{"id":659,"date":"2025-09-05T11:59:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/?p=659"},"modified":"2025-09-05T11:59:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:59:19","slug":"building-a-simple-saas-billing-system-with-laravel-and-cashier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/building-a-simple-saas-billing-system-with-laravel-and-cashier\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Simple SaaS Billing System with Laravel and Cashier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Billing is at the heart of every SaaS application. Laravel provides a powerful integration with Stripe and Paddle via Laravel Cashier<\/strong>, making it easy to implement subscriptions, handle invoices, manage trials, and process payments. In this article, you\u2019ll learn how to build a simple SaaS billing system with Cashier, starting from installation and environment setup to building UI components for subscription management. We\u2019ll also cover migrations, controllers, Blade templates, and testing to ensure a production-ready billing system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Installing Laravel Cashier<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, install Cashier for Stripe (most common) or Paddle. We\u2019ll use Stripe in this example.<\/p>\n\n\n

composer require laravel\/cashier<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Next, add Stripe environment keys to your .env<\/code> file:<\/p>\n\n\n
STRIPE_KEY=pk_test_123\nSTRIPE_SECRET=sk_test_123<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Ensure you\u2019ve configured webhooks in your Stripe dashboard to point to \/stripe\/webhook<\/code>. Cashier will handle these automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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User Model & Database Setup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Add the Billable<\/code> trait to your User<\/code> model so it can manage subscriptions and payment methods.<\/p>\n\n\n
\/\/ app\/Models\/User.php<\/span>\nuse<\/span> Laravel<\/span>\\Cashier<\/span>\\Billable<\/span>;\n\nclass<\/span> User<\/span> extends<\/span> Authenticatable<\/span>\n<\/span>{\n    use<\/span> Billable<\/span>;\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Publish and run Cashier\u2019s migrations:<\/p>\n\n\n
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=\"cashier-migrations\"<\/span>\nphp artisan migrate<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This creates the necessary tables (subscriptions<\/code>, subscription_items<\/code>, etc.) to track active subscriptions and payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Controller for Subscription Management<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Create a controller to handle showing the billing page, starting a subscription, and canceling subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n
php artisan make:controller SubscriptionController<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
\/\/ app\/Http\/Controllers\/SubscriptionController.php<\/span>\nnamespace<\/span> App<\/span>\\Http<\/span>\\Controllers<\/span>;\n\nuse<\/span> Illuminate<\/span>\\Http<\/span>\\Request<\/span>;\n\nclass<\/span> SubscriptionController<\/span> extends<\/span> Controller<\/span>\n<\/span>{\n    public<\/span> function<\/span> index<\/span>(Request $request)<\/span>\n    <\/span>{\n        return<\/span> view('billing.index'<\/span>, [\n            'intent'<\/span> => $request->user()->createSetupIntent()\n        ]);\n    }\n\n    public<\/span> function<\/span> subscribe<\/span>(Request $request)<\/span>\n    <\/span>{\n        $request->validate(['paymentMethod'<\/span> => 'required'<\/span>]);\n\n        $request->user()->newSubscription('default'<\/span>, 'price_basic'<\/span>)\n            ->create($request->paymentMethod);\n\n        return<\/span> redirect()->route('billing.index'<\/span>)\n            ->with('success'<\/span>, 'Subscription started!'<\/span>);\n    }\n\n    public<\/span> function<\/span> cancel<\/span>(Request $request)<\/span>\n    <\/span>{\n        $request->user()->subscription('default'<\/span>)?->cancel();\n        return<\/span> back()->with('success'<\/span>,'Subscription canceled.'<\/span>);\n    }\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This controller allows users to subscribe to a Stripe price ID (price_basic<\/code>) and cancel their subscriptions. Replace with your Stripe product price IDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Routes & Middleware<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\/\/ routes\/web.php<\/span>\nuse<\/span> App<\/span>\\Http<\/span>\\Controllers<\/span>\\SubscriptionController<\/span>;\n\nRoute::middleware(['auth'<\/span>])->group(function<\/span> ()<\/span> <\/span>{\n    Route::get('\/billing'<\/span>, [SubscriptionController::class,'index'<\/span>])->name('billing.index'<\/span>);\n    Route::post('\/billing\/subscribe'<\/span>, [SubscriptionController::class,'subscribe'<\/span>])->name('billing.subscribe'<\/span>);\n    Route::post('\/billing\/cancel'<\/span>, [SubscriptionController::class,'cancel'<\/span>])->name('billing.cancel'<\/span>);\n});<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Restrict billing routes to authenticated users so each subscription ties to a user account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Blade Billing UI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
