---
title: "How do subscriptions work in a bundle?"
description: "Add Subscribe and save to the bundle widget using your subscription app's selling plans. Which offers support it and why the discount is first order only."
url: "https://smart-bundles.io/help/bundles/subscriptions-in-a-bundle"
updated: "2026-11-02"
product: "SMART Bundles App & Upsells"
section: "Help center / Bundles"
---


# How do subscriptions work in a bundle?

Turn on **Subscriptions** on the bundle's **Extras** tab. The widget then shows a **Subscribe and save** choice built from the selling plans your subscription app added to the product, and the bundle discount comes off the first subscription order only.

![Bundle widget with two tiers and a Subscribe and save option selected under the offers](https://smart-bundles.io/screens/template-subscription.png)

*Subscription: a Subscribe and save option under the offers.*

## Before you start

- You need a subscription app that adds selling plans to your products. SMART Bundles doesn't create plans; it uses the ones on the product.
- Only recurring plans count. Pre-order and try-before-you-buy plans are skipped, and a product without a recurring plan shows no subscription choice.
- The editor shows a card for SMART Subscriptions ("Add subscription plans to your products. This bundle shows them with its discount."), but the plans of any subscription app work.

## Set it up

1. Open the bundle in **SMART Discounts**, go to the **Extras** tab and switch on **Subscriptions**. The **Subscription** template on the create page starts with it on.
2. Pick a **Layout**: **Single card** (with a **Control** of **Checkbox** or **Switch**), **Stacked** or **Side by side** (with **Show first**: **Subscribe** or **One-time purchase**). Set the **Position**: **Above the offers** or **Below the offers**.
3. Edit the texts: **Block title**, **Subscription title** ("Subscribe and save"), **Subscription subtitle**, the one-time title and subtitle for two-card layouts, **Plan label** and **Plan text** ({{selling_plan_name}}). Variables include {{selling_plan_discount}} and {{selling_plan_price}}.
4. Choose **Subscription selected by default** ("The first plan is picked when the page loads") and **Show prices on the options**.
5. On the **Offers** tab, each offer that supports subscriptions has **Allow subscription**, ticked unless you untick it.
6. Click **Save**.

## How the price works

- **In the widget**, with a plan picked, each unit is priced at the plan's price from your subscription app, and the offer's discount comes off that. The struck price stays the one-time price.
- **At checkout**, turning on Subscriptions lets the bundle discount apply to subscription items. The app saves bundles with a recurring cycle limit of 1, the number of billing cycles a discount applies to ([Shopify Admin API](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/objects/DiscountAutomaticApp)). So the bundle discount covers the first subscription order only.
- **Renewals** don't get the bundle discount. Any discount built into the plan itself is set in your subscription app.

## Which offers can be subscriptions

| Offer | Subscription |
| --- | --- |
| Quantity breaks | Yes, with Allow subscription |
| Buy X, get Y | Yes, with Allow subscription |
| Mix and match | Yes, unless Shoppers pick the products is on |
| Complete the bundle | No, always one-time |
| Alternative product | No, always one-time |
| Upsell add-ons | No, always one-time |

## Edge cases

- **Allow subscription** shows only while the Subscriptions switch is on.
- Bundles have no separate purchase-type setting. The other discount types do (**Applies on subscription purchases**); see [Volume discounts](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/volume-discounts).
- For POS, pre-orders and subscriptions together, see [Bundles with POS, subscriptions and pre-orders](https://smart-bundles.io/guides/bundles-with-pos-subscriptions-preorders).

More extras for the widget: [Upsells and extras](https://smart-bundles.io/features/upsells).

**Offer Subscribe and save in your bundles** SMART Bundles App & Upsells is free on the Shopify App Store and works with your subscription app's selling plans. [Install SMART Bundles App & Upsells on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/smart-automatic-discounts).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the subscriber get the bundle discount on every renewal?

No. The bundle discount applies to the first subscription order only. Renewals are priced by the subscription plan.

### Why doesn't the subscription choice show on my product?

Check that the product has a recurring selling plan, the Subscriptions switch is on, the selected offer supports subscriptions and **Allow subscription** is ticked on it.

### Which subscription apps work?

Any app that adds recurring selling plans to the product. The widget reads the plans from the product itself.