---
id: billing
title: Billing
sidebar_label: Billing
---

Paid plans are billed through **Paddle**, which is the merchant of record. Your
invoice, your card details and your tax handling are all Paddle's; HQ holds a
customer reference and nothing sensitive.

Billing is **owner-only**.

## Buying

### Cloud

Open the instance, change its configuration to what you want, and check out.
Checkout runs in the browser.

### Self-hosted

**Buy self-hosted**, then bind the purchase to your install's UUID. See
[Self-hosted instances](./self-hosted-instances.md).

## What you are buying

A subscription's line items are the configuration: the plan base, the metered
server count above the base, and any per-instance features. Changing the
configuration changes the line items.

## Changing configuration

**Instance → Configuration**, adjust servers or features, and save.

- **Increases** take effect when the payment confirms.
- **Reductions** are scheduled for the end of the term. The portal shows the
  date and the new value.

## The customer portal

**Billing → Manage** mints a Paddle customer-portal session where you can
update your payment method, see invoices and cancel.

## How a licence follows a payment

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    C["Checkout / change"] --> P["Paddle"]
    P -->|signed webhook| H["HQ"]
    H --> G["Entitlement: desired → granted"]
    G --> L["Licence signed from granted"]
```

The webhook is the **only** issuing path for paid plans. It is signature
verified, processed exactly once, and resolved from the subscription's *current*
line items — so a webhook that arrives out of order still produces the right
answer rather than replaying a stale state.

A licence is signed from **granted** only. A checkout you abandon changes
nothing.

## Cancelling and failed payments

Cancelling, or a payment going past due, takes **no immediate licence action**.
Your licence runs to its grace-padded expiry and then lapses normally. There is
no mid-term cut-off.

For a cloud Free instance, lapsing eventually leads to deletion — see
[Free tier](./free-tier.md). Paid instances are not reaped.

## Renewals

At renewal the subscription bills again and the licence is reissued for the new
term. It is also the only moment a scheduled **reduction** takes effect.

Self-hosted customers: download and paste the reissued licence. Cloud customers:
nothing to do.

## Free is not in Paddle at all

Free has no subscription, no £0 line item and no Paddle record. It has its own
renewal, in the portal. An account only acquires a Paddle customer reference
with its first paid purchase.