North Metric

    Stripe Smart Retries,and what comes after.

    Stripe is strong at failed payments. North Metric adds what comes before the cancel and after the last retry.

    Get your free churn report →Actions off until you turn them on
    THE VERDICTChecked Oct 18, 2026 · Stripe docs and pricing
    BOTH DOWork from your Stripe billing data to keep paying customers.
    STRIPE LEADS ONCard retries, recovery emails and the cancel page, included in Billing.
    NORTH METRIC ADDSA risk score before the cancel, notes after the last retry, money kept measured.
    EXAMPLEONE CUSTOMER · ACME · $420/MO
    SIGNALinsufficient_funds · logins down 4 weeks
    NORTH METRIC · BEFORE THE CANCELRanked by money at risk, a note ready to approve
    STRIPE · AT THE FAILED PAYMENTSmart Retries, plus an email after each failure
    IN SHORTChecked Oct 18, 2026 · Stripe docs and pricing
    StripeAround failed payments

    Stripe Smart Retries retry failed payments at times Stripe's model picks, by default 8 tries in 2 weeks, and recovery emails ask customers to update their card (as of Oct 2026). They cover involuntary churn, not voluntary cancels, and stop at hard declines, missing cards and the last retry.

    NORTH METRICBEFORE THE CANCEL, AFTER THE RETRIES

    North Metric works before the cancel and after the retries end.

    01 — AT A GLANCE

    Same Stripe.Different moment.

    Keep Stripe for retries, emails and the cancel page. Add North Metric if you lose customers who never fail a payment.

    StripeBILLINGNorth MetricBILLING + USAGE
    BEST FOREvery Stripe Billing accountFounders on Stripe without a CS team
    READSPayments, cards and cancel reasonsStripe billing, plus PostHog or Stripe Meters
    ACTSAround failed payments and at the cancel clickBefore the cancel and after the last retry
    PRICE0.7% of Billing volume on pay-as-you-go, checked Oct 18, 2026$199 a month, after a free churn report
    ACME · $420/MOStripeNORTH METRICEXAMPLE
    SEES
    insufficient_funds
    insufficient_fundslogins down 4 weeks
    DOES
    Smart Retries, plus an email after each failed payment.
    Waits for Stripe's retries, then drafts a card-update note in your name.
    CUSTOMER SEES
    Stripe's email with a link to update the card.
    A short note from you with a card-update link.
    OUTCOME
    Paid, or canceled after the last retry
    Kept if paid within 30 days
    Stripe facts checked Oct 18, 2026. The customer below is an Example.
    02 — SIDE BY SIDE

    Feature by feature.Checked Oct 18, 2026

    Where Stripe is ahead, we say so. Stripe marks come from its public docs and pricing pages, checked Oct 18, 2026.

    FEATUREStripeNORTH METRIC
    01WHO AND WHEN
    Who it's forEvery Stripe Billing accountFounders on Stripe without a CS team
    Prediction before the cancelNone found, as of Oct 20260–100 risk score, ranked by money at riskAHEAD
    Usage signalsNo usage-drop warning found, as of Oct 2026PostHog or Stripe MetersAHEAD
    02MOVES
    Payment retries and recovery emailsSmart Retries, 8 tries in 2 weeks by defaultAHEADLeaves retries and dunning to Stripe
    Failed payments after retriesNo further attempts after the last retryCard-update note in your name, hard declines at onceAHEAD
    Cancel flowCancel page with reasons, a discount or downgrade offerAHEADSave email when a cancel is scheduled; offer on Stripe's page, with your approval
    Approvals and rulesRetention rules and automations; no per-move approval foundApprove each move, or set rules with limitsAHEAD
    03PROOF AND PRICE
    Proof against a comparison groupSaved = still subscribed 7 days later; no comparison group found10% of at-risk customers held back by defaultAHEAD
    Price, as of Oct 18, 2026Included in Billing: 0.7% of volume on pay-as-you-go$199 a month; free churn report
    includedpartial or with conditionsnone found, as of Oct 2026
    03 — RETRIES AND EMAILS

    What retries andrecovery emails do

    Smart Retries and recovery emails are strong, and included in Billing. North Metric starts where they stop.

