dunning
Communication cadence.
smart retries
Also: Stripe Smart Retries
Stripe Smart Retries is Stripe's intelligent retry logic for failed payments. It reads decline codes, applies network-data-driven retry cadences (immediate, 24-hour, 72-hour, 7-day), and retries failed cards at the times most likely to succeed. Free with Stripe; significantly outperforms hand-tuned retry logic.
In context.
Porchops uses Smart Retries as the technical retry layer. Lou subscribes to Stripe webhooks for the events that fire after Smart Retries finishes. The handoff is clean: Stripe handles retries; Lou handles the email after.
Configure Smart Retries on the Stripe dashboard once. Don't roll your own retry logic — Stripe's network data is what makes Smart Retries good, and that's data you don't have.
Concrete instances.
Default Smart Retries cadence for soft decline: retry at 1 hour, 24 hours, 72 hours, 7 days.
Default Smart Retries cadence for hard decline: no retry (card is non-recoverable; customer must update).
Smart Retries plus Card Account Updater plus Lou is the trifecta most $5K-$500K ARR SaaS need.
Common questions.
Does Smart Retries cost extra?
No. It's free with Stripe; you just enable it in the dashboard. Stripe's revenue from successful payments is the incentive — they want recoveries to work.
Should I roll my own retry logic instead?
No. Smart Retries uses Stripe network-wide data to time retries optimally; hand-tuned retry logic almost never beats it. Spend the time on the email layer instead.
How does this work with Lou?
Smart Retries handles the retry attempts; Lou subscribes to the events Stripe fires when retries finish. Stripe is the rails; Lou is the email layer afterward.