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GoCardless Zapier integrationAutomate GoCardless with Zapier.

The GoCardless Zapier integration gives you 10 triggers, 6 actions and 7 searches. All ten triggers are instant, so a failed payment or a new mandate reaches your Zap the moment it happens, on any plan. Here is what each one does and what to watch.

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Overview

What the GoCardless Zapier integration actually does

The GoCardless Zapier integration connects your GoCardless account, the platform that collects payments straight from your customers' bank accounts, to Zapier. A payment event can then start a chain of steps on its own. Zapier calls that chain a Zap: one event that kicks it off, then one or more steps that run each time the event happens.

Three results people usually build first. Billing that starts by itself: Mandate Activated fires when a customer's direct debit authorisation goes live, and Create Subscription sets up the recurring charge, since a subscription has to sit on an active mandate. A ready answer to failed collections: Failed Payment starts the Zap at once, and Create Direct Debit Payment can schedule a new attempt on the same mandate. Cash you can trace: Payout Paid tells you money reached your bank, and Search for Payout Items by Payout ID lists what that payout contained.

What Zapier does not do for GoCardless: there is no action to cancel a mandate, stop a subscription or refund a payment. The seven searches only work with an ID, never with a name or an email, so the ID has to come from an earlier step. And two of the payment actions, the instant bank payment ones, are not available in every region.

The good news is speed. Every trigger here is instant, so the polling interval grid that slows down other apps never applies.

If you are still choosing a platform, our GoCardless Make integration page follows the same method.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words keep coming back on this page. Here they are once, in everyday English.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier. One event starts it, then one or more steps follow, every time that event happens again.
Trigger
The event in an app that kicks the Zap off, like a payment marked as failed in GoCardless. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that creates or sends something for you, such as a new direct debit payment.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action your Zap completed successfully, and your plan is a monthly allowance of them.
Polling vs instant
Zapier checks a polling trigger on a timer. An instant trigger is pushed by the app itself, the moment the event takes place.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived meets your condition, and quietly stops it in every other case.
Search step
A step that looks up a record that already exists, here a GoCardless customer, mandate or payout, so later steps can use it.
Cost

What a GoCardless Zap really costs

GoCardless is not a premium app on Zapier, so it runs from the free plan. Zapier bills in tasks, and payment Zaps make the rules worth knowing.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps
  • Steps on the free plan2: one trigger, one action
  • Premium appNo, GoCardless works on every plan
  • Instant triggers10 of 10, no waiting on any plan

The trigger never costs a task, so a stream of payment events coming in is free in itself. Only an action that goes through is billed, and an action that fails is not. In a Zap with several actions, each successful one is counted on its own: three actions cost three times what one does. The constraint that bites on GoCardless is the free plan's two-step limit. A filter to keep only payments above a threshold, or a search to fetch a customer record, turns the Zap into a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. The polling grid below is there for reference only: none of the GoCardless triggers use it.

Connect

Connect your GoCardless account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open Apps and add a connection

    In Zapier, open the Apps page and click + Add connection. A connection is your GoCardless account linked once, then reused by every Zap that works with it.

  2. 02

    Pick GoCardless

    Type GoCardless in the dialog's search box, select it, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the GoCardless sign-in page, where the last move happens.

  3. 03

    Sign in and allow access

    Log into the GoCardless account the Zaps should act for, then let Zapier use it. You need your own GoCardless account, plus access rights on anything you do not own and want a Zap to touch.

First Zap

Your first GoCardless Zap: start billing on activation

GoalAs soon as a customer's mandate becomes active, create their recurring subscription in GoCardless.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    Start a new Zap from your Zapier dashboard. In the trigger step, pick GoCardless as the app and Mandate Activated as the event. The lightning bolt in the editor confirms it is instant.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test: Zapier brings back the three most recent activated mandates of your account. Pick a real one, so the next steps are mapped on actual data.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    Click the plus icon, choose Filter, then set the field, the rule and the value. Keep only the mandates that should get a subscription. This step makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add Create Subscription

    Add a GoCardless step with Create Subscription. Fill the amount, the currency code such as GBP or EUR, and the interval unit, then link it to the mandate from the trigger.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test the action once, ideally with a test customer, and check the subscription in GoCardless. When it looks right, click Publish and new activations bill themselves.

