PayPal subscription and webhooks - node.js

Question

I made an website with a service that I am charging for. I want to create a PayPal subscription. I need that subscription to be connected with my backend (firebase functions - node.js) so I can change some data in the database to serve my users different content depending if they are paying or not. I wanted to use PayPal buttons for my subscription but I can't find a way to connect that button with my backend so it seems PayPal buttons aren't optimal for my problem. I can't use Stripe because it's not supported in my country. Can you offer me a different solution for my subscripton payments or show how can I use PayPal?

Answer 1

You can use Paypal Node SDK for your use case instead of relying to the embeddable Paypal subscribe button. The SDK will give you better integration with NodeJs.
There are basically 2 steps to do this:
1.) Define the Billing Plan Object
The billing plan object defines the subscription plan, including the number of cycles, frequency of payment, any setup fees, and so on.
var billingPlanAttribs = {
name: 'Food of the World Club Membership: Standard',
description: 'Monthly plan for getting the t-shirt of the month.',
type: 'fixed',
payment_definitions: [{
name: 'Standard Plan',
type: 'REGULAR',
frequency_interval: '1',
frequency: 'MONTH',
cycles: '11',
amount: {
currency: 'USD',
value: '19.99'
}
}],
merchant_preferences: {
setup_fee: {
currency: 'USD',
value: '1'
},
cancel_url: 'http://localhost:3000/cancel',
return_url: 'http://localhost:3000/processagreement',
max_fail_attempts: '0',
auto_bill_amount: 'YES',
initial_fail_amount_action: 'CONTINUE'
}
};
Of course, you will need to change cancel_url and return_url to your actual Firebase functions endpoints (or localhost if you are running your functions in localhost for development purposes)
2.) Create and Activate Billing Plan, so once you created or defined your billing - you will need to create that object and activate the billing plan like so:
paypal.billingPlan.create(billingPlanAttribs, function (error, billingPlan){
var billingPlanUpdateAttributes;
if (error){
console.error(JSON.stringify(error));
throw error;
} else {
// Create billing plan patch object
billingPlanUpdateAttributes = [{
op: 'replace',
path: '/',
value: {
state: 'ACTIVE'
}
}];
// Activate the plan by changing status to active
paypal.billingPlan.update(billingPlan.id, billingPlanUpdateAttributes, function(error, response){
if (error){
console.error(JSON.stringify(error));
throw error;
} else {
console.log('Billing plan created under ID: ' + billingPlan.id);
}
});
}
});
Again, all of these are documented in Paypal's Developer Section.
Here's also a link to their github example using NodeJs (which is same underlying backend as a Firebase Function)