Payments

Orbit includes built-in payment processing powered by Stripe Connect, allowing you to collect payments for memberships, events, and courses. Payments go directly to your Stripe account — Orbit facilitates the checkout but never holds your funds and does not charge any commission or additional fees beyond Stripe's standard processing fees.

How It Works

Stripe Connect

Orbit uses Stripe Connect to process payments. This means:

• You own the relationship with Stripe — connect your own Stripe account and receive payments directly
• No middleman — funds go straight to your Stripe account, not through Orbit
• No commission — Orbit does not take a cut of any payment. You only pay Stripe's standard processing fees.
• PCI compliant — all payment processing happens on Stripe's secure, PCI DSS Level 1 certified infrastructure. Orbit never sees, stores, or processes credit card numbers or sensitive payment data.
• Secure checkout — customers are redirected to Stripe's hosted checkout page for payment, ensuring the highest level of security

Connecting Stripe

1. Navigate to Payments > Settings in the admin portal
2. Click Connect with Stripe
3. You'll be redirected to Stripe to authorize the connection
4. Once connected, your Stripe account ID and mode (test/live) are displayed
5. You can disconnect at any time

You can start in Stripe's test mode to verify everything works before going live.

What You Can Charge For

Memberships

Charge for membership levels with flexible billing:

• One-time payment — a single charge for lifetime membership
• Annual subscription — recurring yearly payments that automatically renew via Stripe

When a membership subscription renews, the member's membership is automatically extended. If a payment fails or a subscription is cancelled, the membership status is updated accordingly.

Events

Charge for event registration:

• Set a standard ticket price for all attendees
• Optionally set a member price — active members automatically receive the discounted price at checkout

Courses

Charge for course enrollment:

• Set a standard enrollment price
• Optionally set a member price for discounted member access

Coming Soon

• Resources — charge for access to premium resources
• Products — sell standalone products in addition to memberships, events, and courses

Checkout Experience

When a user purchases a membership, event ticket, or course enrollment:

1. They click the purchase/register/enroll button
2. Orbit verifies eligibility (membership status, capacity, etc.)
3. They are redirected to Stripe's secure hosted checkout page
4. After successful payment, they are returned to Orbit and the purchase is confirmed
5. A confirmation email is sent automatically

For subscriptions, Stripe handles all recurring billing, payment retries, and card updates. Members can manage their subscription from the Stripe billing portal (accessible from their membership page).

Subscription Management

For recurring payments (membership subscriptions):

• Automatic renewal — Stripe charges the member automatically at each billing cycle
• Billing portal — members can access Stripe's billing portal to update their payment method, view invoices, or cancel their subscription
• Cancellation — when a member cancels, they retain access until the end of the current billing period
• Reactivation — cancelled subscriptions can be reactivated before the billing period ends

Admins can also cancel or reactivate subscriptions from the admin portal.

Admin Dashboard

The admin portal provides a full view of all payment activity:

Purchase List

View all purchases with:

• User details
• Amount and currency
• Payment type (one-time or subscription)
• Status (pending, paid, failed, refunded, cancelled)
• Date
• Search by user email, name, or Stripe ID

Filter by status or payment type to find specific transactions.

Analytics

The admin dashboard shows:

• Total purchases — lifetime count of all purchases
• Total revenue — sum of all successful payments
• Active subscriptions — count of current recurring subscriptions
• Recent purchases — the latest transactions at a glance

Admin Actions

From the purchase detail page, admins can:

• Refund a purchase
• Cancel a subscription
• Reactivate a cancelled subscription (before the billing period ends)

Security

Payment security is handled entirely by Stripe:

• PCI DSS Level 1 — Stripe is certified to the highest level of PCI compliance. Orbit never touches card data.
• No card storage — credit card numbers and sensitive payment details are entered directly on Stripe's secure checkout page, never on Orbit's servers.
• Encrypted communication — all payment data is transmitted over TLS/SSL encryption.
• 3D Secure — Stripe supports 3D Secure (SCA) authentication for European payments and other regions that require it.
• Fraud prevention — Stripe's built-in fraud detection (Radar) helps protect against fraudulent transactions.

Coming Soon

The following features are planned:

• Additional payment processors — integration with PayPal, Braintree, and other payment platforms
• Accounting software integration — sync transactions with QuickBooks, Xero, and other accounting tools
• Paid resources — charge for access to premium content in your resource library
• Standalone products — sell products directly, beyond memberships, events, and courses