Triggers

GoCardless triggers on Zapier

10 events start a Zap when something happens in GoCardless, and 10 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

New Payment Authorisation Request

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new mandate or instant bank payment (IBP) has been initiated and billing information is requested.”

Fires when a new mandate or instant bank payment has been started and GoCardless is asking the customer for their billing details. It marks the very beginning of the payment journey, before anything is approved.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a subscription box business wants to know which sign-ups started the bank step, to follow up on the ones that stall.
Watch out
a request is not a yes; nothing is collectable until the authorisation is approved.
2

Payment Authorisation Approved

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a customer successfully sets up their billing information.”

Goes off once a customer has finished entering their billing information. The authorisation request started earlier is now complete on the customer's side.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a coaching practice wants to confirm to its team that a new client has completed the bank step, so onboarding can begin.
Watch out
this is the customer finishing the billing step; for collection Zaps, the mandate triggers further down are the safer starting point.
3

Mandate Activated

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment mandate is activated.”

Reacts as soon as a payment mandate, the customer's permission to debit their account, becomes active. From that point on, payments and subscriptions can be created on it.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a SaaS company starts each customer's monthly subscription the moment their mandate goes live.
Watch out
this is the trigger to use before Create Subscription, which only accepts an active mandate.
4

Mandate Cancelled

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment mandate is cancelled (manually by a customer or because the billing period ended).”

Starts the Zap when a mandate is cancelled, whether the customer did it or the billing period came to an end. From then on, nothing more can be collected through it.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a membership club wants to know right away when a member's authorisation ends, before the next collection date.
Watch out
both causes land on the same trigger, so do not assume the customer chose to leave.
5

New Mandate Created

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment mandate is created.”

Fires as soon as a new mandate exists in GoCardless, before it becomes active. It is the earliest point at which a customer's direct debit authorisation shows up.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a finance team tracks every new mandate to see how sign-ups are going.
Watch out
a created mandate is not yet active, so do not attach a subscription to it at this stage.
6

Payment Confirmed

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment has been collected, but not yet paid out to your account.”

Signals that a payment has been collected from the customer but has not yet reached your own account. It sits between the debit and the payout.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
an accountancy firm marks an invoice as settled as soon as the client's payment is collected, without waiting for the payout.
Watch out
confirmed does not mean paid out; your bank balance only moves later.
7

Failed Payment

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment fails.”

Goes off the moment a payment fails. For any business living on recurring revenue, this is the event that should never sit unnoticed in a dashboard.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a gym schedules a new debit on the same mandate as soon as a membership payment does not go through.
Watch out
if the Zap retries automatically, add a filter so a payment that keeps failing does not loop and eat tasks.
8

Payment Paid Out

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payment has been paid out to your account.”

Fires when an individual payment has been paid out to your account. Unlike the payout trigger below, it follows each payment on its own.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a training company closes each course booking only once its specific payment has reached the bank.
Watch out
on a busy account this fires once per payment, so expect a large number of runs.
9

Payment Submitted

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when the payment has been submitted to the banking system for processing, and can no longer be cancelled.”

Tells you a payment has been handed to the banking system for processing. From this point, the payment can no longer be cancelled.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a property manager lets tenants know their rent collection is under way, since it can no longer be stopped.
Watch out
submitted is still not collected; Payment Confirmed is the trigger that tells you the money was taken.
10

Payout Paid

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a payout has been paid to your account.”

Runs your Zap once a payout, the grouped transfer GoCardless sends to your bank, has been paid. It is the moment money actually lands on your side.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
a bookkeeper reconciles each payout against the payments it contains, using the payout items search.
Watch out
one payout bundles many payments, so pair it with a search to see what is inside.
Actions

GoCardless actions on Zapier

GoCardless gives you 6 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create Mandate Authorisation Request

Action

In Zapier“Creates a request to collect payments from a customer’s bank account. This authorisation is a pre-requisite for collecting direct debit payments.”

