Chargebee

Overview

Chargebee provides subscription lifecycle management beyond basic payment processing, handling complex billing scenarios like metered usage, tiered pricing, trial conversions, and dunning (failed payment recovery). It integrates with downstream payment gateways like Stripe and Braintree to process the actual charges while managing the subscription logic layer. Many SaaS and subscription box businesses use Chargebee to power their billing pages and self-service portals.

What This Script Does

Chargebee's client-side presence takes two primary forms: hosted checkout pages and the self-service billing portal.

Checkout Integration (Chargebee.js) The script, loaded from js.chargebee.com, renders checkout flows either as an in-page embed or a modal overlay. It handles plan selection, coupon application, and payment collection. The checkout communicates with Chargebee's servers at {site-name}.chargebee.com where {site-name} is the merchant's Chargebee subdomain.

Cookies set during checkout:

• cb_session — session cookie authenticating the checkout flow
• cb_sso_token — single sign-on token for portal access if the customer has an existing account
• chargebee_cookie_check — functional cookie verifying that cookies are enabled in the browser

Billing Portal The portal widget allows existing subscribers to view invoices, update payment methods, change plans, and manage their subscription. It sets session cookies to authenticate the customer's portal access.

Data collected includes email address, billing address, payment method tokens (actual card data is handled by the underlying gateway), and subscription plan selections. Chargebee.js does not perform cross-site tracking or set marketing cookies.

Consent & Compliance

Chargebee is classified as essential. The scripts enable core billing functionality — subscription checkout and account management — that users explicitly request when purchasing or managing their subscriptions. Under GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, these cookies qualify as strictly necessary and are exempt from consent requirements.

Under CCPA/CPRA, data processed through Chargebee checkout flows serves the business purpose of completing transactions. Chargebee acts as a service provider (processor) under CCPA, not selling or sharing personal information for advertising purposes.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

No. Chargebee scripts are essential for subscription billing and management. Blocking them would prevent customers from subscribing, upgrading plans, or managing their payment methods. These are strictly necessary scripts exempt from consent requirements.