Why Won't My WooCommerce Subscriptions License Activate?

Why This Happens

WooCommerce Subscriptions (the plugin itself) is sold as its own WooCommerce.com subscription, licensed per number of sites depending on the purchased tier. Activation calls out to WooCommerce.com's license server to confirm the key is valid and hasn't exceeded its site limit — if either of those checks fails, the plugin activates in a limited or inactive state and stops receiving automatic updates.

Common Causes

• Site-activation limit reached. Staging copies, old domains that were never deactivated, or migrating a site to a new URL without freeing up the old activation first can all silently consume activation slots.
• The underlying WooCommerce.com subscription (to the plugin) has expired or lapsed, which is a separate billing relationship from anything happening on the store itself — easy to overlook since it's not visible from inside WordPress admin day to day.
• Site URL mismatch. Moving from http to https, or between staging and production domains, can register as a "different site" to the license server even though it's conceptually the same install.
• A firewall or security plugin blocking outbound requests to WooCommerce.com's license API, causing activation to fail with a generic connection error rather than a clear licensing message.

How to Fix It

1. Log into your WooCommerce.com account and check Subscriptions for the plugin's current status and how many of its site activations are currently in use, deactivating any stale ones (old staging copies, decommissioned sites).
2. Confirm the plugin subscription itself hasn't expired — renew it if needed before troubleshooting further.
3. Deactivate the license from the old URL first if migrating domains, then activate fresh on the new one.
4. Check for outbound connection blocks if activation fails with a generic error rather than a specific licensing message, particularly on managed hosting with strict firewall rules.

See WordPress maintenance if plugin licensing across multiple sites needs a proper audit and cleanup.