Asks a customer for permission to debit their bank account, the step every direct debit collection depends on.

When to use it
each new client signed in your CRM gets a mandate request without anyone sending a link by hand.
Watch out
the currency of the bank account is required, as an ISO 4217 code such as GBP or EUR.
2

Create Instant Bank Payment

Action

In Zapier“Creates an instant bank payment request. Not available in all regions.”

Sends the customer a request to pay right now from their bank, instead of waiting for a direct debit cycle.

When to use it
a workshop seat is held only once the attendee pays on the spot.
Watch out
it is not available in all regions, and amount, currency and a readable description are all required.
3

Create Instant First Payment + Direct Debit Mandate

Action

In Zapier“Creates an instant first payment request and also request authorisation to collect future direct debit payments from a customer's bank account. Not available in all regions.”

Combines two things in one request: an instant first payment, plus permission to collect future payments by direct debit.

When to use it
a subscription where the first month is paid upfront and the following ones are debited.
Watch out
like the instant bank payment, it is not offered in every region.
4

Create Direct Debit Payment

Action

In Zapier“Create a direct debit payment. This can only be created when linked to a mandate”

Creates a one-off direct debit payment on an existing mandate, for an amount and currency you set.

When to use it
a failed membership payment is followed by a new collection attempt on the same mandate.
Watch out
no mandate, no payment; the action only works when it is tied to one.
5

Create Subscription

Action

In Zapier“Create a subscription. Must be linked to an active mandate.”

Sets up a recurring charge for a customer, at the amount, currency and interval unit you choose.

When to use it
a mandate goes live and the monthly plan starts on its own.
Watch out
it must be linked to an active mandate; a mandate that was only created is not enough.
6

API Request (Beta)

Action

In Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”

The advanced option: a raw request to GoCardless that reuses your connection, for anything the ready-made actions miss.

When to use it
you need a GoCardless operation that has no action on Zapier.
Watch out
it only reaches domains linked to GoCardless, and the Stop on error choice decides whether an error halts the Zap.
Searches

GoCardless searches on Zapier

7 search steps look for data that already exists in GoCardless, so a later step can use it.

All seven searches find one GoCardless record by its ID. They sit at the bottom of the event list, under SEARCH. Adding one makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not what you expected.

1

Search for a Billing Request

Search

In Zapier“Search for a billing request by ID.”

Retrieves one billing request, the authorisation step a customer goes through, from its ID.

When to use it
a later step needs the full details of a request that an earlier trigger only mentioned.
Watch out
the Billing Request ID is required; there is no search by customer name.
2

Search for a Customer

Search

In Zapier“Search for a customer by ID.”

Fetches one customer record so the Zap can use their details in the steps that follow.

When to use it
a later step needs the customer's full record, and an earlier step already supplied their Customer ID.
Watch out
it needs the Customer ID, so that ID must come from an earlier step.
3

Search for a Customer Bank Account

Search

In Zapier“Search for a Customer Bank Account by ID.”

Looks up the bank account a customer registered with GoCardless, by its own ID.

When to use it
a finance check needs to confirm which account a mandate debits.
Watch out
the Customer Bank Account ID is mandatory and differs from the customer ID.
4

Search for a Mandate

Search

In Zapier“Search for a mandate by ID.”

Finds a single mandate, which is useful before any action that must sit on one.

When to use it
before a new direct debit payment, the Zap checks the mandate it will use.
Watch out
the Mandate ID is required; you cannot search mandates by customer email.
5

Search for a Payment

Search

In Zapier“Search for a payment by ID.”

Brings back one payment and its details from its ID.

When to use it
a payment fails and the Zap pulls its record before deciding on a retry.
Watch out
the Payment ID is mandatory, so this search follows a step that produced it.
6

Search for a Payout

Search

In Zapier“Search for a payout by ID.”

Retrieves one payout, the grouped transfer to your bank, from its ID.

When to use it
a bookkeeper wants the payout record next to the reconciliation entry.
Watch out
it needs the Payout ID and returns that payout only, not the payments inside it.
7

Search for Payout Items by Payout ID

Search

In Zapier“Search for payout items by payout ID.”

