We are based outside the UK. Does the law apply to us?

Yes, for your customers in the UK. Recurly does not put a country on the subscription itself, so today every subscriber is counted as UK; from 1 January you confirm which plans sell to the UK.

Recurly has coupons and trial extensions. Will those be tracked?

A coupon that lowers the price for a while is an introductory offer, and a trial extension moves the trial end. Both move the emails and the change of mind periods with them.

Our site is in the EU data centre. Does that matter?

Tell us on the connect page. Recurly EU sites answer at a different address and we read from the right one.

Recurly subscriptions and the UK 2027 subscription law

We connect to Recurly and do the rest

Recurly is common among publishers, streaming services and consumer apps with big subscriber bases and complicated trials and promotions. Those are exactly the plans that need the extra emails before an offer ends and a new 14 day change of mind period when the full price starts. We read what Recurly knows and keep the emails in step.

What works today

Connect Recurly read-only and in two minutes you see every email the new law would need for your own subscribers in the next 30 days, customer by customer: payment reminders, change of mind emails, trial endings and 12 month renewals, each with the day it must go by. Nothing is sent and nothing in Recurly is changed. It is free and needs no card.

The credential: in Recurly, open Integrations, API Credentials, and press Add Private API Key. Recurly keys have no read-only setting, so name the key for us and delete it there if you ever stop using the connection; we only ever read with it. We read subscriptions, accounts and plans, check the credential with one read, store it encrypted and never show it again. You can delete it in Recurly at any time.

Sending opens from 1 January 2027. From then the same connection sends every email on time in your branding, runs the one step cancel page, works out change of mind refunds for you to approve, and keeps the record. Connect Recurly now or check your sign-up page first.

Who uses Recurly for subscriptions

Digital publishers, media and streaming services, and consumer software selling to UK customers from anywhere in the world. The law covers any business selling to a customer in the UK, so an overseas publisher with UK subscribers is covered for those subscribers.

What the connection does from 1 January

Reads your plans and prices from Recurly. You confirm each one: what kind of product it is, whether the law covers it, and how much notice you promise customers before a payment.
Reads every customer and subscription, with its start date, trial end, next charge date and status, so we can work out which emails are due and when. This part runs today.
Keeps up with changes in Recurly every night: a new subscription, a changed price, a pause, a cancellation. Each change updates that customer's emails.
Writes two things back, and nothing else: a cancellation when a customer uses the cancel page, and a refund once you have approved it. Prices, products and customers are never changed.

Questions

We are based outside the UK. Does the law apply to us?: Yes, for your customers in the UK. Recurly does not put a country on the subscription itself, so today every subscriber is counted as UK; from 1 January you confirm which plans sell to the UK.
Recurly has coupons and trial extensions. Will those be tracked?: A coupon that lowers the price for a while is an introductory offer, and a trial extension moves the trial end. Both move the emails and the change of mind periods with them.
Our site is in the EU data centre. Does that matter?: Tell us on the connect page. Recurly EU sites answer at a different address and we read from the right one.

This page explains the law in plain English. It is not legal advice. The detailed rules are still being finalised by the government.