Dodo Payments Integration Guide

Always consult docs.dodopayments.com for the latest API reference and code examples.

Dodo Payments is the all-in-one engine to launch, scale, and monetize worldwide. Designed for SaaS and AI products, it handles payments, billing, subscriptions, and distribution without extra engineering.

Quick Reference

Environment Variables

• DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY

• Your API key from the dashboard

• DODO_PAYMENTS_WEBHOOK_SECRET

• Webhook signing secret for verification

API Environments

• Live Mode: https://api.dodopayments.com (default)

• Test Mode: https://api.dodopayments.com with environment: 'test_mode'

Dashboard URLs

• Main Dashboard: app.dodopayments.com

• API Keys: Dashboard → Developer → API

• Webhooks: Dashboard → Developer → Webhooks

• Products: Dashboard → Products

SDK Installation

TypeScript/JavaScript

npm install dodopayments

or

yarn add dodopayments

or

pnpm add dodopayments

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({ bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY, environment: 'live_mode', // or 'test_mode' });

Python

pip install dodopayments

from dodopayments import DodoPayments

client = DodoPayments(bearer_token=os.environ["DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY"])

Go

go get github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go

import "github.com/dodopayments/dodopayments-go"

client := dodopayments.NewClient( option.WithBearerToken(os.Getenv("DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY")), )

PHP

composer require dodopayments/client

use Dodopayments\Client;

$client = new Client(bearerToken: getenv('DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY'));

Core Concepts

Products

Products are the items you sell. Create them in the dashboard or via API:

• One-time: Single purchase products

• Subscription: Recurring billing products

• Usage-based: Metered billing per consumption

Credit Entitlements

Credits are virtual balances (API calls, tokens, compute hours) attached to products. Create them in Dashboard → Products → Credits:

• Custom Unit: Your own metric with configurable precision

• Fiat Credits: Real currency value (USD, EUR, etc.)

• Attach up to 3 credits per product

• Configure rollover, overage, and expiration per entitlement

Checkout Sessions

The primary way to collect payments. Create a checkout session and redirect customers:

const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({ product_cart: [ { product_id: 'prod_xxxxx', quantity: 1 } ], customer: { email: 'customer@example.com', name: 'John Doe', }, return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/success', });

// Redirect customer to: session.checkout_url

Webhooks

Listen to events for real-time updates:

• payment.succeeded

• Payment completed

• payment.failed

• Payment failed

• subscription.active

• Subscription activated

• subscription.cancelled

• Subscription cancelled

• refund.succeeded

• Refund processed

• dispute.opened

• Dispute received

• license_key.created

• License key generated

• credit.added

• Credits granted to customer

• credit.deducted

• Credits consumed

• credit.balance_low

• Credit balance below threshold

Common Integration Patterns

One-Time Payment Flow

• Create product in dashboard

• Create checkout session with product ID

• Redirect customer to checkout URL

• Handle payment.succeeded webhook

• Fulfill order / grant access

// Create checkout for one-time payment const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({ product_cart: [{ product_id: 'prod_one_time_product', quantity: 1 }], customer: { email: 'customer@example.com' }, return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/success', });

Subscription Flow

• Create subscription product in dashboard

• Create checkout session

• Handle subscription.active webhook to grant access

• Handle subscription.cancelled to revoke access

// Create checkout for subscription const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({ product_cart: [{ product_id: 'prod_monthly_subscription', quantity: 1 }], subscription_data: { trial_period_days: 14 }, // Optional trial customer: { email: 'customer@example.com' }, return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/success', });

Webhook Verification

Always verify webhook signatures:

import crypto from 'crypto';

function verifyWebhook(payload: string, signature: string, secret: string): boolean { const expectedSignature = crypto .createHmac('sha256', secret) .update(payload) .digest('hex');

return crypto.timingSafeEqual( Buffer.from(signature), Buffer.from(expectedSignature) ); }

API Key Management

Generation

• Navigate to Dashboard → Developer → API

• Click "Create API Key"

• Copy and securely store the key

Security Best Practices

• Never expose API keys in client-side code

• Use environment variables

• Rotate keys periodically

• Use test mode keys for development

Customer Portal

Allow customers to manage their subscriptions:

const portal = await client.customers.createPortalSession({ customer_id: 'cust_xxxxx', return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/account', });

// Redirect to: portal.url

Error Handling

Handle API errors gracefully:

try { const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({...}); } catch (error) { if (error.status === 400) { // Invalid request - check parameters } else if (error.status === 401) { // Invalid API key } else if (error.status === 429) { // Rate limited - implement backoff } }

Testing

Test Mode

• Use test API keys (start with sk_test_ )

• Test webhooks with dashboard tools

• Use test card numbers:

• 4242 4242 4242 4242

• Success

• 4000 0000 0000 0002

• Decline

Local Development

Use ngrok or similar for webhook testing:

ngrok http 3000

Then configure the ngrok URL as your webhook endpoint in the dashboard.

Framework Integration

Next.js

Use API routes for server-side operations:

// app/api/checkout/route.ts import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'; import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({ bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY!, });

export async function POST(req: Request) { const { productId, email } = await req.json();

const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({ product_cart: [{ product_id: productId, quantity: 1 }], customer: { email }, return_url: ${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_URL}/success, });

return NextResponse.json({ url: session.checkout_url }); }

Express.js

import express from 'express'; import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const app = express(); const client = new DodoPayments({ bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY! });

app.post('/create-checkout', async (req, res) => { const session = await client.checkoutSessions.create({ product_cart: [{ product_id: req.body.productId, quantity: 1 }], customer: { email: req.body.email }, return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/success', }); res.json({ url: session.checkout_url }); });

Resources

• Documentation

• API Reference

• SDK Repositories

• Discord Community

• Support

• Credit-Based Billing