# How do I migrate an active subscription program (Recharge, Skio, or a legacy platform's native subscriptions) during a full platform replatform?

Reviewed by Martin Dejnicki, Director of SEO & AI Search · facts verified October 9, 2026 · canonical: https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/migrate-active-subscriptions-during-replatform

## Short answer

An active subscription program moves as its own project after the storefront cutover, because missed or doubled charges have no rollback. Cards saved at Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net, and PayPal billing agreements, bill through their processor as a secondary gateway on any plan ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information)). Moving card numbers instead needs Shopify Plus or Enterprise ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026).

- **Processors Shopify migrates from:** Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express, Authorize.net. Each connects as a secondary gateway that bills existing contracts only; new or updated contracts charge the primary gateway (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods))
- **Card-number migration:** Shopify Plus or Enterprise only. A paid Shopify Professional Services migration of credit card numbers, with no PayPal billing agreements, wallets or bank accounts. Token migration runs on every plan (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods))
- **Slow drip below Plus:** Months or even years. Without a card-number migration, cards reach the primary gateway only as customers update their billing details, so the old processor stays connected (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods))
- **Charge-date buffer:** At least three days out. Recharge's migration guide moves charge dates at least three days past the migration date and recommends migrating earlier in the week (October 2026) ([Recharge Help Center, Migrating to Recharge](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008830853-Migrating-to-Recharge); [Recharge Help Center, When should I process my migration?](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470971987479-When-should-I-process-my-migration))

## Deploi's call

Do not migrate subscriptions in the replatform cutover. We scored subscription platform migration CUSTOMIZE in our Build vs. Buy corpus: you buy the destination platform and build the glue the vendor import skips. Keep the existing subscription platform billing straight through launch and move the program as a second, separately scoped project.

**CUSTOMIZE: Script the move as its own project when**

- Your program has about 10,000 subscribers or more, or bundles and custom portal logic, the profile [our subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) scores CUSTOMIZE (October 2026).
- The old processor is Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express or Authorize.net, so saved cards and PayPal billing agreements keep billing through a secondary gateway ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), [Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026).
- The storefront has launched, so the old app can pause billing for the migration window.
- Someone owns a subscriber-by-subscriber check of the first cycle's charge dates and amounts, before and after it bills.

**BUY: Buy the destination's migration service when**

- Fewer than about 2,000 subscribers sit on simple replenishment plans, where [our subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) calls the vendor's service the right buy (October 2026).
- The vendor confirms in writing that contracts and payment methods transfer without re-collection, the answer [our subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) says sets half the cost.
- No bundles or coupons need to cross: Recharge's Migr8 formatter, for one, can't carry them from any platform it migrates into Recharge ([Recharge Help Center](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/21540011979031-Automating-customer-and-subscription-data-migration-to-Recharge-with-Migr8), October 2026).

## When in a replatform should the subscription program move?

The subscription program should move after the storefront launch, in its own billing window, because its failure mode is a charge that doesn't happen, or happens twice. A replatform moves content, catalog, customers and orders, and a bad launch night has a rollback. A subscription program moves subscribers' billing permissions, and a missed or doubled charge has none. Shopify's migration guide adds a practical reason: "We strongly recommend that you pause any billing in your current application while migrating customer payment methods and contracts" ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026). Pausing billing on the night a storefront launches stacks two risks in one window. So Recharge or Skio keeps charging on the old cadence through launch, and only the product page's subscribe-and-save options ship with the new theme. See [why the subscription app keeps its own timeline](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/native-subscriptions-or-keep-recharge-skio) for the full sequencing case.

## What has to be in place before the contracts import?

Customers, products, a connection to the old processor and the payment methods have to be in place before the contracts import. Shopify says customer profiles must exist before payment methods can migrate, and products must exist before contracts can be recreated ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026).

1. **Import customers and products.** Each customer record needs an email address, first name and last name, because Shopify uses them for subscription emails ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026).
1. **Connect the old processor as a secondary gateway.** Shopify migrates customer payment information from four processors: Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express and Authorize.net ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods)). If yours isn't one of them, the project starts as a processor move. Skio recommends moving the payment data to a compatible gateway "such as Stripe or Authorize.net" ([Skio Help Center](https://help.skio.com/docs/migrations-migrating-subscriptions-from-outside-of-shopify-woocommerce-bigcommerce-magento-custom-solutions), October 2026).
1. **Import the payment methods by reference.** Shopify's `customerPaymentMethodRemoteCreate` takes a Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net reference, and PayPal billing agreements have their own mutation ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information)). The card stays in the processor's vault, and [what happens to billing dates and payment tokens after the move](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/subscription-billing-cycles-payment-tokens-migration) has its own answer. Shopify's bulk operations import large volumes of customers and payment methods without spending the store's application programming interface (API) rate limits.

