A cancel flow is the sequence your customers see when they try to cancel — a short survey, one or more retention offers, and a final confirmation screen. Building one from scratch lets you tailor every question, offer, and message to your business instead of starting from a template. This article walks you through creating a brand-new flow, configuring each section, and taking it live.
💡 Two ways to deliver a flow
A Widget flow appears as a pop-up inside your app when a customer clicks cancel. A Page flow is hosted at its own dedicated cancel-page URL that you redirect customers to. Pick the one that matches how cancellation happens in your product. You can build and save either type as a draft at any time, but a connected payment gateway is required before a flow can go live.
Step 1: Create the flow
Open Flows and go to Configure.
Click the New flow tile.
In the New cancellation flow dialog, choose a Flow type — Widget or Page.
Enter a Flow name (for example, "Main cancel flow"). Names must be unique among flows of the same type.
Optionally add a Description to remind yourself what the flow is for.
Click Create flow.
Your new flow opens in the builder with sensible defaults already in place, so you have a working starting point you can refine section by section.
Step 2: Set the trigger
The Trigger section controls when the flow appears. Choose Cancel button so the flow runs when a customer clicks the cancel-subscription button in your app. (A Downgrade attempt trigger is marked as coming soon and can't be selected yet.)
Step 3: Choose the audience
The Audience section decides who sees the flow. Your options are:
Everyone — show the flow to all cancelling customers.
Specific users — show it only to customers who match conditions you define.
Everyone else — show it to anyone not already covered by another targeted flow.
You must pick an audience before the flow can go live. If you choose Specific users, complete every condition — incomplete or conflicting rules will block publishing.
Step 4: Build the content
The Content section shapes what the customer reads and answers:
Survey — a "Before you go…" question with a list of cancellation reasons. Edit each reason, add follow-up questions, and optionally randomize the order they appear in.
Confirmation — the "Are you 100% sure?" screen shown before the cancellation is processed.
Cancellation — the final screen confirming the subscription was cancelled, with a button label and optional link.
For Page flows you'll also find page-specific settings here — headers, banners, loss-aversion cards, and the on-page button labels.
Step 5: Add retention offers
The Offer section is where you try to save the customer. You can attach one or more offers, choosing from:
Discount — a percentage off for a set duration.
Pause — let the customer pause instead of cancelling.
Free month — gift a free month to stay.
Trial extension — give more time on a trial.
Book a call — send them to a scheduling link.
Custom page — link out to a page of your own.
Each offer has its own headline, subtext, and settings. You can also attach offers to specific survey reasons, so the right offer appears based on why the customer says they're leaving.
⚠️ Offers must be valid
Discount and free-month offers can be set to use an existing coupon from your payment gateway. If you choose that mode without a connected gateway, you'll need to either connect it or switch the offer back to auto-create before the flow can go live.
Step 6: Set the behaviour
The Behaviour section controls what happens once the customer confirms cancellation:
What should happen — keep this on Cancel automatically so churn.io processes the cancellation in your gateway. (Other handling options are coming soon.)
When should the subscription end — At period end lets the customer keep access until the billing cycle finishes, or choose Immediately.
Where should users go after — for widgets, close the pop-up or refresh the page; for pages, stay on the page or return to the previous one. Either type can redirect to a Custom link, which requires a valid URL.
Step 7: Save and go live
Use the Publishing section to finalize the flow. Save your work at any time to keep it as a draft. When you're ready, take the flow live so customers start seeing it.
Going live runs a few final checks. A flow can only go live when:
A payment gateway is connected.
An audience is selected, with no incomplete or conflicting conditions.
All offers, button labels, and any custom URLs are valid.
No other live flow already targets the same audience — if one does, pause it first.
When you save changes to a flow that's already live, churn.io confirms that your customers will see the updates right away. You can pause a live flow at any time from its menu to take it offline without deleting it.
💡 Preview before you publish
Use the live preview alongside the builder to see exactly how each step looks to your customers as you edit — a safe way to check your wording and offers before anything goes live.