# Subscription receipt A recurring subscription receipt template with the billing period, the amount, and the next charge date. Table-based HTML, a text alternative, an idempotency key, and code in TypeScript, Python, and curl. A renewal receipt is the same charge, every month, to somebody who has stopped thinking about it. That is exactly why it must be sent: the alternative is a customer who notices the line on a statement instead and calls it fraud. What separates this from a one-off receipt is the period. Say which dates the money bought and when the next charge lands, because a subscriber who can see the next date is a subscriber who cancels in your dashboard rather than at their bank. Topics: subscription receipt, renewal, recurring billing, saas. ## When it sends On each successful renewal charge, from the payment provider webhook. A failed renewal is a different email, and it should not look like this one. ## What you need - **An emails.sh API key**: Created in the dashboard, starting with esh_. It stays on your server. - **A sending domain**: Verified with three DNS records, or send from onboarding@emails.sh until yours is ready. - **The renewal event**: The invoice paid webhook, with the period it covers and the amount that settled. - **The next charge date**: The date your billing system will act on. Naming it prevents most billing tickets. ## Subject ```text {{PRODUCT_NAME}} subscription renewed, {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}} ``` ## HTML body ```html Subscription renewed

Your subscription renewed

{{TOTAL_AMOUNT}} was charged to the card ending {{CARD_LAST4}} for {{PLAN_NAME}}, covering {{PERIOD_START}} to {{PERIOD_END}}.

Invoice

Plan

Period

{{PERIOD_START}} to {{PERIOD_END}}

Charged

Next charge

View invoice

Button not working? Paste this into your browser:
{{INVOICE_URL}}

Change plan, update the card, or cancel before {{NEXT_CHARGE_DATE}}: {{BILLING_URL}}.

