Coupon

A coupon is a reusable discount rule in Stripe that reduces what a customer pays by either a percentage or a fixed amount. It defines the shape of a discount — how much off and for how long — and is applied to a customer, subscription, or invoice to create an actual discount.

How coupons work

A coupon carries a value and a duration:

• Value — percent_off (e.g. 20% off) or amount_off in a fixed currency amount (e.g. $10 off).
• Duration — once (a single invoice), repeating for a set number of months, or forever (every invoice while it applies).
• Limits — optional max_redemptions, a redeem_by expiry date, and restrictions like minimum order amount.

When a coupon is attached, Stripe subtracts its value from the invoice subtotal before tax, and the resulting reduction shows as a discount line.

Coupons vs promotion codes

A coupon is the internal rule; customers never type a coupon ID. A promotion code is the customer-facing string (like LAUNCH20) that maps to a coupon and can be shared or entered at checkout. One coupon can back many promotion codes.

Why it matters

Coupons are how you run launch offers, win-back deals, and negotiated discounts without changing your published prices. Because a discount reduces the amount billed, it directly lowers realized MRR for the duration it applies — a forever 20% coupon permanently discounts that customer's contribution, while a once coupon only dents the first invoice. Tracking which coupons are live keeps you from being surprised when discounted revenue doesn't match list pricing.