Stripe keeps test payments and real payments apart. In test mode a card purchase runs through your whole checkout, but Stripe charges no card and no money moves. That lets you check products, emails and access before your first customer pays.
One live and one test connection
Your workspace can hold two Stripe connections at the same time: one live and one test. The Stripe box on the payments overview shows them as two rows, Live for real payments from your customers and Test for safe testing with Stripe test cards. Each row is connected and disconnected on its own.
Your catalog is synced to both. Your active prices are created in the live and in the test Stripe account, so you never set up a product twice.
Starting in test mode
As long as nothing is connected, the Stripe box offers Start in test mode below Connect with Stripe. It connects your Stripe account in test mode, the same way as the live connection. Once one connection exists, the button is gone, and the row that is still empty offers Connect with Stripe for its own mode. A connection made under Settings > Integrations is always live.
Who sees which mode
Your buyers always get the live checkout. Test mode is only for you and only covers cards through Stripe. Offline payment methods on the same page stay real. Buyers only ever see your live PayPal account. A sandbox PayPal account is offered only in test mode. Open the checkout link of a product while you are signed in with View Payments, and the Admin Toolbar appears above the checkout. Switch it from Live to Test and the page reloads in test mode. A mode you have not connected is grayed out.
With only a test connection, buyers who open your checkout link are told that
checkout is unavailable, unless a live PayPal account or an offline payment
method can take the payment or there is nothing to pay. To test in this state, add
?mode=test to the end of the checkout link while you are signed in. Run a
test purchase on the payments overview and at the end of the product wizard
opens the checkout with exactly that.
Running a test purchase
In test mode the checkout says so and names a Stripe test card: 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future date and any CVC. Name, email address and address are filled in for a test buyer with your own email address, so the confirmation reaches your inbox. Stripe lists further test cards, for example for declined payments or extra authentication, in its testing documentation.
A test purchase goes through the same steps as a real one: the buyer gets access, the confirmation emails go out and, if invoices are issued automatically, an invoice is created. The order is marked as a test, and so is a subscription that comes from it.
To try a purchase without any Stripe connection, create an order by hand under Payments > Sales > Orders, choose Mark as paid as the payment and switch on Simulate test purchase. This needs Update Orders / Customers.
Where test purchases show up
Test purchases are kept apart in most places where money is counted:
- Every figure on the payments overview leaves them out, including Monthly churn, Avg. customer lifetime and MRR movement, and so does a customer's lifetime value. The setup checklist stays until your first real sale.
- Subscriptions hides test subscriptions. Open the three-dot menu and choose Show test subscriptions to see them.
- Invoices and credit notes for test orders get numbers starting with
TEST-from a sequence of their own, so your live numbers stay unbroken. - Orders hides them. Open the three-dot menu and choose Show test orders to see them, with a Mode column that reads Test or Live. The CSV export follows the same choice.
- Refunds works the same way with Show test refunds.
- An order and the order list on a customer's page mark a test order with Test.
The Stripe balance panel on the overview shows the live account whenever one is connected. Only without a live connection does it show the test balance, marked Test.
Going live
When your test purchase works, click Connect with Stripe in the Live row. From then on your checkout runs live for every buyer. While the row still says Finish your Stripe setup, it only takes PayPal or an offline method, and otherwise buyers see Checkout unavailable, so complete Stripe's form before you share a link. Your products need no change, because they are synced to the live account right after it is connected.
Your test data stays. Test orders and test subscriptions remain in your records with their test mark. Disconnecting the test connection does not remove them either. It stops new test payments through memberarea.
You can keep the test connection after going live. The Test switch in the Admin Toolbar then lets you run another test purchase whenever you change a product or your checkout.