Capture Payment Step

• Introduction
• When to Use This Step
• Why Not Subscriptions?
• How This Step Works
• Prerequisites
• Step Settings
• Verifying Payment Status in Stripe
• Stripe Extension Limitations
• Same-Site Validation Requirement
• Single Payment Step Per Workflow
• Feed Configuration Requirement

Introduction

The Capture Payment step collects the payment authorized during form submission. This step is only compatible with product feeds using the Stripe Add-On.

Note: When a Capture Payment step exists in your workflow, payments are automatically set to “authorized only” at form submission and will not be collected until the Capture Payment step runs. Stripe automatically cancels (expires) payment authorizations after 7 days, so your workflow must ensure the Capture Payment step runs within one week of the initial form submission.

When to Use This Step

Feed Type	Use Capture Payment Step	Alternative
Product feeds	✅ Yes. When you need approval/processing before charging the customer	Use Payment Form (Checkout) step if authorization should happen later in the workflow.
Subscription feeds	❌ Never. Subscriptions cannot be authorized separately from execution	Always use Payment Form (Checkout) step for subscriptions.

Why Not Subscriptions?

Subscription feeds do not support separate authorization and capture. Even if you add a Capture Payment step to a workflow with a subscription feed, the subscription will execute immediately at form submission. For workflows where subscription creation should happen after approval or at a specific workflow point, use the Payment Form (Checkout) step instead.

How This Step Works

1. Customer submits the form.
2. Stripe authorizes the payment (holds funds on the customer’s card).
3. Workflow processes steps (approvals, user input, etc.).
4. Capture Payment step executes within 7 days.
5. Stripe captures the authorized payment and transfers funds.

If the Capture Payment step does not run within 7 days, Stripe automatically cancels the authorization, and the payment cannot be captured.

Prerequisites

Before using the Capture Payment step:

1. Configure the Gravity Forms Stripe Add-On with your Stripe account credentials.
2. Create a product feed (not a subscription feed) using the Stripe feed configuration guide.
3. Add the Capture Payment step to your workflow within the 7-day authorization window.

Step Settings

Next Step if Captured
Select the next step in the workflow if the payment was captured successfully. For example, you could select a notification step to send emails to the customer and an administrator confirming that the payment was captured successfully.

Next Step if Failed
Select the next step in the workflow if the payment was not captured successfully. Common reasons for failure include:

• The 7-day authorization period expired, and Stripe cancelled the authorization.
• The customer’s card was cancelled or expired.
• Insufficient funds became available after authorization.
• The Stripe API returned an error.

For example, you could select a notification step to send emails to the customer and an administrator informing them that the payment capture failed and requesting alternative payment.

Entry Timeline
When a Capture Payment step executes successfully, the entry timeline will show:

• Form submission: Payment authorized.
• Capture Payment step: Payment captured successfully.
• Transaction ID: Updated with the captured payment ID (format: pi_xxxxxxxxxxxx).

Verifying Payment Status in Stripe

To locate a transaction ID in your Stripe Dashboard, navigate to Payments, then click the specific payment to view its details. The transaction ID appears at the top of the payment details page. Refer to the Stripe official documentation for more information.

The transaction ID displayed in the Gravity Forms entry will match the payment ID in your Stripe Dashboard (format: pi_xxxxxxxxxxxx for payments, sub_xxxxxxxxxxxx for subscriptions.

Stripe Extension Limitations

The Gravity Flow Stripe Extension has the following limitations that apply across all step types and field types.

Same-Site Validation Requirement

All Stripe transaction IDs, subscription IDs, and payment operations must originate from Gravity Forms on the same WordPress site. The following will not validate or process:

• Transactions from staging/production environments (different WordPress installations)
• Stripe purchases made through retail devices, mobile apps, or other systems
• Transactions from external Gravity Forms installations
• Subscriptions or payments created in different Stripe accounts

Single Payment Step Per Workflow

Only one Stripe feed and one Stripe payment step are supported per workflow. You cannot add multiple Payment Form (Checkout) steps or Capture Payment steps to the same workflow.

If your workflow requires multiple payments, consider these alternatives:

• Use separate forms and workflows – Create multiple forms, each with its own Stripe feed and workflow. Use Form Connector to pass data between workflows when needed
• Combine payments upfront – Calculate the total payment amount and collect it in a single transaction at the appropriate workflow step
• Use other payment add-ons – For workflows requiring multiple payment processors or payment types, combine Stripe with other Gravity Forms payment add-ons (each with its own feeds)

For more information on handling multiple payment feeds, see the Form Submission Step documentation.

Feed Configuration Requirement

All Stripe steps require a properly configured Stripe feed on the form before the step can function. The Stripe feed is automatically selected from your form configuration and cannot be manually selected in the step settings. See the Stripe feed configuration guide for setup instructions.