Payment plans for online courses: options and rules
How to offer instalments for a video course: your own plans or Klarna-style services, who carries the risk and the EU consumer credit rules from 2026.
"Can I pay in instalments?" shows up under every offer above a few hundred dollars. Offering a payment plan can make the difference for someone who wants the course but can't pay it all at once. But there are two very different routes, and a new EU rule to know.
This guide compares running your own payment plans with deferred-payment services, explains who carries the risk and what changes from 20 November 2026 for sales to EU consumers.
When do instalments make sense?
For prices high enough to strain a buyer's budget: group programmes, coaching, complete courses above a few hundred dollars. For a $49 course, instalments are usually pointless: the difference for the buyer is minimal and fees weigh more.
Instalments don't replace a well-chosen price, as we explain in how much to charge for an online course. They make a fair price accessible.
Your own plan or an external service?
| Your own instalments | Klarna-style service | |
|---|---|---|
| You receive the full amount up front | No | Yes |
| Non-payment risk is yours | Yes | No |
| Lower fees | Yes | No |
| Third-party customer assessment | No | Yes |
| Falls under EU consumer credit rules | Depends | Yes |
Our summary of Stripe's Klarna documentation and Directive (EU) 2023/2225. Not legal advice.
With your own instalments, usually a subscription with a fixed number of charges, you collect each payment and carry the risk that someone stops paying. With an external service, according to Stripe's Klarna documentation, you receive the full order amount minus fees, Klarna collects the instalments from the customer and, if the customer can't pay, Klarna takes the loss.
What does Klarna offer through Stripe?
According to Stripe's documentation, Klarna's options depend on country, currency and amount, and Klarna decides which to show. The options are: pay in full immediately, pay later within 30 days, interest-free pay in 3 or 4 instalments, and financing up to 36 months, which may carry interest and a credit check. As an example of country limits, for Italy the documentation lists:
See the data as a table
| Option | Maximum amount |
|---|---|
| Pay in full | 4,000 € |
| Pay in 3, interest-free | 3,000 € |
| Financing (from €35) | 3,000 € |
| Pay later within 30 days | 500 € |
The same documentation says refunds are possible up to 180 days after payment and that Klarna doesn't support business-to-business payments. Fees are on a separate Stripe pricing page we didn't read: check them before switching it on.
What changes from 20 November 2026?
The new EU consumer credit directive, (EU) 2023/2225, replacing the 2008 one, applies. Recital 16 states explicitly that 'buy now, pay later' schemes, often granted free of interest and without other charges, should be included in its scope. Member States had to transpose it by 20 November 2025 and apply it from 20 November 2026.
Article 2(2)(h) excludes deferred payment granted directly by the supplier, with no third party offering credit, free of interest and other charges (apart from limited late-payment charges under national law) and fully executed within 50 days of delivery. For online sellers that aren't small or medium-sized enterprises the conditions are stricter: 14 days. So a multi-month plan you run yourself may not fall under the exclusion: before offering it to EU consumers, ask an adviser how your country has transposed the rule.
A decision example
A creator sells a $600 group programme and gets many requests to pay in instalments. He weighs two routes. With three monthly instalments of $200 run himself, he'd keep more in fees but carry the risk of missed payments and, with a three-month plan for EU buyers, he'd need to check whether it falls under the new consumer credit rules. With Klarna via Stripe, interest-free pay in 3 is available where Klarna supports it: he gets the full amount up front minus fees and the non-payment risk stays with Klarna. He picks the second route, after checking the fees on the price list, and presents it on the sales page as an option next to paying in full. He also states clearly that instalments are provided by an external service that assesses the request. In practice, for many creators the external service is simpler and less risky, at the cost of higher fees. The example is ours.
How should you present them on the sales page?
Clearly: total price, number and amount of instalments, who provides them, and whether there's interest or fees. The total price must stay visible: the instalment alone isn't enough to decide. Other checkout rules are in abandoned checkout for online courses.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Showing only the instalment. The total price must be clear.
- Instalments on cheap products. They complicate without helping.
- DIY payment plans without checking. From 20 November 2026 EU consumer credit rules are broader.
- Not reading the fees. External services cost more than a card payment.
- Hiding who provides the instalments. Buyers must know who they're dealing with.
Key terms. Deferred payment splits the price into several payments over time. 'Buy now, pay later' is a third-party service that advances the amount to the seller and collects instalments from the customer. Consumer credit is a loan or deferral granted to a consumer, governed by specific rules.
How we checked. We found no independent data on how instalments change course sales, so we don't quote figures. We read Stripe's Klarna documentation and the text of Directive (EU) 2023/2225 on EUR-Lex (recitals 15 and 16, Article 2 and Articles 47-48). We didn't read national transpositions or Klarna's fee list. Not legal advice; rules outside the EU differ. Contact: hi@heytea.app. Editorial note: we check every figure against the sources listed below and correct mistakes openly.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth offering a payment plan for a course?
For courses and programmes over a few hundred dollars, often yes, because it makes the price more accessible without lowering it. For a $49 course, usually not: the instalment is too small to make a difference and fees weigh more.
Run my own instalments or use a service like Klarna?
With your own instalments you collect each payment and carry the risk that someone stops paying. With services like Klarna, according to Stripe's documentation, you receive the full amount up front (minus fees) and, if the customer doesn't pay, Klarna takes the loss. In exchange you pay higher fees.
Which Klarna options does Stripe offer?
It depends on country, currency and amount, and Klarna decides which to show. Stripe's documentation lists pay in full, pay later within 30 days, interest-free pay in 3 or 4 instalments and financing up to 36 months, which may carry interest and a credit check. For Italy, for example, pay in 3 covers amounts from 1 to 3,000 euros.
What changes with the new EU consumer credit directive?
Directive (EU) 2023/2225 applies from 20 November 2026 and brings 'buy now, pay later' services into scope, even when interest-free. Deferred payment granted directly by the seller, without third parties, interest-free with no charges and completed within 50 days of supply, remains excluded under conditions.
Are my own instalment plans consumer credit?
It depends on how they're structured and on national transposition. Directive 2023/2225 excludes, among other things, deferral granted by the seller without intermediaries, free of charge and completed within 50 days; for large online sellers the conditions are stricter. A plan over several months may fall outside the exclusion: check with an adviser before offering it to EU consumers.
Sources
- Stripe, "Klarna", payment methods documentation. Accessed 19 October 2026. docs.stripe.com
- Directive (EU) 2023/2225 on credit agreements for consumers. Accessed 19 October 2026. eur-lex.europa.eu