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.

Table of Contents

• Database Schema (Copy This) )
• Data Entry Rules That Keep Analytics Accurate
• Troubleshooting / FAQ

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Database Schema (Copy This)

Create one Notion database named Subscriptions Database and add these properties.

• Required
  • 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)

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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.

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

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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.

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