# Upgrade or downgrade a subscription (/subscriptions/tiers)



Subscription services usually offer different plans, often with different price points, to cater to a wide variety of consumers. For example, a music streaming service might have different these plans:

* Basic plan - Costs $4.99 per month with advertisements.
* Premium plan - Costs $9.99 per month with no advertisements.

A subscriber might start with the basic plan and then decide to upgrade to the premium plan to enjoy their music with no advertisements.

## Change subscription plan [#change-subscription-plan]

You can upgrade or downgrade to subscription plans under the same product. To change a plan, copy the following code and modify it.

### Sample request [#sample-request]

API endpoint used: [Revise plan or quantity of subscription](/api/subscriptions/v1/subscriptions-revise)

<div className="pl-[1.625rem]" />

```bash lineNumbers
curl -v -X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/billing/subscriptions/I-BW452GLLEP1G/revise
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS-TOKEN" \
-d '{
  "plan_id": "P-5ML4271244454362WXNWU5NQ"
}'
```

### Modify the code [#modify-the-code]

After you copy the code in the sample request, modify the following:

* `ACCESS-TOKEN` - Your [access token](/api/rest/authentication/).
* Subscription ID - In the URI for the API call, replace the sample ID with the ID for the subscription you want to update. In this example, the subscription ID is `I-BW452GLLEP1G`.
* Plan ID - Replace the sample ID with the new plan ID to upgrade or downgrade the subscription. In this example, the plan ID is `P-5ML4271244454362WXNWU5NQ`.

Subscriptions using PayPal require the user to login and re-consent to the change using the approve [HATEOAS URL](/api/rest/responses/#hateoas-links) returned in the response. If re-consent is not done or if it fails, the subscription continues to be billed on the existing plan. Subscriptions using direct card payment do not need re-consent.

## Billing changes [#billing-changes]

The new price is effective starting on the next billing cycle. Proration and one-time fees aren't automatically supported. If you want to prorate the difference at the time the plan changes or charge one-time fees, you need to do these manually.

In the following example, a subscriber's billing cycle is at the beginning of the month, and they upgrade their plan mid-cycle.

* Subscriber starts the Basic $4.99 streaming service on 1 January.
* Subscriber upgrades to the Premium $9.99 streaming service on 15 March.
* PayPal charges the subscriber the new price of $9.99 on the 1 April billing cycle onwards.

## See also [#see-also]

* [Subscriptions REST API](/api/subscriptions/v1#subscriptions) - Use the Subscriptions REST API manage subscriptions including updating, suspending, canceling a subscription.