# Plan and billing

> Your ESTAGE plan — starting a trial, changing, pausing or cancelling it — plus payment methods, invoices and your service agreement.

Source: https://knowledge.estage.com/account/billing/
Part of the ESTAGE knowledge base (https://knowledge.estage.com). Full corpus: https://knowledge.estage.com/llms-full.txt

---
**Billing & invoices** is where you manage what you pay ESTAGE for your account: your **plan**, the
cards on file, and every invoice and receipt. Credits are bought separately, under
[Allocation & credits](/account/credits/); add-ons billed per project, such as Dedicated Cloud,
are listed under [Subscriptions](/account/subscriptions/).

Find it under **Settings → Billing & invoices** in your [account settings](/account/).

## Your plan

The **Plan** section shows your current plan, its status and, for a paid plan, its price and the
date of your next invoice.

| Badge | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Monthly** / **Annual** | A paid plan, billed every month or every year |
| **Trial** | Your free trial — the section shows the day it ends and how many days are left. The first charge happens then |
| **Lifetime** | A plan with no recurring charge. There's no next invoice, and nothing to modify |

## Starting a free trial

If you're on the free tier, the section reads **Start your free trial**.

1. Under **Choose a plan**, pick **Monthly** or **Annual**. The annual tile shows how much you save
   against paying monthly.
2. Select **Start 14-day free trial** and finish the sign-up with your card.

The card is charged when the 14 days are up, unless you cancel before then.

### Ending the trial early

During a trial, **End trial now** starts the paid plan straight away: your card is charged for the
first month or year immediately. If the card is declined, the trial stays as it was and the
window shows why.

## Changing your plan

1. Select **Modify Plan**, then **Change your current plan**.
2. Pick the other billing period. Your current one is marked **Current**.
3. Choose a saved card or enter a new one, and confirm.

The change takes effect immediately, and the new rate applies from your next invoice.

## Putting your account on hold

**Put Account on Hold** pauses billing for about a month: your next invoice moves one month later,
and you keep limited access in the meantime.

1. Select **Modify Plan**, then **Put Account on Hold**.
2. Confirm with **Hold account**.

You can do this once a year. It isn't offered during a trial.

## Cancelling your plan

:::caution
Cancelling closes your subscription **immediately**, not at the end of the period, and signs you
out of ESTAGE on every device.
:::

1. Select **Modify Plan**, then **Cancel Plan**.
2. Enter your **Current password** and select **Cancel subscription**.

### Reactivating

After a cancellation or a refund, the section reads **Your subscription is inactive** and shows
your last plan. Select **Reactivate plan**, pick a billing period and pay, to get back project
generation, custom domains and team workspaces.

## Payment methods

**Payment Methods** lists your cards by brand and last four digits. The one marked **Default** is
charged for your plan.

- **Add a payment method** (or **Add a secondary payment method** once you have one) opens
  **Add a card**. Tick **Use it by default** to make it the one that's charged, then select
  **Save card**. Your first card becomes the default on its own.
- **Make default** switches the default to another card.
- **Remove** detaches a card from your account after you confirm.

Cards are processed by Stripe; ESTAGE doesn't store card details. Saved cards also show up as
one-click options when you [buy credits](/account/credits/#buying-credits).

## Invoices

**Billing History** lists every payment on your account — plan invoices and credit purchases —
with the date and amount.

| Link | What it opens |
| --- | --- |
| **View** | The invoice |
| **Receipt** | The Stripe receipt, for payments with no invoice |
| **PDF** | The invoice as a PDF to download |
| **Emailed** | No link here — Stripe emailed the receipt to you |

With a paid plan, **Upcoming** shows the date and amount of the next charge.

## Your service agreement

**Settings → Service Agreement** shows the agreement that governs your use of ESTAGE, and the date
you accepted it. **View** opens it; **Download** saves a copy.

When ESTAGE publishes a new version, you're asked to accept it the next time you open Genesis or
the [Welcome Hub](/getting-started/welcome-hub/#accepting-an-updated-service-agreement).

## Things worth knowing

- **Credits are a separate purchase.** Top-ups are paid on their own, not added to your plan's
  invoice; both appear in **Billing History**. See [Credits](/account/credits/).
- **A hold moves the date, it doesn't skip a payment.** The invoice is deferred by a month.
- **Lifetime plans can't be modified or cancelled here.** Contact ESTAGE support if you need a
  change.