{{PRODUCT_NAME}} sends a receipt for every renewal.

``` ## Plain text body ```text Your subscription renewed {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}} was charged to the card ending {{CARD_LAST4}} for {{PLAN_NAME}}, covering {{PERIOD_START}} to {{PERIOD_END}}. Invoice: {{INVOICE_NUMBER}} Plan: {{PLAN_NAME}} Period: {{PERIOD_START}} to {{PERIOD_END}} Charged: {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}} Next charge: {{NEXT_CHARGE_DATE}} View invoice: {{INVOICE_URL}} Change plan, update the card, or cancel before {{NEXT_CHARGE_DATE}}: {{BILLING_URL}} ``` ## Placeholders | Placeholder | What it is | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | {{PRODUCT_NAME}} | Who charged them. | Acme | | {{PLAN_NAME}} | The plan that renewed. | Team, 5 seats | | {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}} | What was charged. | $120.00 | | {{PERIOD_START}} | First day the payment covers. | 1 August 2026 | | {{PERIOD_END}} | Last day the payment covers. | 31 August 2026 | | {{NEXT_CHARGE_DATE}} | When the next charge happens. | 1 September 2026 | | {{CARD_LAST4}} | The card charged. | 4242 | | {{INVOICE_NUMBER}} | Your reference for this renewal. | INV-2026-08-0031 | | {{INVOICE_URL}} | The hosted invoice or receipt. | https://acme.com/invoices/INV-2026-08-0031 | | {{BILLING_URL}} | Where they change plan or cancel. | https://acme.com/settings/billing | ## How it works 1. **The renewal charge settles** The invoice paid webhook arrives with the period and the amount. 2. **You send this** Keyed on the invoice number, so a retried webhook cannot duplicate it. 3. **They see the next date** Which is the number that stops a cancellation becoming a chargeback. 4. **A failure takes another path** A declined renewal gets its own email that says what to fix and by when. ## Code ### TypeScript `npm install @emails.sh/sdk` ``` import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'; import { Emailssh } from '@emails.sh/sdk'; const mail = new Emailssh({ apiKey: process.env.EMAILSSH_API_KEY }); // What changes per send. In your app these come from the row you just // wrote, not from literals. const vars: Record = { PRODUCT_NAME: 'Acme', PLAN_NAME: 'Team, 5 seats', TOTAL_AMOUNT: '$120.00', PERIOD_START: '1 August 2026', PERIOD_END: '31 August 2026', NEXT_CHARGE_DATE: '1 September 2026', CARD_LAST4: '4242', INVOICE_NUMBER: 'INV-2026-08-0031', INVOICE_URL: 'https://acme.com/invoices/INV-2026-08-0031', BILLING_URL: 'https://acme.com/settings/billing', }; const fill = (body: string) => Object.entries(vars).reduce( (out, [name, value]) => out.replaceAll('{{' + name + '}}', value), body ); const { id } = await mail.send({ from: 'Acme ', to: ['ada@example.com'], subject: fill('{{PRODUCT_NAME}} subscription renewed, {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}}'), html: fill(readFileSync('email.html', 'utf8')), text: fill(readFileSync('email.txt', 'utf8')), idempotencyKey: 'renewal-' + vars.INVOICE_NUMBER, tags: { type: 'subscription-receipt' } }); // Queued, not delivered. Ask for the id later, or take the webhook. console.log(id); ``` ### Python `pip install emailssh` ``` import os from emailssh import Emailssh mail = Emailssh(api_key=os.environ["EMAILSSH_API_KEY"]) # What changes per send. In your app these come from the row you just # wrote, not from literals. values = { "PRODUCT_NAME": "Acme", "PLAN_NAME": "Team, 5 seats", "TOTAL_AMOUNT": "$120.00", "PERIOD_START": "1 August 2026", "PERIOD_END": "31 August 2026", "NEXT_CHARGE_DATE": "1 September 2026", "CARD_LAST4": "4242", "INVOICE_NUMBER": "INV-2026-08-0031", "INVOICE_URL": "https://acme.com/invoices/INV-2026-08-0031", "BILLING_URL": "https://acme.com/settings/billing", } def fill(body: str) -> str: for name, value in values.items(): body = body.replace("{{" + name + "}}", value) return body with open("email.html", encoding="utf-8") as f: html = f.read() with open("email.txt", encoding="utf-8") as f: text = f.read() sent = mail.send( # from_ rather than from, which is a Python keyword. from_="Acme ", to=["ada@example.com"], subject=fill("{{PRODUCT_NAME}} subscription renewed, {{TOTAL_AMOUNT}}"), html=fill(html), text=fill(text), idempotency_key="renewal-" + values["INVOICE_NUMBER"], tags={"type": "subscription-receipt"}, ) # Queued, not delivered. Ask for the id later, or take the webhook. print(sent["id"]) ``` ### curl `Anywhere with curl and jq` ``` export EMAILSSH_API_KEY=esh_live_... # The API substitutes nothing, so fill the placeholders before you post. fill() { sed \ -e 's|{{PRODUCT_NAME}}|Acme|g' \ -e 's|{{PLAN_NAME}}|Team, 5 seats|g' \ -e 's|{{TOTAL_AMOUNT}}|$120.00|g' \ -e 's|{{PERIOD_START}}|1 August 2026|g' \ -e 's|{{PERIOD_END}}|31 August 2026|g' \ -e 's|{{NEXT_CHARGE_DATE}}|1 September 2026|g' \ -e 's|{{CARD_LAST4}}|4242|g' \ -e 's|{{INVOICE_NUMBER}}|INV-2026-08-0031|g' \ -e 's|{{INVOICE_URL}}|https://acme.com/invoices/INV-2026-08-0031|g' \ -e 's|{{BILLING_URL}}|https://acme.com/settings/billing|g' "$1" } curl -sS https://emails.sh/v1/emails \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $EMAILSSH_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d "$(jq -n \ --arg subject 'Acme subscription renewed, $120.00' \ --arg html "$(fill email.html)" \ --arg text "$(fill email.txt)" \ '{from: "Acme ", to: ["ada@example.com"], subject: $subject, html: $html, text: $text, idempotency_key: "renewal-INV-2026-08-0031", tags: {type: "subscription-receipt"}}')" ``` ## Questions ### Should a failed renewal use this template? No. A dunning email has a different job: it says what failed, what will be retried, when access stops, and where to fix the card. Reusing the receipt for it reads as though the money went through. ### Monthly receipts feel like clutter. Can we skip them? Skipping them moves the discovery of the charge to a bank statement, which is the most expensive place a customer can find it. It is also the sort of thing card networks look at when a dispute rate climbs. ### Where do tax details go? On the invoice document behind the link, which is where a finance team looks anyway. Keep the email to the summary and let the hosted copy carry the full breakdown. Docs: https://emails.sh/docs.md All templates: https://emails.sh/templates.md