## How does billing cut over without a double charge?

Billing cuts over without a double charge when the old app stops billing before Shopify's contracts start, which is the pause Shopify recommends ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026).

1. **Pause the old app and push charge dates out.** Recharge's migration guide says: "To be safe, move charge dates at least three days out from your migration date" ([Recharge Help Center](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008830853-Migrating-to-Recharge), October 2026). Recharge also recommends migrating earlier in the week, because its migration team isn't staffed at weekends ([Recharge Help Center](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470971987479-When-should-I-process-my-migration)). The buffer leaves time to fix a bad import before anyone is charged.
1. **Recreate the contracts.** Shopify's `subscriptionContractAtomicCreate` takes the customer, the next billing date, the currency, a contract with its status, payment method, billing policy and delivery policy, and the lines ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-subscription-contracts), October 2026). Each line carries its own price, which is where [grandfathered subscription prices survive or get lost](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/grandfathered-subscription-pricing-migration). Shopify's bulk operations also import large numbers of contracts without counting against the store's rate limits.
1. **Check the first cycle before it bills, then reconcile it.** Before the first Shopify charge runs, compare each contract's next billing date and amount with the old platform's last charge log, subscriber by subscriber. Once the cycle bills, reconcile the actual charges against that log too. Then switch off recurring billing in the old platform and close its sign-ups, because Skio leaves both jobs to the merchant ([Skio Help Center](https://help.skio.com/docs/migrations-migrating-subscriptions-from-outside-of-shopify-woocommerce-bigcommerce-magento-custom-solutions), October 2026).

## Which payment migration steps depend on your Shopify plan?

Two payment migration steps depend on your Shopify plan: moving card numbers needs Shopify Plus or Enterprise, and storing cards for one-time purchases needs Enterprise ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026). Token migration runs on every plan.

**Moving card numbers needs Plus or Enterprise and one-time saved payment methods need Enterprise, while token migration runs on every plan**

| Migration step | Plan or condition |
| --- | --- |
| Payment tokens billed through a secondary gateway | Every plan, with your subscription app developer |
| Card numbers moved by Shopify Professional Services | Plus or Enterprise; a paid service; credit cards only |
| Switching off the secondary gateway before every card has moved | Plus or Enterprise, through that card-number migration |
| Saved payment methods for one-time purchases | Enterprise |

Sources: [Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods). Verified October 9, 2026.

Below Plus, the old processor stays connected until the last payment method has moved. A card moves only when its owner updates their billing details, so Shopify warns that this slow drip "can take months or even years" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods)). Budget for the old processor account long after launch.

## What won't come across, whatever the vendor says?

History, analytics and several kinds of subscription won't come across, whatever the vendor says. Recharge's guide is plain: "Analytic information is not migrated during subscription migrations" and "Historical data is not migrated during subscription migrations" ([Recharge Help Center](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008830853-Migrating-to-Recharge), October 2026). Migrated customers "will show as new customers on the date your migration is completed", so cohort reports restart at cutover.

- **Recharge's Migr8 formatter** lists bundles and coupons as unsupported from every platform it migrates into Recharge, and prepaid subscriptions from most of them. It turns any non-active subscription into a cancelled one, so paused subscribers arrive cancelled. Each formatter stops at 100,000 subscriptions ([Recharge Help Center](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/21540011979031-Automating-customer-and-subscription-data-migration-to-Recharge-with-Migr8), October 2026).
- **Skio** can't migrate "Prepaid gift" subscriptions from outside Shopify "at this time". Its migration queue runs 1 to 3 weeks that "cannot be expedited", with no second round ([Skio Help Center](https://help.skio.com/docs/migrations-migrating-subscriptions-from-outside-of-shopify-woocommerce-bigcommerce-magento-custom-solutions), October 2026).
- **Business-to-business (B2B) replenishment and Wix Stores subscriptions** don't come across at all. Shopify lists subscriptions as incompatible with B2B ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/getting-started/considerations), [Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/b2b)), so [B2B replenishment has no subscription object to land in](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-recurring-replenishment-orders-migration). [Wix Stores subscriptions have no contract export](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/wix-stores-subscriptions-memberships-migration) either.
- **A move between two Shopify stores** brings vault rules of its own: see [consolidating subscriptions from one Shopify store into another](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/store-consolidation-subscription-migration).
- **Loyalty balances** travel separately: see [moving loyalty points and tiers in the same replatform](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/migrate-loyalty-points-tiers-and-history).

## When should the subscription move wait?

The subscription move should wait whenever a second risk would share its billing window, because a failed renewal is harder to undo than a failed page.