    EXAMPLE
    ONE FAILED PAYMENT · ACME · $420/MO
    Payment fails
    Stripe's retry window · 1 week to 2 months
    Last retry · still unpaid
    STRIPE · SMART RETRIES
    8 tries in 2 weeksEmail after each failureCard-update page
    No further attempts
    NORTH METRIC
    Hard decline: note at once
    Waits · retries go first
    QUEUECard-update note in your name
    Own card-update linkApprove
    Paid during the retries · shown apart, never counted as money keptPaid within 30 days of the note · counted
    Smart Retries retry a failed subscription payment at the times Stripe's model judges most likely to succeed, using signals such as when a card tends to pay.

    Stripe's recommended default is 8 tries within 2 weeks, and you can set a window from 1 week to 2 months (Stripe docs, checked Oct 18, 2026).

    Recovery emails go out after each failed payment and 1 month before a card on file expires.

    Each links to a Stripe-hosted page where the customer updates the card and pays what's due. Stripe's own figures: businesses recover 55% of failed payments on average, and $8.2B was recovered in 2025 (stripe.com/billing, checked Oct 18, 2026).

    That is strong, and it's included in Billing.

    North Metric doesn't retry cards or send dunning emails; it leaves both to Stripe.

    Where they stop: retries wait for a new card when there's no payment method or the bank returns a hard decline such as `lost_card`, `stolen_card` or `authentication_required`.

    After the final attempt, Stripe makes no further attempts, and the subscription is canceled, marked unpaid, left past due or paused, as you set it (Stripe docs, checked Oct 18, 2026).

    What North Metric adds: for customers worth keeping, a short card-update note in your name with its own card-update link, drafted at once for hard declines and missing cards, and when Stripe's retries end for soft declines.

    Payments Stripe recovers during its retries are never counted as money kept.

    04 — THE CANCEL PAGE

    What Stripe'scancel page does

    Stripe's cancel page makes an offer at the click. North Metric adds what happens before and after it.

    STRIPE · CANCEL PAGE IN THE PORTAL
    EXAMPLEAT THE CANCEL CLICKWhy are you leaving?
    Too expensiveNot using it enoughMissing a feature
    A discount coupon or a downgrade
    Accept offerCancel anyway
    A generic cancel page, drawn by North Metric. Not Stripe's product.
    NORTH METRIC · BEFORE AND AFTER THE CLICK
    EXAMPLE
    Cancel reasonsLast 90 days · by $/mo, not by count
    Not using it enough4×$3.4K/mo
    Too expensive6×$2.1K/mo
    Missing a feature3×$0.9K/mo
    Found an alternative2×$0.6K/mo
    EXAMPLEQUEUE · TALLOW & CO · $150/MOSave email, drafted the day the cancel is scheduled
    Cancel scheduled Nov 30EditApprove
    Most common is not most costly: here the top reason by $/mo comes up less often.
    The cancellation page in Stripe's customer portal is on by default.

    It can ask why the customer is leaving, from a standard list of 8 reasons such as "It's too expensive" and "I found an alternative", plus any custom reasons you add (Stripe docs, checked Oct 18, 2026).

    Retention rules show an offer when a customer tries to cancel through the portal: a discount coupon or a downgrade.

    Rules can branch on the cancel reason, months subscribed, total spend, subscription status, and subscription or customer metadata. A retention discount can be redeemed once per customer on a subscription (Stripe docs, checked Oct 18, 2026).

    Where it stops: the offer appears at the cancel click, for cancels made in the portal.

    Stripe's Retention performance tab counts a save when a customer accepts an offer and is still subscribed 7 days later. No comparison group found, as of Oct 2026.

    What North Metric adds: a save email drafted the moment a cancel is scheduled, cancel reasons totaled by count and $/mo, a win-back note within 90 days, and, with your approval, a customer type written to Stripe metadata so your cancel page can show the right offer to the right customer.

