--- title: "Subscription Main Concepts" slug: "subscriptions-main-concepts" updated: 2026-03-26T16:04:13Z published: 2026-03-26T16:04:13Z canonical: "learn.servitly.com/subscriptions-main-concepts" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://learn.servitly.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Subscription Main Concepts The DPS allows you to offer digital services that your users can subscribe to in order to access value-added features for their products. Digital services are not just for your customers, but can also be offered to your channel partners (resellers, technical support centers, etc.). > [!NOTE] > These main concepts are referring to the new subsction management feature, which replace the old one based on [Service Levels](/v1/docs/service-levels). Here are the main concepts involved in subscription management: - **Subscriber**: The entity that is paying for the Subscription (Customer or Partner). A Customer or Partner can have only one Subscription active at a time. The Subscription is always paid to the root Organization. - **Provider**: The entity that collects the subscription income and provides the Digital Services. - **Subscription***:* The set of services (plans, add-ons) that have been activated on products/machines. It defines the billing cycle (1 year), the renewal date, the total cost, and the payment method. It acts as the container for all plans and add-ons the customer has activated over time. - **Digital Services**: The definition of Plans, Add-ons, Availabilities, and Pricings that a Customer or a Partner can subscribe. - **Plan**: A base service tier that determines the core set of features available to the customer's machines (e.g., Base or Premium). A plan is applied at the thing level and defines the features available on the product/machine. Only one Plan at a time can be activated for a product/machine or customer (according to the selected Subscription Mode). There is always a default plan named Base, which is free of charge. - **Add-on***:* An optional, paid extension that can be activated on top of a plan. Add-ons provide specialized capabilities beyond the plans (e.g., Aided Production, AI Assistant) and can be priced. Multiple add-ons can be activated for a product/machine or customer (according to the selected Subscription Mode). - **Feature**: A specific functional capability made available within a plan or add-on. Features are what the customer actually uses day-to-day (e.g., real-time alerts, remote monitoring, AI-driven insights). Plans and add-ons are essentially bundles of features. - **Availability and Pricing Model***:* The availability and cost structure associated with plans and add-ons. A plan or add-on can be made available only to a specific [Product Model](/v1/docs/product-model) or Segment. Pricing can vary based on the product model and Segment. - **Segment**: A grouping or classification of machines (or customers) used to make plans/add-ons available, or redefine the default pricing. Segments allow the platform to differentiate offerings based on deployment country. At the moment, a segment can reference multiple countries. Everything that is not inside any segment is automatically applied to the default segment, which defines availability and pricing per model. - **Subscription Mode**: Define how the digital services (Plans and Add-ons) are configured - *By Thing*: Each product/machine can have its own plan and add-ons (e.g., Machine-1: *Premium + Performance Advisory*, Machine-2: *Base + Performance Advisory*). - *Flat*: All the products/machines under the customer or managed by a partner are associated with the same selected plan and add-ons. - **Trial**: It is a time-limited period (e.g., one month) during which Subscribers can try all available features without paying immediately. - **Subscription Fee**: The recurring amount the customer or partner will pay yearly to the OEM to keep using the included Features. - **Payment**: The amount paid by the Subscriber from time to time. For instance, each time the Subscription is upgraded or renewed. - **Payment Method**: It defines how a Subscriber pays for a Subscription (upgrade or renewal). It is possible to leverage one of the integrated payment gateways (e.g., [Stripe](/docs/stripe)), or manage payment externally, and in this case, it is up to the OEM's back office to verify and update the payment status. A subscription has a default Payment Method, which will be used for recurring fee collection. This schema reports how the various subscription elements are interconnected. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6759e9c9-3ce3-49df-965a-7231d2d9a10a/Images/Documentation/image-VH7BWHBS.png) In the DPS, the Subscription management involves different users (the Subscriber and the Provider), each one with their dedicated view: - [Subscription Management for Customers](/v1/docs/customer-subscription-management) - [Subscription Management for Partners](/v1/docs/service-subscription-management) - [Subscription Management for the Organization](/v1/docs/organization-subscription-management) - [Payment Management page for the Organization](/v1/docs/organization-payment-management) For more details on how to configure the Digital Services, you can refer to the [Digital Services Configuration](/v1/docs/digital-services-configuration) article.