Billing
When your provider turns billing on, you can buy servers, manage what you pay for, and settle invoices in the panel.
Finding your way around
Your provider picks one of two layouts.
- Separate Portal gives billing its own header, with tabs for Home, Services, Invoices, Store, and Support.
- Integrated puts the same pages in the main panel sidebar.
The billing home page shows four figures: your service count, your pending invoices, the amount you owe, and your credit balance. Click any of them to open the matching page.
Browsing the store
The Store page lists what is on sale. Use the search box, or click a category on the left. Products marked Featured appear in their own row at the top.
Each card shows the name, a short description, and the cheapest price with its cycle, for example /mo. Click Configure to open the product.
Configuring a product
The product page walks down in order:
- Billing Cycle. Pick how often you pay. A longer cycle often costs less per month. A setup fee, if there is one, is charged once.
- Select a Tier. Some products come in sizes. Each card shows the memory, disk, CPU, databases, and backups you get.
- Configure Resources. Some products let you set your own memory, disk, and CPU with sliders. The price updates as you move them.
- Server Name. Required. This is the name you will see in your panel.
- Description. Optional.
- Server Variables. Some products ask for extra settings, such as a game version.
The panel then shows your price. Under it a note reads:
Tax and any coupon are applied at checkout, before you pay.
Two buttons finish the page:
- Add to cart puts the item in your cart. Use this one if you have a coupon.
- Buy now takes you straight to checkout.
WARNING
Buy now skips the cart, and the coupon box lives on the cart page. If you have a discount code, use Add to cart instead.
The cart
The cart page lists each item with its server name. You can change the quantity and the billing cycle on each line.
To use a discount code, type it into Coupon code and click Apply. A green chip with the code appears when it works. A code that does not work gives Invalid coupon code.
Order Summary shows the subtotal, the setup fees, the discount, the tax, any credit, and the total. Click Proceed to Checkout.
Clear cart empties the cart. The panel asks first.
Checkout
The checkout page has three parts.
Order lists what you are buying.
Additional details appears when a product needs an answer from you. A red star marks a question you must answer.
Payment offers three tiles:
| Tile | What happens |
|---|---|
| Card (Stripe) | You type your card on the next screen. |
| PayPal | The panel sends you to PayPal to approve the payment. |
| Credits | Your account balance pays for the order. The tile is greyed out when your balance is zero. |
If you pick card or PayPal and you hold a balance, a checkbox appears:
Use my {amount} account credit first.
Tick it to spend the credit and pay only the rest.
Click Place order, which shows the total.
Paying by card
The page changes to a card form. The heading reads Pay for order and your order number. Under it:
Your order is reserved. It is not paid until this goes through.
Type your card details and click Pay Now.
If your card is declined, the message from your bank appears on the same page. Nothing is charged and you can try again.
You do not have to finish now. The note at the foot reads:
Leaving this page will not cancel the order. You can pay it later from your invoices.
Paying by PayPal
The panel sends you to the PayPal site. Approve the payment there. PayPal brings you back and the panel completes the order.
Paying by credit
If your balance covers the whole order, there is no card step. The order is paid at once.
After you pay
The confirmation page reads Payment successful and Order placed. Processing now. It shows your order number, the amount paid, the payment method, and a Confirmed status.
A note reads:
Services provision automatically. You'll get an email when ready.
Two buttons take you to the order, or to your services.
Your services
The Services page shows one card for each server you pay for. Each card gives the product, the status, the price, and the next due date. A date within seven days shows a countdown in amber.
The menu on a card has up to three items: View Details, Manage Server, and Upgrade/Downgrade.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Your server runs. |
| Suspended | Your server is stopped and you cannot open it. Your files are still there. |
| Pending | Your server is not built yet. |
| Cancelled | You asked to cancel. |
| Terminated | The server is deleted. |
Cancelling a service
- Open the service and click Request Cancellation.
- Pick when it ends:
- End of billing period keeps the service until the next due date. On that date the service ends and the billing for it stops.
- Immediately ends it right away.
- Write a reason. The reason is optional.
- Click Confirm Cancellation.
The dialog warns you first:
Reversing this means a refund and a re-order. Read carefully.
If you change your mind, open the service and click Keep Service Active.
Changing your plan
Open an active service and click Upgrade/Downgrade. Pick a plan in the same category. The panel shows what you owe today, or what goes back to your balance.
The figure allows for the unused part of the period you already paid for.
- Pick the new plan and read the Price Summary.
- Confirm the change.
- If you owe money today, pay it by card, by PayPal, or with your credit.
- If the new plan costs less, the difference goes to your account credit.
A blue strip on the service card reads Upgrade to {plan} pending while the panel applies the change. Your server then runs with the memory, disk, and CPU of the new plan.
Your billing cycle and your next due date do not change. Your next invoice uses the price of the new plan.
Invoices
The Invoices page lists every invoice with its status. Filter by All statuses, Pending, Paid, Overdue, or Cancelled.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Not paid yet. |
| Paid | Settled. |
| Overdue | The due date has passed. |
| Cancelled | Your provider cancelled it. Do not pay it. |
| Refunded | The money went back to you. |
Click the download icon to save a PDF. Click an invoice number to open it and read the line items, the tax, and the balance due.
Paying an invoice
Open the invoice and click Pay Now. The dialog offers the same three methods as checkout.
| Method | What happens |
|---|---|
| Card | You type your card in the dialog and pay the invoice. |
| PayPal | The panel sends you to PayPal. Approve the payment there and PayPal brings you back. |
| Account Credits | Your balance settles the invoice. The tile is greyed out when your balance is zero. |
If you pick card or PayPal and you hold a balance, you can tick the credit checkbox. The panel then takes the credit first and charges the rest to the card or to PayPal.
The invoice moves to Paid when the payment goes through.
Credits
Credit is money held on your account. Open Billing > Credits to see your balance and every movement on it.
Adding credit
- Click Add Credits.
- Pick one of the four preset amounts, or type your own.
- Pick Card or PayPal.
- Click Continue to pay.
- For a card, type your card details and click Pay Now. For PayPal, approve the payment on the PayPal site.
- The dialog reads Credits added. Click Done.
The minimum top-up is 5. There is no fee, so what you pay is what lands on your balance.
The rules
- Credit pays for services and invoices.
- Credit is applied automatically at checkout.
- Unused credit never expires.
- Credit cannot be refunded or transferred.
Payment methods
The Payment Methods page saves a card for later. Click Add Payment Method, tick Set as default if you want, enter your card under Card Details, and click Add Card.
Saved cards show the brand, the last four digits, and the expiry date. Use Set Default to change which one leads, or the bin icon to remove one.
Removing a card asks first:
{Brand} ending {last4} will no longer be available at checkout. Any service set to renew on it will need a new payment method before its next renewal.
If your provider has not set a gateway up, the page reads Payment Gateways Not Configured.
TIP
The page holds no billing address. If your provider needs one, checkout asks for it before you pay.
Next steps
- Server management to run the server you bought
- Support tickets to ask about an invoice