How to Structure Your Notion Subscription Database for the Best Analytics

If you want accurate subscription analytics (monthly spend, renewals in the next 7/30 days, renewal heatmaps, and spend breakdowns), your Notion database needs a few specific properties with the right types.

This guide shows the best-practice single-database setup for a subscription tracker so NotionStats can map your columns cleanly and compute reliable stats.

If you want to skip setup, you can duplicate my ready-to-use Notion Subscriptions template and customize it.

Schema in 60 Seconds (Copy This)
Step 1: Create the “Subscriptions” Database
Step 2: Add the Required Properties (Must-Have)
Step 3: Add the Recommended Properties (For Better Renewals + Lifetime Spend)
Step 4: Add Breakdown Properties (Category, Vendor, Payment Method)
Step 5: Data Entry Rules That Keep Analytics Accurate
Step 6: Map These Columns in NotionStats
Troubleshooting / FAQ

Schema in 60 Seconds (Copy This)

Create one Notion database named Subscriptions and add these properties.

Required
- Name: Title
- Cost: Number (cost per billing period)
- Billing Period: Select (Weekly / Monthly / Quarterly / Yearly)
- Status: Select (Active / Trial / Paused / Cancelled)
- Next Renewal: Date
Recommended
- Auto-renew: Checkbox
- Cancel Date: Date
- Start Date: Date
For breakdown charts
- Category: Select (e.g., Work, Entertainment, Utilities)
- Vendor: Select (e.g., Netflix, Notion, Google)
- Payment Method: Select (e.g., Visa, PayPal, Apple Pay)

Step 1: Create the “Subscriptions” Database

In Notion, create a new database called Subscriptions.

Add a Table view for editing.
(Optional) Add a Calendar view using Next Renewal so you can visually see upcoming charges.

Step 2: Add the Required Properties (Must-Have)

These are the minimum columns needed for core subscription analytics like spend totals, renewal summaries, and renewal timelines.

Cost (Number)

Type: Number
What to enter: the amount charged per billing period (e.g., (9.99) if monthly, (120) if yearly)

Billing Period (Select)

Type: Select
Recommended options:
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Yearly (or Annual)

NotionStats normalizes spend to monthly by reading the text in this field. Keep the labels simple so they clearly contain: week, month, quarter, or year/annual.

Status (Select)

Type: Select
Recommended options:
- Active
- Trial
- Paused
- Cancelled

Important: NotionStats treats statuses that contain words like cancel, pause, or expire as inactive. Everything else is treated as active.

Next Renewal (Date)

Type: Date
What it means: the next time you will be charged (or the next renewal date)

If this date becomes stale, NotionStats can roll it forward for auto-renewing subscriptions (more on that below).

Step 3: Add the Recommended Properties (For Better Renewals + Lifetime Spend)

These properties help NotionStats answer “what renewals are coming up?” even if Next Renewal is old, and compute more accurate totals over time.

Auto-renew (Checkbox)

Type: Checkbox
Recommended meaning:
- Checked = keeps renewing
- Unchecked = does not renew automatically

Cancel Date (Date)

Type: Date
Recommended meaning: after this date, the subscription should stop renewing

This is useful when you’ve already scheduled a cancellation but it’s still currently active.

Start Date (Date)

Type: Date
Recommended meaning: first day the subscription started

NotionStats uses this as a fallback when Next Renewal is missing, and it’s required for “total spend since start” style stats.

Step 4: Add Breakdown Properties (Category, Vendor, Payment Method)

If you want charts like “Monthly spend by category/vendor/payment method”, you’ll want these properties. These should be Select properties (not text) for clean grouping.

Category (Select)

Type: Select
Examples: Work, Entertainment, Finance, Utilities, Health, Education

Vendor (Select)

Type: Select
Examples: Netflix, Spotify, Notion, Google, Apple, Amazon

Payment Method (Select)

Type: Select
Examples: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Apple Pay

Step 5: Data Entry Rules That Keep Analytics Accurate

These are the most common reasons subscription analytics look “off”.

Enter cost per period
- If Billing Period is Monthly, Cost should be the monthly amount (not yearly).
Keep Billing Period labels clean
- Use words like Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly (or Annual). Avoid abbreviations that don’t include these keywords.
Be careful with Status naming
- If a subscription is active, don’t use a status that includes “cancel”, “paused”, or “expired”.
Use Next Renewal consistently
- If you don’t know the next renewal date yet, add Start Date so NotionStats can still derive a schedule.

Step 6: Map These Columns in NotionStats

After linking your workspace and opening Charts, create a subscription chart and map columns like this:

Cost → Cost
Billing Period → Billing Period
Status → Status
Next Renewal → Next Renewal
(Optional) Auto-renew → Auto-renew
(Optional) Cancel Date → Cancel Date
(Optional) Start Date → Start Date
(For breakdown charts) Category/Vendor/Payment Method → map whichever the chart asks for

Most templates default to filtering Status = Active, so you’ll typically want an “Active” option in your Status select.

If you’re new to NotionStats setup, start here: Guide to adding analytics to your Notion.

Troubleshooting / FAQ

My subscription is being treated as inactive

Check your Status value. If it contains “cancel”, “paused”, or “expire”, NotionStats will treat it as inactive.

Renewal charts are empty (or missing renewals)

Common causes:

Next Renewal is missing and Start Date is also missing.
Auto-renew is unchecked and your renewal date is in the past.
Cancel Date is set and the renewal date is on/after it.

Breakdown charts don’t group the way I expect

Make sure Category, Vendor, and Payment Method are Select properties (not plain text). Grouping works best on select fields.

If you want, you can also add a Calendar view in Notion on Next Renewal to visually track upcoming charges, then embed NotionStats charts right alongside it.