GROWTH PATTERN

Adding Freemium Gating to T3 Stack + Stripe Apps

T3 Stack + Stripe handles billing correctly, but it doesn't monitor feature usage or trigger upgrade prompts when free users exceed limits.

T3 Stack + Stripe

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What's Missing in Standard T3 Stack + Stripe Architecture

While Stripe processes payments reliably, webhooks fire for payment events (invoice.paid, customer.subscription.deleted) but don't track user activity in your app. There's no connection between Stripe subscription data and usage tracking.

Standard T3 Stack + Stripe Flow vs Optimized Skene Flow

Standard Flow
1

User subscribes via Stripe

2

Subscription status stored in PostgreSQL

3

Features accessible but no usage limits enforced

Skene Flow
1

Track usage in PostgreSQL 'subscriptions' and 'usage' tables

2

Detect when free tier user hits limit (e.g., 10 projects created)

3

Block feature access and trigger upgrade prompt email

4

Track conversion from free to paid

Visual comparison of the flows:

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How Skene Fixes This

This Skene Prompt installs usage tracking that correlates PostgreSQL feature usage with Stripe subscription tiers. When free users hit limits (like 100 API calls), it automatically blocks features and sends upgrade prompts.

Implementation Comparison

Using Skene Infrastructure

Install via Prompt

cursor.mdc
@task: Initialize Skene.
@action: Analyze my local code, validating subscription via `npx skene login`, and generate `skene.config.ts` to implement the Freemium Gating pattern for T3 Stack + Stripe.

Copy Skene Prompt for Cursor

Generated skene.config.ts

skene.config.ts
// skene.config.ts - The Automated Way
import { defineLoop } from '@skene/sdk';

export default defineLoop({
  type: 'freemium',
  opinion: 'Enforce usage limits for free tier users and trigger upgrade prompts',
  steps: [
    {
      trigger: {
        type: 'api',
        endpoint: '/api/features/*',
        method: 'POST'
      },
      condition: {
        type: 'usage',
        limit: {
          free: 100,
          paid: Infinity
        },
        period: '30d'
      },
      action: {
        type: 'block',
        message: 'You've reached your free tier limit. Upgrade to continue.',
        upgradePrompt: {
          type: 'email',
          provider: 'resend',
          template: 'upgrade_prompt'
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  recovery: {
    retries: 0 // No retries for blocking actions
  }
});

Frequently asked questions