Stripe handles your payments. Your email platform handles your communications. But most SaaS companies keep these systems in silos, missing opportunities to send relevant, timely emails based on billing events.

When a customer upgrades, you should thank them and help them use their new features. When a payment fails, you should alert them before their account gets suspended. When a subscription renews, you should reinforce the value they're getting. All of this requires connecting Stripe to your email marketing.

This guide walks through setting up that integration, the key events to trigger emails from, and the automations that drive real results.

Why Stripe Integration Matters

Payment events are some of the most important triggers for email. They represent real decisions and real money, which means users are paying attention.

When someone upgrades from free to paid, they've just demonstrated serious intent. An email at this moment has high open rates because the user is engaged and expecting confirmation. It's also a perfect opportunity to help them get value from what they just paid for.

When a payment fails, time is critical. The sooner you notify the user, the sooner they can fix it. Waiting even a day means more failed retry attempts and higher involuntary churn.

When a subscription is about to renew, especially on annual plans, users want to know before money leaves their account. A renewal reminder email prevents surprise charges, reduces chargebacks, and gives you a chance to reinforce value.

None of this works without connecting Stripe events to your email system.

Setting Up the Connection

There are two main approaches to connecting Stripe with your email marketing: using your email platform's native Stripe integration, or building a webhook-based integration.

Many email platforms now offer native Stripe integrations. You connect your Stripe account, and the platform automatically syncs customer data and payment events. This is the easiest path if your platform supports it. Check your email tool's integration marketplace.

If your platform doesn't have a native integration, or if you need more control, you'll build a webhook-based connection. Stripe sends webhooks when events happen (payment succeeded, subscription created, invoice upcoming, etc.). You set up an endpoint to receive these webhooks and trigger emails based on the event type.

For the webhook approach, you need to build a small server or use a service like Zapier to receive the webhooks and translate them into email triggers. The technical complexity depends on your stack, but the logic is straightforward: receive event, check event type, send appropriate email.

Essential Stripe Events for Email Triggers

Not every Stripe event needs an email. Focus on the events that represent meaningful moments in the customer relationship.

customer.subscription.created: A user started a paid subscription. Send a welcome email for new paying customers. Include help getting started with paid features and set expectations for billing.

customer.subscription.updated: The subscription changed. If it was an upgrade, send a thank you email with guidance on new features. If it was a downgrade, send an email acknowledging the change and asking for feedback.

customer.subscription.deleted: The subscription was cancelled. Send a confirmation of cancellation, include information about what happens to their account, and consider a win-back offer.

invoice.payment_succeeded: A payment went through. For first payments, this overlaps with subscription created. For recurring payments, this is your renewal confirmation.

invoice.payment_failed: A payment didn't go through. This is critical. Send an email immediately alerting the user and explaining how to update their payment method.

invoice.upcoming: Stripe sends this before an invoice is generated. Use it to send renewal reminders, especially for annual subscriptions where the amount is significant.

customer.source.expiring: The user's card is about to expire. Send a reminder to update their payment method before it causes a failed payment.

Automating Successful Payment Emails

When a payment succeeds, the email you send depends on context.

For first payments (new subscribers), send a welcome email that acknowledges the purchase and helps them get value. This isn't just a receipt. It's the beginning of your customer relationship. Include a clear next step, like setting up a key feature or booking an onboarding call.

Keep receipts separate. Stripe can send transactional receipts automatically, or you can send your own. Either way, the receipt and the welcome email should be different messages with different purposes. The receipt is a record. The welcome is engagement.

For recurring payments (renewals), especially on annual plans, send a renewal confirmation that reinforces value. "Your subscription just renewed. Here's what you accomplished this year..." is more powerful than a bare confirmation of charges.

For monthly renewals, you probably don't need an email every month. Monthly receipts become noise. Consider sending a quarterly summary instead, or only emailing when there's something meaningful to communicate.

Building Failed Payment Recovery Sequences

Failed payments cause involuntary churn. The user didn't decide to leave. Their credit card just didn't work. This is recoverable revenue if you act quickly.

Stripe has built-in dunning (Smart Retries), but you should complement it with email communication. When invoice.payment_failed fires, start a recovery sequence.

The first email goes out immediately. It should be helpful, not alarming. "There was an issue processing your payment" is better than "Your payment failed!" Explain what happened, what happens next (automatic retry), and how to update their payment method if needed.

