The No. of billing cycles determines the default number of times the subscription is renewed automatically. The number set should be inclusive of the first billing cycle.
The No. of Billing cycles field can be set both for the plan and while creating the subscription. This is the number of terms for which the customer’s subscription should be active.
The number of billing cycles determines (limits) how many times a subscription should renew (Charged).
The minimum number of billing cycles can be set to 1, which means the customer is charged once when the subscription activates and cancels at the end of the term.
During the last term of a subscription, the billing cycle is reduced to zero. When you set the No. of billing cycles as 1, the number of billing cycles shows as 0 since the customer is charged once when the subscription starts. Also, the subscription state changes to “Non-Renewing” and when the term ends, it goes into the “Cancelled” state.
If you need to remove the scheduled cancellation, you can use the Change Subscription option to update the billing cycle to increase the number of renewals.
Note:
Removing the number from the Billing Cycle field will keep the subscription renewing indefinitely, This option is not possible through APIs the billing cycles can only be set to a higher number.
Once the subscription moves to the "Non-Renewing" status, it will not renew and the customer will not be charged anymore.
Related articles and documentation:
How do I change my subscription status from Non-Renewing to Active?