---
id: free-tier
title: Free tier
sidebar_label: Free tier
---

Free is a real tier in both deployments not a trial that turns into nothing.

## What you get

|                       | Free      |
| --------------------- | --------- |
| Servers               | 3         |
| Monitors              | 3         |
| Secret groups         | 1         |
| Notification channels | 1         |
| Audit retention       | 30 days   |
| Support               | Community |

Browser console and single sign-on are not included; they are per-instance
features on a paid plan.

## One per account, per deployment

The limit is enforced per account **and** deployment. A Free cloud instance does
not prevent a Free self-hosted one they are separate slots.

## Free is outside Paddle

There is no subscription, no £0 line item and no invoice. Your account acquires
a Paddle customer reference only with its first paid purchase.

## Renewing

Free licences have a term and must be renewed from the portal.

- The renew button appears **7 days before expiry**.
- It stays available **after** expiry, right up until the instance is reaped —
  so the same button rescues a lapsed instance rather than needing a second
  mechanism.
- Renewing outside that window is refused, and the message names the date it
  opens.

:::tip Put the expiry in a calendar
Warning emails go to the account address. If nobody watches that inbox, a Free
cloud instance can lapse and eventually be deleted without anyone noticing.
:::

## What happens when it lapses

**Self-hosted:** the instance goes into degraded mode after the grace period and
stays that way. Nothing is deleted, ever.

**Cloud:** the instance goes into degraded mode, and after a further period the
instance **and all its data are deleted**. Warning emails are sent first, naming
the date.

:::danger Deletion is permanent
There is no restore. If a cloud Free instance is approaching that date and you
want to keep it, renew it, or move it to a paid plan.
:::

Deletion is carried out by the control plane rather than by HQ. HQ sends the
warnings because it knows the billing address; the control plane performs the
delete because it is the only service that knows which collections carry the
instance ID.

## Moving off Free

Change the instance's configuration to a paid tier and check out. Your data
stays where it is a tier change reissues a licence, it does not rebuild
anything.

## Relinks

Free instances get the same relink allowance as paid ones: three per term. That
cap exists to put a human in front of a fourth attempt, not to obstruct a
genuine rebuild.
