Getting Started

Activating Split Pay PRO & License Management

Step-by-step guide for upgrading from the free version on WordPress.org to Split Pay PRO — including the download flow, the upload-and-replace step, license activation, and ongoing license management.

Overview#

Split Pay’s premium features — including multiple recipients, fixed amounts, product and variation rules, shipping/tax routing, Bulk Editor, delayed WooCommerce transfers, sequential splits, exact fee allocation, vendor-debt recovery, and marketplace automation — ship in a separate Premium plugin ZIP delivered through Freemius. Activating PRO takes four steps:

  1. Purchase the PRO subscription on the in-product Pricing page or at splitpayplugin.com.
  2. Download the Premium ZIP and upload it to WordPress, replacing the free version.
  3. Activate the Premium plugin.
  4. Activate the license. Future Premium updates flow through WordPress’s normal “Update available” mechanism via Freemius.

Step 1: purchase PRO#

Two paths, both end up at the same Freemius checkout:

  • From inside the plugin. Open Split Pay → (any tab) and click any of the “Upgrade”/PRO badges. They link to the in-dashboard pricing page (?page=bsd-split-pay-stripe-connect-woo-pricing) which lists all PRO plans.
  • From the marketing site. Visit splitpayplugin.com and pick a plan.

After payment, Freemius emails you a receipt that includes:

  • A direct download link for the latest Premium ZIP.
  • Login credentials for the Freemius user dashboard, which is where you go later to download newer ZIPs, view past invoices, and manage the subscription.

Step 2: download the premium ZIP#

Two equivalent ways:

  • Click the download link in the Freemius purchase email.
  • Or sign in to users.freemius.com, open the Split Pay product, and click Download → Latest version.

The ZIP name includes bsd-woo-stripe-connect-split-pay-premium and its version. Save it somewhere you can find it; you’ll upload it to WordPress next.

Step 3: upload-and-replace#

In WordPress admin go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

Choose the Premium ZIP you downloaded and click Install Now.

WordPress detects that the free version is already installed and shows a confirmation screen titled “A plugin with the same name is already installed.” Click Replace current with uploaded.

This is intentional. Premium shares the same plugin slug as Free, so replacing it in place preserves your settings and local records. Do not uninstall Free first: ordinary uninstall removes the saved Stripe keys and standard settings inventory even though it retains financial/account tables and product-level values by default.

After WordPress finishes the swap, click Activate Plugin.

Use the Premium update supplied through Freemius. In 3.8.4 and later, Split Pay blocks older or unverifiable packages in standard WordPress Update now and auto-update flows before replacement. That guard cannot cover a host or deployment tool that writes plugin files directly, FTP/file replacement, an uploaded-ZIP overwrite or force install, or WP-CLI that runs without loading Split Pay. Verify that Premium remains active after any nonstandard update.

Step 4: activate the license#

Right after activation, Split Pay shows an “Activate License” opt-in screen. Use the email you purchased with; the license auto-binds to your Freemius user account. From this point on:

  • The PRO features unlock immediately on every Split Pay admin tab.
  • The plugin starts checking Freemius for available updates and surfaces them through the normal Plugins page.
  • Your license state is stored in fs_* WordPress options and is independent of the Split Pay-specific configuration data described in Uninstalling Split Pay & Your PRO Subscription.

Managing your license over time#

The Freemius user dashboard is the source of truth for everything billing-related:

  • Download the latest Premium ZIP any time, useful for staging/dev installs or manually updating sites that don’t auto-update.
  • See your activated sites and seat count. If you’ve hit the seat limit, deactivate the license on a retired site to free a seat for a new one.
  • Cancel or change billing cycle. Cancelling stops the recurring charge but lets you keep using PRO until the current period ends.
  • Change the email/account the license is bound to.
  • Reset license key if you suspect it was leaked.

Moving the license to a different site#

You can deactivate Split Pay PRO on one site and reactivate it on another without losing your subscription. Two paths:

  • From the source site. In Plugins → Installed Plugins, click Account under Split Pay, then Deactivate License. This frees a seat.
  • From the Freemius dashboard. Open the Split Pay product, click the activated site you want to remove, then Deactivate.

On the new site, follow steps 2–4 above. Data on the old site (settings, transfer log, per-product rules) is preserved if you deactivate the license but leave the plugin installed; see Uninstalling Split Pay & Your PRO Subscription for full detail.

Downgrading from PRO back to free#

If you cancel PRO and want to revert to the free version on wp.org:

  1. Deactivate the license (from Plugins → Installed Plugins → Account) so the seat is freed.
  2. Deactivate the Premium plugin and delete it. Uninstall removes Split Pay settings, including saved Stripe keys, while retaining transfer/account tables and product-level splits by default. See the linked uninstall FAQ before continuing.
  3. Install the free version from wp.org the normal way.

PRO-only features such as multiple recipients, fixed amounts, Delayed Transfers, and marketplace automation stop working. Free single-account global percentage transfers and automatic WooCommerce or FluentCart refund reversals remain available after you reconfigure the required Stripe keys.

Troubleshooting#

  • “A plugin with the same name is already installed” loop. If WordPress refuses to replace the free version, try deactivating Split Pay first, uploading the Premium ZIP, choosing Replace current, then re-activating. Settings are preserved.
  • License says “not activated” after upload. Open Plugins → Installed Plugins and click the Split Pay Account link, then Activate License. If you’re prompted for an email, use the one on your Freemius receipt.
  • Update notice keeps showing the same version. Click Check Again on Freemius, or manually download the latest ZIP from users.freemius.com and upload-and-replace.
  • I lost my receipt email. Sign in at users.freemius.com with the email you used at checkout (use the “Forgot password” flow if needed). All past receipts and the latest ZIP are there.

See also#

Uninstalling Split Pay & Your PRO Subscription › Quick Start (initial configuration) ›