How to create bundles with a subscription plan like Recharge, Seal, and Appstle in Simple Bundles 2.0

Overview

If you're using subscriptions with your bundles, please note that native subscription support through the Cart Transform API is currently limited due to Shopify platform constraints. When a subscription is detected in an order, Simple Bundles 2.0 automatically uses the order editing method instead.

With this approach, bundles are broken down at the order level after checkout, allowing Simple Bundles 2.0 to work smoothly with popular third-party subscription apps such as Recharge and Ordergroove while maintaining accurate order processing and inventory management.

Because subscription orders created through third-party apps originate outside Shopify’s native sales channel, they are processed using the order editing workflow used in Simple Bundles 1.0. For one-time bundle purchases, however, the bundle is still broken down into its components at checkout using the Cart Transform API.

Popular subscription apps recommended for merchants

Many merchants have integrated their bundles with leading subscription platforms. Some of the popular options include:

• Recharge Subscriptions
• Seal Subscriptions
• Appstle
• Bold Subscriptions
• Loop Subscriptions
• Skio
• Ordergroove

Using subscription-only products in bundles in the Recharge app

If you're using Recharge Subscriptions and including subscription-only products (i.e., no one-time purchase option enabled) in your bundles, it’s important to note that Shopify will reject the add-to-cart action when the bundle is added to the cart via the storefront. This issue is not theme-related. Instead, it's tied to how Shopify and Recharge handle selling plan requirements for subscription-only products.

For example:“Aro Home + Gardenia Whisper (150ml) with FREE Mystery Gift”, the product “Gardenia Whisper inspired by Mont-Blanc Resorts®” is configured in Recharge as subscription-only (with the one-time purchase option turned off).

As a result, when a customer tries to add this bundle to the cart through the storefront, Shopify rejects the add-to-cart request entirely because it includes a product that must be purchased with a selling plan, but the bundle isn’t set up to pass that plan.

Solution: In Recharge, make sure that "One-Time Purchase" is enabled for all bundle component products. This ensures that the parent bundle can be successfully added to the cart, even if the customer is only purchasing the subscription product as a one-time purchase.

One-time bundle purchase vs. a subscription purchase

Below, we show how a bundle appears on the storefront and in the order admin as a one-time order vs. a subscription order. Below is a comparison of how a bundle appears to customers and in the Shopify admin when purchased as a one-time order versus a subscription.

1. Bundle as a one-time purchase

   

   What customers see at checkout:

   

How it appears in the Shopify order admin:

2. Bundle as a subscription

What customers see at checkout:

How it appears in the Shopify order admin:

Related help guides for using subscriptions with bundles

Creating bundles with a subscription plan in Simple Bundles 1.0

• If you're using Simple Bundles 1.0, this guide explains how to create bundles that include a subscription plan. It walks through the setup required to allow customers to purchase bundle products as subscriptions using compatible subscription apps.

Workaround: Breaking down bundles at the cart level when using Recharge and other subscription apps with Simple Bundles 2.0

• This guide explains a workaround for using subscription apps like Recharge and Ordergroove with Simple Bundles 2.0. It shows how to expand bundles into their child products when a subscription (selling plan) is selected, ensuring the subscription app receives the correct items in the cart and processes the order correctly.

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