# Subscriptions and Paid Access

Gate premium groups, a community, or a live event; bill through Genuin or pass entitlement from your own subscription system in the auto login token.

Paid access lets you charge members for premium groups, gate a whole community, or bundle Genuin access with a plan you already sell. Billing runs through Genuin or through your own subscription system. The paywall renders in the player with your brand kit, and checkout completes there.

[Octo](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/octo-operates-your-brand-control-center-octo-proposes-you-approve), Genuin's Supervised Intelligence interface in Brand Control Center (BCC), proposes this capability when it finds a fit on your sites and apps. It completes the steps under Set it up from your brand context. Nothing goes live until you approve it. It's part of [Monetize](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/monetize-what-it-does-and-where-to-start), and [Subscriptions, bundles, and paid access](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/subscriptions-bundles-and-paid-access) compares the options.

## When to use it

Use it for content people pay for, and for bundles with plans you already sell.

| Option | What members get | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium group | Access to one or more gated groups | Genuin billing, or entitlement from token |
| Community membership | Access to a members-only community | Genuin billing, or entitlement from token |
| Bundle | Genuin access included in an existing plan of yours | Your billing; the tier is passed in the auto login token |
| Pay per event | Access to a live session or drop | Genuin billing |

## How it works

- Each plan has a scope (groups, a community, or an event), a price, an interval, and a trial.
- Genuin billing takes cards and wallets and handles taxes.
- With entitlement from token, your own system bills, and your backend passes the member's tier in the auto login token. [Auto login and token exchange](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/auto-login-and-token-exchange) explains how that token signs members in without a second login.
- Every network keeps a Free member tier. Paid tiers go live once your payout details are verified. [Offer member subscriptions: free and paid tiers](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/offer-member-subscriptions-free-and-paid-tiers) covers tiers.
- Existing paying customers from a loyalty or subscriber file map to the matching paid tier, so nobody pays twice.
- Subscription revenue appears in **Reports** > **Revenue** by tier and community, paid out on the same calendar as your other revenue.

## Set it up

Octo proposes paid access with these steps already done. You review the result and confirm it.

1. Create a plan under **Monetize** > **Paid access** with its scope, price, interval, and trial. Learn how in [Subscriptions, bundles, and paid access](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/subscriptions-bundles-and-paid-access).
2. Choose Genuin billing, or **Entitlement from token** if your own system bills. Entitlement needs auto login. Learn how in [Bring your audience in with auto login and SSO](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/auto-login-sso).
3. Publish. The paywall renders in the player.

## Settings

| Setting | What it controls |
| --- | --- |
| Scope | The groups, community, or event the plan gates |
| Price | What the plan costs, and its billing interval |
| Trial | An optional trial before the first charge |
| Tier mapping | Which value in your auto login token maps a member to each of your plans |

Change plans under **Monetize** > **Paid access**. The paywall re-renders as you change it.

## What it reports

**Reports** > **Subscriptions** shows these measures by plan and converting placement, so you learn which content sells access. [Revenue reporting, payouts, and the Creator Wallet](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/revenue-reporting-payouts-and-the-creator-wallet) explains how subscription revenue is paid out.

- **MRR**: monthly recurring revenue from each plan.
- **New**: members who started a plan.
- **Churned**: members who cancelled.
- **Reactivated**: members who came back after cancelling.

## Connect your systems

Entitlement from token needs the auto login flow your developers build. [How Auto Login works](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/genuin-auto-login) covers how a token from your backend becomes a signed-in member. [Add members to a community](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/add-members-to-a-community-programmatically-api) adds existing accounts from your own systems. [Update a group and its members](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/add-or-manage-group-members-collaborators-using-api) changes a group's members and access settings. Paid tiers can include ad-free viewing, and [Go live with monetization in your feeds, apps, and partner pages](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/go-live-with-monetization-in-your-feeds-apps-and-partner-pages) covers the ads they remove.

The tier and member import calls in the [Business Account API](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/business-account-api-provisioning-oauth-and-the-resource-map) are proposed, not live. [Live API today and the Business Account API roadmap](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/live-api-today-and-the-business-account-api-roadmap) maps what you can call now to what's planned.