Complete Stripe Migration Guide

Everything you need to know about migrating Stripe subscriptions, from planning to execution. A comprehensive guide for businesses of all sizes.

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Migration Guide Contents

1

Planning Phase

Assess your current setup and plan your migration strategy
2

Preparation

Set up destination accounts and prepare for migration
3

Execution

Execute the migration with minimal downtime
4

Validation

Test and validate your migrated data
5

Common Issues

Troubleshoot common migration problems
6

Best Practices

Expert tips for successful migrations

1. Planning Phase

Assess Your Current Setup

Before starting any migration, conduct a thorough assessment of your current Stripe configuration:

  • Subscription Volume: Count active subscriptions, products, and customers
  • Product Complexity: Document pricing models, billing intervals, and trial periods
  • Integrations: List all systems connected to your current Stripe account
  • Custom Logic: Identify any custom billing logic or webhook handlers

Define Migration Scope

Determine exactly what needs to be migrated:

  • Active subscriptions only, or include canceled/past due?
  • Historical data requirements
  • Which products and pricing structures
  • Customer payment methods and billing addresses
  • Coupons and promotional codes

Choose Migration Strategy

Recommended: Automated Migration

SubMigrations automates the entire process, preserving billing cycles and minimizing downtime. This is the safest and fastest approach for most businesses.

2. Preparation

Set Up Destination Account

Prepare your destination Stripe account:

  • Complete account verification and setup
  • Configure payment methods and banking details
  • Set up tax settings and compliance requirements
  • Configure account-level settings (currencies, etc.)

Backup Current Data

Critical: Create Backups

Export all critical data before migration. While SubMigrations has rollback capabilities, having your own backups provides additional security.

Prepare Your Team

  • Schedule migration during low-traffic periods
  • Prepare customer communication templates
  • Brief support team on potential issues
  • Set up monitoring and alerting

3. Execution

Migration Process

The actual migration follows this sequence:

  1. Products & Prices: Migrate product catalog first
  2. Customers: Transfer customer data and payment methods
  3. Subscriptions: Migrate active subscriptions with billing cycle preservation
  4. Coupons: Transfer promotional codes and discounts
  5. Validation: Verify all data transferred correctly

SubMigrations Advantage

Our platform handles this entire sequence automatically with real-time progress tracking and intelligent error recovery.

Monitoring Progress

During migration, monitor:

  • Migration progress and completion rates
  • Error logs and failed migrations
  • Customer payment processing
  • System performance and uptime

4. Validation

Data Validation Steps

  • Count Verification: Compare object counts between source and destination
  • Sample Testing: Manually verify a sample of migrated subscriptions
  • Billing Cycle Check: Ensure renewal dates are preserved
  • Payment Method Testing: Test customer payment processing
  • Integration Testing: Verify webhook and API integration functionality

Post-Migration Testing

Perform comprehensive testing:

  • Process test payments for different subscription types
  • Test subscription upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations
  • Verify coupon and discount functionality
  • Test dunning management and failed payment handling

5. Common Issues & Solutions

Payment Method Migration

Issue: Payment methods can't be directly transferred between Stripe accounts

Solution: SubMigrations preserves customer relationships and prompts for payment method re-entry only when necessary, minimizing disruption.

Billing Cycle Disruption

Issue: Manual migration often disrupts customer billing cycles

Solution: Our platform calculates and preserves exact billing cycle timing, ensuring no customer sees unexpected charges.

Webhook Integration

Issue: Webhook endpoints need updating for new account

Solution: Update webhook URLs before migration and test thoroughly with staging data.

API Rate Limits

Issue: Large migrations may hit Stripe API rate limits

Solution: SubMigrations includes intelligent rate limiting and retry logic to handle large-scale migrations efficiently.

6. Best Practices

Before Migration

  • Run migration during off-peak hours
  • Test with a small subset of data first
  • Prepare customer communication
  • Set up comprehensive monitoring
  • Have rollback procedures ready

During Migration

  • Monitor progress continuously
  • Address errors immediately
  • Maintain team availability
  • Document any issues encountered

After Migration

  • Validate all critical data
  • Test key customer workflows
  • Monitor for customer support issues
  • Update documentation and procedures
  • Conduct post-migration review

Expert Recommendation

For mission-critical businesses, consider using SubMigrations' automated platform. Our 100% success rate and zero-downtime approach eliminates most migration risks.

Ready to Start Your Migration?

Skip the complexity and use our automated migration platform. Get started in minutes, not weeks.

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