Subscription Workflow Trigger in Sparkforge

By Sparkforge Support Team ·Last reviewed May 3, 2026

The Subscription trigger fires on subscription lifecycle changes — creation, trial-to-active, cancellation, expiration, and payment-state events like overdue or unpaid. Filter by Global Product or Status to scope automations to the right plan or moment.

The Subscription trigger reacts to changes in a contact's subscription lifecycle. Use it to onboard new subscribers, win back cancellations, dun overdue accounts, and remind contacts before a trial converts.

What it triggers on

Creation of a new subscription.
Transition from trial to active.
Cancellation.
Other lifecycle status changes (expired, overdue, unpaid, scheduled, incomplete).

Note: the Subscription trigger fires on lifecycle state changes, not on each recurring charge. For per-charge automation, use the Payment Received trigger.

Configure the trigger

Open Automations > Workflows and create or edit a workflow.
Click Add Trigger.
Under Payments, pick Subscription.
Click Add filters to scope by product or status.
Add downstream actions like emails, SMS, tasks, or tag updates.
Save and activate.

Filter options

Standard fields

Global Products: the product tied to the subscription.
Status: the current lifecycle state.

Custom fields

Use any custom field on the contact or subscription to tailor the trigger to your business logic — membership tier, customer segment, or internal flags.

Status options

Active: live and billing successfully. Use for fulfillment, onboarding, and access logic.
Canceled: manually or automatically canceled. On Stripe, also used when a subscription completes its term. Good for re-engagement and offboarding.
Expired: ended at the close of its billing term, not by cancellation or failure. Useful for renewals and feedback. Not applicable to Stripe subscriptions.
Incomplete Expired: the very first payment failed and the subscription never became Active. (Previously called Failed.)
Incomplete: the contact started but did not complete the subscription — abandoned at checkout. Good for cart-recovery nudges.
Overdue: a recurring payment failed after the subscription was already Active. Right place for grace-period messaging.
Scheduled: a future-dated subscription that has not started billing.
Trial: currently in the trial phase. Use for nurture and conversion reminders.
Unpaid: active but with pending or missed payments. Trigger to flag internal teams or prompt a payment-method update.

Common automations

Trial-to-active welcome: when status changes from Trial to Active, send a welcome email and grant full access.
Cancellation winback: on Canceled, run a feedback survey followed by a re-engagement offer.
Failed payment recovery: on Overdue or Unpaid, send a payment-update reminder and assign a task to the success team.
Trial reminders: on Trial status, schedule reminder emails 3 days, 1 day, and 1 hour before the trial ends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Subscription trigger fire on every recurring charge?

No. It fires only on lifecycle state changes. Use the Payment Received trigger for per-charge automation, including failed recurring charges.

What is the difference between Expired and Canceled on Stripe?

Stripe does not use the Expired status. When a Stripe subscription completes its term, Sparkforge marks it Canceled. Treat Canceled as your end-of-life status on Stripe.

How do I tell a first-payment failure apart from a later failure?

Incomplete Expired means the very first payment failed and the subscription never went Active. Overdue or Unpaid means the subscription was Active and a later charge failed.

Can I scope the trigger to one product?

Yes. Use the Global Products filter and choose Is, Is Not, Is Empty, or Is Not Empty to scope to specific subscription products.

Can I trigger renewal reminders before a subscription expires?

Yes. Use the Trial or Scheduled status, or pair the Subscription trigger with a Wait step to send timed reminders before billing events.