Lists the items that make up a payout, so you can see which payments it bundled.

When to use it
Payout Paid fires and the Zap breaks the transfer down payment by payment.
Watch out
several items usually come back, so set the multiple results option on purpose.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left as is, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap there, and the steps that needed it are skipped. Turned on, the Zap carries on empty-handed.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    This box turns a search into find-or-create. GoCardless offers no such variant on Zapier, so these searches never create the missing record.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three options when several records match: keep the first, which is the default, stop the Zap, or hand all of them to the next steps.
When it breaks

When a GoCardless Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article about GoCardless errors, so these are the general limits that hurt payment Zaps the most.

On a payment account, a broken Zap costs more than tasks: it can mean a missed collection or a double one. The cases below come down to a missing mandate, a loop between a payment trigger and a payment action, and a sudden batch after an import. For a full method, see our Zapier troubleshooting guide, or the Zapier agency page if you would rather hand it over.

  • Past payments are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to events after you publish it. Mandates and payments that already existed are ignored, and moving that history is a separate job.

  • A retry Zap keeps firing

    A Zap that creates a payment when a payment fails can restart itself each time the new one fails too, and burns through your monthly tasks.

  • A big batch is held back

    After a bulk import of customers or a migration of mandates, a sudden wave of events can be paused by Zapier's flood protection.

  • The payment step fails on creation

    Create Direct Debit Payment needs a mandate and Create Subscription an active one. Without it, the action fails, and failed actions are not billed.
Need help

Need help automating GoCardless with Zapier?

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FAQ

GoCardless Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the GoCardless Zapier integration free?
Yes, for Zaps of one trigger and one action. GoCardless is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan, which includes 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The catch is the two-step limit: a filter on payments, a search for a customer or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, and that needs a paid plan. Plenty of useful GoCardless Zaps fit in two steps, so start there.
02How many tasks does a GoCardless Zap use?
One task per successful action, nothing for the rest. The trigger is free, so payment events arriving cost nothing in themselves. A Zap that creates a subscription uses one task each time a mandate activates; add a second action and it uses two. A failed action, such as a payment refused because no mandate exists, is not billed. Multiply your expected events by your actions to size your plan. The trigger side stays free however many events come in.
03Does the GoCardless integration work in real time?
Yes, entirely. All ten GoCardless triggers are instant: GoCardless notifies Zapier the moment a payment fails, a mandate activates or a payout lands, and the Zap starts straight away. That holds on every plan, the free one included, so the polling interval of 15 minutes on Free never applies here. In the editor, a lightning bolt on the trigger confirms it. This is one of the strong points of the app on Zapier.
04What does it take to connect GoCardless to Zapier?
A GoCardless account and three moves. From the Apps page in Zapier, add a connection, sign in to GoCardless in the tab that opens, then grant access. That connection is then reused by every GoCardless step of every Zap. You also need access rights on anything you do not own that the Zap should touch. Before building collection Zaps, make sure your customers have mandates, since payments depend on them.
05Why does Create Subscription fail on a new customer?
Because the mandate is not active yet. A subscription must be linked to an active mandate, and a mandate that has just been created does not qualify. Build the Zap on the Mandate Activated trigger rather than New Mandate Created, and the subscription will only be created once the authorisation is live. The same logic applies to direct debit payments, which need a mandate to exist before they can be created.
06What if a GoCardless operation is not on Zapier?
Use the API Request (Beta) action. It sends a raw request to GoCardless with the connection you already set up, so you do not need to sign in again. It only reaches domains linked to GoCardless, and the Stop on error setting decides whether a GoCardless error stops the Zap or lets it continue. Keep it for operations with no ready-made action, and test it with a test customer first.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for GoCardless?
It depends on your criteria, not on a winner. On billing, Zapier counts tasks, one per successful action. On speed, all GoCardless triggers are instant on every Zapier plan. On logic, anything beyond one trigger and one action needs a paid Zapier plan. Our comparison pages explain how the other two tools handle each of those points, so weigh them against your own volume and the number of steps you need.
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