<!-- resources\/views\/billing\/index.blade.php -->\n<h2>Billing<\/h2>\n\n@if<\/span>(session('success'<\/span>))\n    <p style=\"color:green\"<\/span>>{{ session('success'<\/span>) }}<\/p>\n@endif<\/span>\n\n@if<\/span>(! auth()->user()->subscribed('default'<\/span>))\n    <form id=\"subscribe-form\"<\/span> method=\"POST\"<\/span> action=\"{{ route('billing.subscribe') }}\"<\/span>>\n        @csrf\n        <label>Card<\/label>\n        <div id=\"card-element\"<\/span>><\/div>\n        <input type=\"hidden\"<\/span> name=\"paymentMethod\"<\/span> id=\"payment-method\"<\/span> \/>\n        <button type=\"submit\"<\/span>>Subscribe<\/button>\n    <\/form>\n@else<\/span>\n    <p>You are subscribed.<\/p>\n    <form method=\"POST\"<\/span> action=\"{{ route('billing.cancel') }}\"<\/span>>\n        @csrf\n        <button>Cancel Subscription<\/button>\n    <\/form>\n@endif<\/span>\n\n<script src=\"https:\/\/js.stripe.com\/v3\/\"<\/span>><\/script>\n<script>\nconst<\/span> stripe = Stripe('{{ config('<\/span>cashier.key') }}'<\/span>);\nconst<\/span> elements = stripe.elements();\nconst<\/span> card = elements.create('card'<\/span>);\ncard.mount('#card-element'<\/span>);\n\nconst<\/span> form = document.getElementById('subscribe-form'<\/span>);\nif<\/span> (form) {\n    form.addEventListener('submit'<\/span>, async (e) => {\n        e.preventDefault();\n        const<\/span> {paymentMethod, error} = await stripe.createPaymentMethod('card'<\/span>, card);\n        if<\/span> (error) {\n            alert(error.message);\n        } else<\/span> {\n            document.getElementById('payment-method'<\/span>).value = paymentMethod.id;\n            form.submit();\n        }\n    });\n}\n<\/script><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This UI integrates Stripe Elements to securely capture card details. On subscribe, it creates a payment method and posts it to Laravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Invoices and Trials<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cashier includes helpers for invoices and trials:<\/p>\n\n\n
\/\/ Display invoices<\/span>\n$invoices = auth()->user()->invoices();\n\n\/\/ Add free trial on subscription creation<\/span>\n$request->user()->newSubscription('default'<\/span>, 'price_basic'<\/span>)\n    ->trialDays(14<\/span>)\n    ->create($request->paymentMethod);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
You can display invoices in a Blade template and allow users to download PDF receipts easily with $invoice->asPdf()<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Testing the Billing Flow<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can fake Stripe in tests using Laravel\u2019s HTTP client mocking or by using Stripe test cards in a sandbox environment.<\/p>\n\n\n
\/\/ tests\/Feature\/SubscriptionTest.php<\/span>\nuse<\/span> Tests<\/span>\\TestCase<\/span>;\n\nclass<\/span> SubscriptionTest<\/span> extends<\/span> TestCase<\/span>\n<\/span>{\n    public<\/span> function<\/span> test_user_sees_billing_page<\/span>()<\/span>\n    <\/span>{\n        $user = User::factory()->create();\n        $this<\/span>->actingAs($user)\n            ->get('\/billing'<\/span>)\n            ->assertStatus(200<\/span>);\n    }\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Feature tests confirm authenticated users can access billing pages. For integration tests, use Stripe\u2019s test keys and cards to simulate subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Wrapping Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With Laravel Cashier, you can implement SaaS billing quickly and reliably. You\u2019ve seen how to set up Cashier, manage subscriptions, integrate Stripe Elements, handle trials, and provide invoices. Extend this foundation with plan upgrades\/downgrades, team billing, coupons, and advanced reporting as your SaaS grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What\u2019s Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Continue learning about payments and subscriptions in Laravel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n