# Cannot activate trialing subscription without payment method

You're trying to activate an automatically-collected subscription, but it doesn't have a payment method.

---

## Example

```json
{
  "error": {
    "type": "request_error",
    "code": "subscription_missing_payment_method_cannot_activate",
    "detail": "Automatically-collected subscriptions in trial require a payment method to be activated.",
    "documentation_url": "https://developer.paddle.com/errors/subscriptions/subscription_missing_payment_method_cannot_activate"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
  }
}
```

## Details

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Status code | 400 |
| Error code | `subscription_missing_payment_method_cannot_activate` |
| Error message | Automatically-collected subscriptions in trial require a payment method to be activated. |

## Common causes

- The trialing subscription doesn't have a payment method set, so it can't transition to active.
- If the `customer_id` against this subscription has been replaced recently, the payment method against it was removed for security. It must be readded.

## Common solutions

- [Create a customer portal session](https://developer.paddle.com/api-reference/customer-portals/create-customer-portal-session) to capture a payment method from the customer, then retry the activation.
- [Get a transaction to update payment method](https://developer.paddle.com/api-reference/subscriptions/update-payment-method) and pass to Paddle.js to capture a payment method from the customer, then retry the activation.
- Change collection mode against the subscription to `manual`, then retry the activation. Paddle sends an invoice for the amount due each time a subscription renews or a charge is made.