow.

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Subscriptions

A Subscription formalizes the agreement between a Customer and a specific Plan (and by inheritance, a Product). A subscription signifies that the customer (representing the consumer organization) has agreed to pay for the product according to the rates defined in the plan. Each subscription links one customer to one plan, and active subscriptions are necessary for Paygentic to correctly process usage events and apply the right prices. Like customers, subscriptions are usually created automatically during the Subscription Flow. Essentially:
  1. A Consumer wants to use your Product.
  2. You establish a Customer relationship between your Merchant and their Consumer.
  3. The Customer agrees to a specific Plan by creating a Subscription.
  4. The Subscription allows the Merchant to report Usage Events for that Customer, which are then billed according to the Plan’s Prices against the Consumer’s Wallet.

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Creating Customers and Subscriptions

Paygentic provides two approaches for creating customer relationships and subscriptions:

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Authorization Flow

Generate an authorization link for consumers to complete their own signup. This creates full consumer accounts with direct platform access, wallet management capabilities, and support for all billing models (prepaid, postpaid, pay-as-you-go). Consumers maintain control over their payment methods and can manage subscriptions across multiple merchants.

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API-Driven Creation

Directly create customers via API with consumer details. This creates managed consumers that you control, ideal for streamlined onboarding without requiring consumer signup. Currently supports postpaid billing only, with prepaid capabilities coming soon. Managed consumers access their subscription details through portal links you provide. For detailed implementation guides, code examples, and step-by-step instructions for both approaches, see the Customer Lifecycle documentation. With Customers subscribed, you can now create Entitlements (optional) and report consumption via Usage Events.