    05 — BEFORE THE CANCEL

    What happensbefore the cancel

    Most customers don't leave in one click. Seats get cut, logins fall, a discount ends, then the cancel arrives.

    WHO GETS THE SCORE
    STRIPE · CHURN REPORTSReports churn after it happens; no risk score before the cancel found, Oct 2026
    NORTH METRIC · RISK SCOREEvery paying customer, 0–100, with up to three reasons
    EXAMPLE
    Acme$420/mo
    72Risk score · Likely
    SafePossible 40Likely 70
    Seats 6 → 4 in 30 daysLogins down 4 weeks in a rowAnnual renewal in 41 days
    Based on Stripe billing + PostHog usage
    HOW RESULTS ARE MEASURED
    EXAMPLE
    Churned within 60 daysAt-risk customers · Aug–Sep 2026EARLY
    Moves approvedacted on6–10%
    Held backleft alone · 10%11–17%
    0%10%20%
    HELD BACK10% · 24
    GAP5–12 pts
    KEPT MRR$1.1K–2.4K/mo
    EXAMPLELedger
    Acme · note approvedPaying at 60 days · inv_1Q8…7Kd+$420/mo
    Brightloom · discount noticeRenewed at full price · inv_1Q9…2Lm+$890/mo
    Paid during Stripe's retriesShown apart · never counted$0
    Stripe reports churn after it happens; a churn risk score for every customer before the cancel was not found in Stripe's docs, as of Oct 2026.

    This is where North Metric starts.

    Its churn prediction gives every paying customer a risk level (Likely, Possible, Safe), a 0–100 risk score and up to three reasons with data and dates, from Stripe billing plus usage from PostHog or Stripe Meters. The list is ranked by money at risk.

    Each at-risk customer gets one drafted move, such as a personal note in your name, a pause or downgrade offer, or a check-in that names what they stopped using.

    Approve each move, or set rules with limits. Locked moves always ask, and one switch pauses everything.

    Then it shows the money kept:

    Kept MRR tied to invoices, compared with 10% of at-risk customers held back by default.

    06 — RUN BOTH

    Can yourun both?

    Yes, and that's the setup we recommend. Keep Smart Retries, recovery emails and your cancel page switched on.

    STRIPE KEEPS RUNNING✓Smart Retries✓Recovery emails✓Cancel page and retention rulesSwitched on, as you set them
    NORTH METRIC ADDS, WHERE STRIPE STOPSHard decline or missing card→Card-update note, at onceSoft decline, retries ended→Card-update note in your nameAt risk, before the cancel→One drafted move to approveCancel scheduled→Save email, the same dayComparison group still gets Stripe's own retries and emails
    The free churn report only reads Stripe, and nothing changes there.

    On the plan, card-update notes go out only where Stripe has stopped: hard declines and missing cards, where Stripe waits for a new card, and soft declines once its retries end.

    Customers in the comparison group still get Stripe's own retries and emails. Nothing changes in Stripe without your approval or a rule you set.

    North Metric is $199 a month after the free churn report, with a 14-day trial and no card.

    Weighing other options too? See every alternative on the compare page.

    PRICING

    Keep Stripe.Add the rest.

    FREEFree churn reportPLAN$199 a month
    See pricing →
    07 — FIT CHECK

    When Stripe aloneis enough.

    Stripe alone is enough for some founders. Find yourself in one list, even if it's not ours.

    Choose Stripe alone if you…lose customers mostly to failed cardsonly need offers at the cancel clickhave few customers to watch by handdon't want another bill
    Choose North Metric if you…✓lose customers who never fail a payment✓want a warning before the cancel✓want to approve every move✓want proof against a held-back group
    FAQ

    Still deciding?Fair questions.

    Stripe prevents a lot of involuntary churn with Smart Retries and recovery emails, and its cancel page can make an offer at the cancel click. Its tools act around a failed payment or a cancel. North Metric works earlier, on customers likely to churn, and after Stripe's retries end.

    STRIPE PLUS NORTH METRIC

    Keep Stripe's retries.Add the warning.

    Get your free churn report →Actions off until you turn them on