Include a direct link to update payment. Don't make users figure out where to go. Deep link them to your billing settings or Stripe's customer portal.

If the first retry fails, send a follow-up email with more urgency. Reference that this is the second attempt. Emphasize the deadline before their account is affected.

If you're approaching the final retry or account suspension, be clear about consequences. "Your account will be downgraded in 3 days if payment isn't resolved." This creates urgency without being manipulative.

Throughout the sequence, make it easy to get help. Some users have payment issues they don't know how to resolve. A support email or chat option can save customers who would otherwise churn.

Renewal Reminder Emails

For annual subscriptions, send a reminder before renewal. This prevents surprise charges, reduces chargebacks and support requests, and gives you an opportunity to communicate value.

Send the reminder 7-14 days before renewal. This gives users time to review and take action if needed.

The email should include the renewal date, the amount that will be charged, and a summary of value received. "Your subscription renews on March 15 for $480. This past year, you've sent 24,000 emails and created 15 automations."

Include clear instructions for what to do if they don't want to renew. This feels counterintuitive, but transparency builds trust. Users who want to cancel will cancel anyway. Making it easy reduces frustration.

For monthly subscriptions, renewal reminders are usually unnecessary. Monthly charges are small enough that surprises are minor. But consider reminders for the first few months as users get used to recurring billing.

Upgrade and Expansion Emails

Stripe events can trigger emails that drive expansion revenue, not just retain existing revenue.

When a user approaches a plan limit (tracked in your application, not Stripe), send an upgrade prompt. "You've used 90% of your email sends this month. Upgrade to send more." Time this email to arrive before they actually hit the limit.

When a user's usage increases significantly, that's a signal of engagement and a potential upgrade opportunity. "You've doubled your email sends this month. If you're growing, our Pro plan might be a better fit."

When a user has been on the same plan for a long time without upgrading, consider a gentle check-in. "You've been on the Starter plan for 6 months. Here's what you could do with Pro." Don't be pushy, but make sure users know about higher tiers.

Technical Implementation Tips

When building Stripe webhook handling, verify the webhook signature. Stripe signs webhooks, and you should verify them to ensure the events are legitimate. This prevents spoofed events from triggering emails.

Handle webhooks idempotently. Stripe can send the same webhook multiple times. Your handler should check if you've already processed an event before triggering an email. Nobody wants duplicate "your payment failed" emails.

Process webhooks asynchronously. Return a 200 response to Stripe immediately, then process the event in a background job. This ensures you don't miss webhooks due to processing delays.

Log everything. Webhook debugging is hard without good logs. Log the event type, customer ID, and any actions taken. When something goes wrong, you'll be glad you did.

Test with Stripe's test mode. Send test events through your webhook endpoint before going live. Stripe's CLI can send test webhooks, making this easy.

Measuring Impact

Track these metrics for your Stripe-triggered emails:

For failed payment sequences, track recovery rate. What percentage of users with failed payments successfully resolve them? Good dunning sequences recover 20-50% of failed payments.

For upgrade prompts, track upgrade rate. What percentage of users who receive upgrade emails actually upgrade? Even small conversion rates add up at scale.

For renewal reminders, track churn rate around renewal. Do users who receive renewal reminders churn less than users who don't? Are there fewer chargebacks?

For all Stripe-triggered emails, watch for spam complaints. Billing emails should have near-zero complaint rates. If users are marking your payment emails as spam, something is wrong with tone, frequency, or relevance.

Putting It Together

A complete Stripe email integration includes:

New subscriber welcome emails (customer.subscription.created)
Upgrade acknowledgment emails (customer.subscription.updated)
Failed payment recovery sequence (invoice.payment_failed)
Renewal reminders for annual plans (invoice.upcoming)
Card expiration reminders (customer.source.expiring)
Cancellation confirmation and win-back (customer.subscription.deleted)

Start with failed payment emails because they have the most immediate ROI. Recovering even a small percentage of failed payments adds real revenue. Then add welcome and renewal emails to improve the customer experience. Finally, layer in upgrade prompts to drive expansion.

The connection between Stripe and email marketing isn't just a nice-to-have. It's how you prevent involuntary churn, maximize customer lifetime value, and communicate at the moments that matter most.