Stripe dunning email template for small SaaS teams
A good dunning sequence is short, specific, and links straight to a working update-payment page. Use the three-email structure below, then verify each link against a real failed invoice.
Symptoms
- Your current email is generic ('there was a problem') and doesn't say what happens next.
- There's only one email, sent once, with no follow-up before cancellation.
- The CTA links to a login page instead of the direct payment-update page.
Common causes
- Default copy was never customised for your product or urgency.
- No defined cadence, so reminders depend on whoever remembers.
- The link points to a dashboard rather than the hosted invoice or portal update action.
Step-by-step fix
- Email 1 (day 0): state the failed charge, the plan, and a single button to 'Update payment method'.
- Email 2 (day 3): add urgency — name the date access pauses — and repeat the same direct link.
- Email 3 (day 6): final notice with the exact pause/cancel consequence and the link again.
- Make every button link to the live hosted invoice or customer-portal update action, never a generic login.
- Test the full sequence against one real test-mode failed invoice before shipping.
Sample output
Template lint: 3 emails, cadence 0/3/6 days OK, all CTAs resolve to portal update action, 1 warning (no plan name in email 1).
FAQ
What can I see before subscribing?
You can explore the full sample report and every guide for free. A subscription adds recurring monthly monitoring on your own Stripe account, saved run history, change alerts, and exports.
How many emails should the sequence have?
Three is a reliable default across the retry window. The bigger lever than email count is whether each link goes directly to a working payment-update page.
Last updated 2026-06-16. Structure based on standard 0/3/6-day dunning cadences.
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