# Understand and manage paywall notifications from Circle and Stripe https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management/understanding-paywall-notifications Category: [Payments](https://help.circle.so/p/payments) › [Paywall management](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management) --- _Last updated: August, 2026_ In this article, we will take a deep dive into the different paywall notification options and guide you on how to set them up using your Circle community and Stripe. ## **About paywall notifications** Paywall notifications help you and your members stay updated about every stage of the billing cycle, from trials to renewals and refunds. ### **Who can manage paywall notifications** - Community admins can manage notifications for post-purchase and trials directly in Circle through desktop and web browsers. - A Stripe admin who has access to your Stripe dashboard can manage email notifications from Stripe. ## Notifications from Circle Circle offers notifications related to paywall signups, trial creation, and trial expiration. > 💡 **Tip:** When new members purchase a paywall or sign up for a trial, they also receive your onboarding email if you have configured it from onboarding settings in your community. To learn more, see our onboarding guide [**here**](/p/audience/onboarding/customizing-the-onboarding-experience). ### **Post-purchase thank you email** When a new or existing community member signs up for a paywall with a trial or purchases a paywall, they will get a personalized thank-you email. You can personalize this email to welcome members and thank them for joining. To enable and customize it, go to the **Post purchase** tab in paywall setup. To learn more about setting up this email, see the [**Post purchase**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-setup/set-up-a-paywall?locale=en#step-5-post-purchase) step in our paywall setup guide. ### **Trial notifications** - **Trial creation email (via admin action):** When creating a trial subscription for members through your admin account using methods like [**invites**](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/send-an-invitation-to-add-a-member-to-your-community) or [**manual trial creation via member profiles**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management/create-and-manage-paywall-subscriptions-from-member-profiles), you can choose to send them an email to let them know that you’ve started a trial for them. Please note that when creating a trial for a member, the post-purchase email will be skipped automatically. ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/k8rtxg2l85zitixzgw9xhelwrga4) **Approaching trial expiration (automatic):** Members who haven’t added their payment method will get an in-app and email reminder  **three days**  before their trial ends. This reminder will ask them to add their credit card information to ensure a seamless transition to the paid subscription or installment plan. ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/6qtvxxobo5vrt17h5xn6z2le4znn) - **At trial expiration (automatic):** If the trial moves to canceled status, an in-app and email notification will be automatically sent to members. This notification encourages members to renew their subscription or installment plan if they want to access paywalled content again. ## **Notifications from Stripe** From your Stripe account, you can also enable billing-related email notifications such as trials, renewals, failed payments, successful charges, and refunds. ### **Customer emails for trials, renewals, and failed payments** To turn billing emails on, follow these steps: 1. Log in to your **Stripe account** connected to your Circle paywall. 2. Go to **Settings** → **Billing** → **Subscriptions and emails**. Or you can [**follow this link**](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/billing/subscriptions) directly. 3. Navigate to the **Email notifications and customer management** section. Here, you can enable the following: - Send a reminder email 7 days before a free trial ends - Send emails about upcoming renewals - Send emails about expiring cards - Send emails when card payments fail 📚 For more information on setting up these notifications and a custom link to manage subscriptions and update payment methods, see [**Set up failed payment settings and customer emails in Stripe**](/p/payments/paywall-management/automatically-remove-member-s-paywall-access-upon-cancellation-or-failed-payments). ### **Successful payments and refunds** To enable receipts and refund notifications: 1. Log in to your **Stripe account** connected to your Circle paywall. 2. Go to **Settings** → **Business** → **Customer emails**. Or you can [**follow this link**](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/emails) directly. 3. Under the **Payments** tab, you can enable: > 💡 **Tip:** To personalize your branding and include a custom message in the memo and footer sections of invoices/receipts, please navigate to [**Branding**](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/branding) and [**Invoice**](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/billing/invoice) settings in your Stripe account. ## **Cancelation notifications** For paywall cancellations, the notifications are not available in Circle or Stripe yet. However, you can use the following workarounds to notify your members of recurring subscriptions: - **Workflows** : You can create an [**automation workflow**](https://help.circle.so/p/workflows/workflow-setup/set-up-a-custom-automation-workflow) to send an email or DM to the member once the cancellation is  **_initiated_**  for their active subscription. - **Zapier** : If you are looking to send your members a custom email notification upon cancellation, you can create a Zap with a  **Member canceled subscription**  and an action to send an email using your preferred application. ## Frequently asked questions ### How can I check if Stripe sent notification emails to a member? You can check whether Stripe sent any emails to your customer in the last 30 days from the customer page. To access email logs: 1. Navigate to your paywall-connected Stripe account. 2. Go to **Customers** and search for the member. 3. Select the member’s name to open details. 4. Scroll to the **Sent emails** section to view a log of notifications sent within the last 30 days. ### **Can members manage their notification preferences for paywall purchases?** No, members can’t disable or customize paywall-related emails. ### **How can I receive notifications for disputes, failed payments, and other relevant events?** As an admin of your Stripe account, you can also set communication preferences to receive notifications for important payment events like disputes or failed payments. To enable these notifications: 1. Navigate to your paywall-connected Stripe account. 2. Go to **Settings** → **Communication preferences**. Or you can [**follow this link**](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/communication-preferences) directly. In the **Payments** tab, you can set preferences for various things, such as: - Disputes - Failed payments - Fraudulent payments - Successful payments Once enabled, Stripe will email the account admin when any of these occur.