> **When not to do this**
> - **While the storefront cutover is still in flight.** The old app can't pause billing for the migration until the new store is stable.
> - **When your processor isn't Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express or Authorize.net.** Those are the four processors Shopify migrates payment information from. Move the card data to Stripe or Authorize.net first, as Skio advises ([Skio Help Center](https://help.skio.com/docs/migrations-migrating-subscriptions-from-outside-of-shopify-woocommerce-bigcommerce-magento-custom-solutions), October 2026), then migrate the program.
> - **When the destination is the other half of Recharge and Skio.** Recharge announced in April 2026 that "Skio is joining the Recharge team" and that, for merchants on both platforms, "nothing is changing today" ([Recharge](https://getrecharge.com/blog/recharge-welcomes-skio-to-build-the-future-of-subscription-commerce/), October 2026). Recharge adds: "More details on the combined roadmap are coming in the months ahead". [Our subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) says to wait on a Skio-to-Recharge move until that roadmap is in writing. [Our Recharge vs. native record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/recharge-vs-native-subscriptions) weighs exit terms as heavily as features meanwhile.
> - **Inside the quarter before peak.** [Our replatforming record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/replatforming-to-shopify) wants the replatform itself finished at least a full quarter before peak season, so the subscription move follows peak rather than landing in it.

## Deploi's point of view

**What we've seen.** The part that actually ships with the new theme is the purchase-option selector on the product page: subscribe-and-save, cadence choice, price display. Treating that as theme work rather than migration work is what lets the two projects run independently.

**Where we disagree.** Migration vendors sell a one-weekend cutover with everything in it. The contract data will usually cooperate. The payment mandates are the part that decides whether you keep the revenue, and they answer to the processor's vault and a plan gate, not to the project plan.

## When this answer changes

- Shopify adds a processor to the four it migrates payment information from, or opens card-number migration below Plus.
- Recharge publishes the combined Recharge and Skio roadmap, or changes migration terms on either platform.
- Recharge's Migr8 starts carrying bundles, coupons or prepaid subscriptions, or lifts its 100,000-subscription limit.
- Skio shortens its 1 to 3 week migration queue, or starts moving Prepaid gift subscriptions from outside Shopify.
- Shopify makes subscriptions compatible with business-to-business orders.

## Follow-up questions

- [What happens to active subscription contracts' billing cycles and payment tokens when migrating subscribers between any platform and Shopify's subscription data model?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/subscription-billing-cycles-payment-tokens-migration)
- [How do B2B recurring/replenishment orders (distinct from consumer subscriptions) migrate their contract-level scheduling data to Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-recurring-replenishment-orders-migration)
- [How do I migrate loyalty program points/tiers/history to Shopify during a full replatform?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/migrate-loyalty-points-tiers-and-history)
- [How do subscription discount/pricing-lock contracts (grandfathered pricing) get preserved when migrating the underlying subscription data to Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/grandfathered-subscription-pricing-migration)
- [How do we migrate active subscription contracts (Recharge, Skio, or native Shopify Subscriptions) from one Shopify store to another during consolidation?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/store-consolidation-subscription-migration)
- [How does Wix Stores' native subscription/membership feature migrate to Shopify, given Shopify's subscriptions are app-based, not native by default?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/wix-stores-subscriptions-memberships-migration)

## Sources

1. [Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), checked October 9, 2026
2. [Shopify developer docs, Migrate customer information to Shopify](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), checked October 9, 2026
3. [Shopify developer docs, Migrating existing subscription contracts to Shopify](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-subscription-contracts), checked October 9, 2026
4. [Shopify developer docs, Apps and B2B](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/b2b), checked October 9, 2026
5. [Recharge Help Center, Migrating to Recharge](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008830853-Migrating-to-Recharge), checked October 9, 2026
6. [Recharge Help Center, When should I process my migration?](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470971987479-When-should-I-process-my-migration), checked October 9, 2026
7. [Recharge Help Center, Automating customer and subscription data migration to Recharge with Migr8](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/21540011979031-Automating-customer-and-subscription-data-migration-to-Recharge-with-Migr8), checked October 9, 2026
8. [Skio Help Center, Migrating subscriptions from outside of Shopify (Woocommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Custom solutions)](https://help.skio.com/docs/migrations-migrating-subscriptions-from-outside-of-shopify-woocommerce-bigcommerce-magento-custom-solutions), checked October 9, 2026
9. [Recharge, Recharge welcomes Skio to build the future of subscription commerce](https://getrecharge.com/blog/recharge-welcomes-skio-to-build-the-future-of-subscription-commerce/), checked October 9, 2026
10. [Shopify Help Center, Requirements and considerations for using B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/getting-started/considerations), checked October 9, 2026
11. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Recharge Alternatives: Build or Buy the Subscription Migration?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research
12. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Recharge vs. Native Shopify Subscriptions: Worth the Fees?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/recharge-vs-native-subscriptions), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research
13. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Should You Replatform?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/replatforming-to-shopify), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research