Plan changes
Move a service to another plan or billing cycle, with day-by-day proration, and how staff and customers differ.
A service can move to a different product, a different billing cycle, or both. Staff do it from the service page, customers from the client area. Changes made now are prorated by the day; changes can also wait for the next renewal.
Who can change what#
Only an Active, recurring service that is not set to cancel can change plan.
Customers can move to other active, visible products in the same product group, and to other billing cycles of their own product. Two things must both be on:
- Customers can change plan on the product (under Products, in the Trial and plan changes card).
- Let customers change plan themselves in Settings → Billing → Trials and plan changes (on by default).
The new plan must have a price in the service's currency, otherwise it is not offered.
Staff can move a service to any active product, whatever its group, and can choose when the change takes effect.
When it takes effect#
Upgrade and downgrade are judged between different products by price per month. A change of cycle on the same product is a plain change.
| Change | Default | Staff can choose |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade (higher price per month) | Now | Now or at renewal |
| Downgrade (lower price per month) | At renewal | Now or at renewal |
| Cycle change on the same product | Now | Now or at renewal |
Customers who use the client area get the default: upgrades and cycle changes start today, and downgrades wait for the next renewal so they keep what they paid for.
Proration for changes made now#
Billing is by the day. The renewal date marks the end of the current period.
- Same cycle: the unused days of the current period are credited at the old price, and the same days are charged at the new price. One invoice carries both lines, and the renewal date does not move.
- Different cycle: the unused days are credited, and one full period of the new cycle is charged. The new period starts today and the next due date moves to match.
- During a free trial: nothing is prorated because nothing has been paid. See Free trials.
The invoice has a Credit: unused ... line and a line for the new plan. It is due today, so a customer with automatic payment on is charged straight away. If it is not paid, it follows the normal overdue rules. See Recurring billing.
Credit is not refunded or carried forward. If the credit is larger than the new charge, which can happen with an immediate downgrade by staff, no invoice is created and the extra credit is lost. The preview shows the amount that would be lost. Schedule the downgrade for the renewal instead to avoid it.
Change a plan as staff#
- Open the service and find Change plan.
- Pick the New plan. Each option lists the cycle and price.
- Choose When it takes effect: automatic (upgrades now, downgrades at renewal), Immediately, or At next renewal.
- Click Preview change. It shows the credit, the charge, the Amount due now (before tax) and the next renewal date.
- Click Confirm change.
Customers do the same with Switch to and Preview change on their service page.
Changes at renewal#
A change scheduled for the renewal is applied by the daily billing run on the renewal date, with no proration. The renewal invoice for that period is for the new plan, because the run waits for the change before invoicing. A scheduled change appears on the service page, and either staff or the customer can click Cancel scheduled change any time before it happens.
What else happens#
- The service's product, price and cycle are updated, and the server module's change-package step runs, so hosting accounts move to the new package. If that call fails, the plan change still stands, the failure is logged on the service, and staff are emailed.
- The customer gets an email saying the plan changed, or that a change is scheduled.
- For metered products, usage on the old plan's meters up to the moment of an immediate change is billed on its own invoice first. The new plan's meters start clean. See Usage-based billing.
- Every change is recorded with who, when, from and to, credit, charge and invoice, and listed under Plan changes on the service page.
- For an internal account the new price is always zero. See Internal accounts.
Editing the price directly#
The Edit service card on the service page also lets staff type a new price or cycle. That is an override only: it does not prorate, create an invoice or change the package. The new price applies from the next renewal invoice.