LMS Integration with Payment Systems (Course Sales) Setup

LMS Payment System Integration Setup (Course Sales)

LMS monetization is not just a "Buy" button. Full payment system integration includes one-time purchases, subscriptions, coupons, installments, refunds, and correct transaction accounting.

Payment System Selection

For international LMS — Stripe as the base + regional gateways for specific markets.

Stripe: Basic Integration

// Backend: create Checkout Session
async function createCheckoutSession(userId, courseId, priceId, couponId = null) {
  const user = await db.users.findByPk(userId);
  const course = await db.courses.findByPk(courseId);

  const session = await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({
    customer_email: user.email,
    client_reference_id: `${userId}:${courseId}`,  // Link in webhook
    line_items: [{
      price: priceId,  // Stripe Price ID
      quantity: 1,
    }],
    discounts: couponId ? [{ coupon: couponId }] : [],
    mode: 'payment',  // Or 'subscription' for subscriptions
    success_url: `${process.env.APP_URL}/courses/${courseId}?payment=success&session_id={CHECKOUT_SESSION_ID}`,
    cancel_url: `${process.env.APP_URL}/courses/${courseId}?payment=cancelled`,
    metadata: {
      userId,
      courseId,
    },
    payment_intent_data: {
      metadata: { userId, courseId },
    },
  });

  return session.url;
}

Webhook Handler

Don't rely on success_url for payment confirmation — users can fake it. Always use webhooks:

app.post('/webhooks/stripe', express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }), async (req, res) => {
  const sig = req.headers['stripe-signature'];
  let event;

  try {
    event = stripe.webhooks.constructEvent(req.body, sig, process.env.STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET);
  } catch (err) {
    return res.status(400).send(`Webhook Error: ${err.message}`);
  }

  switch (event.type) {
    case 'checkout.session.completed': {
      const session = event.data.object;
      if (session.payment_status === 'paid') {
        const { userId, courseId } = session.metadata;
        await enrollStudentAfterPayment(userId, courseId, session.id);
      }
      break;
    }
    case 'charge.refunded': {
      await handleRefund(event.data.object);
      break;
    }
    case 'customer.subscription.deleted': {
      await revokeSubscriptionAccess(event.data.object.customer);
      break;
    }
  }

  res.json({ received: true });
});

Monetization Models

One-time Purchase — standard Stripe Payment. Student pays once, gets access forever (or for N months).

Subscription — Stripe Subscriptions. Access to all courses while subscription is active. On cancellation — revoke access via customer.subscription.deleted webhook.

Installments — multiple payments via Stripe payment_intent with installment_plan or manually via scheduled invoices.

Corporate Licenses — purchase N seats for a team. In DB: licenses table → license_seats → user bindings.

Promo Codes

// Create promo code
const coupon = await stripe.coupons.create({
  name: 'SUMMER2026',
  percent_off: 30,          // Or amount_off in kopecks
  duration: 'once',
  redeem_by: Math.floor(new Date('2026-09-01').getTime() / 1000),
  max_redemptions: 500,
});

const promotionCode = await stripe.promotionCodes.create({
  coupon: coupon.id,
  code: 'SUMMER2026',
  restrictions: {
    first_time_transaction: false,
  },
});

On the frontend — promo code input field with validation via Stripe API before checkout.

YooKassa for Russian Users

use YooKassa\Client;

$client = new Client();
$client->setAuth(SHOP_ID, SECRET_KEY);

$payment = $client->createPayment([
    'amount' => ['value' => '3900.00', 'currency' => 'RUB'],
    'capture' => true,
    'confirmation' => [
        'type' => 'redirect',
        'return_url' => env('APP_URL') . '/payment/return',
    ],
    'description' => "Course: {$course->title}",
    'metadata' => ['user_id' => $userId, 'course_id' => $courseId],
], uniqid('', true));

return $payment->getConfirmation()->getConfirmationUrl();

Transaction Accounting

CREATE TABLE transactions (
  id                  UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  user_id             UUID REFERENCES users(id),
  course_id           UUID REFERENCES courses(id),
  provider            VARCHAR(50),  -- 'stripe', 'yookassa', 'paypal'
  provider_payment_id VARCHAR(200) UNIQUE,
  amount              NUMERIC(10,2),
  currency            VARCHAR(3),
  status              VARCHAR(50),  -- 'pending', 'succeeded', 'failed', 'refunded'
  coupon_code         VARCHAR(100),
  discount_amount     NUMERIC(10,2) DEFAULT 0,
  created_at          TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

Timeframes

Stripe integration with one-time purchase, webhook, course enrollment, and promo codes — 4–5 days. Subscription model — additional 2–3 days. YooKassa — 2–3 days. Corporate licenses — 3–4 days.