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How do I get charged if I upgrade/downgrade?
How do I get charged if I upgrade/downgrade?

Learn about how plan changes affect the billing

Team avatar
Written by Team
Updated over 3 weeks ago

If you decided to change your Bïrch subscription, please note that the schedule for the plan change, as well as the charge date may vary depending on your initial plan and the one you would like to choose instead. Please check out the examples below to see how this works in your particular case.

Case 1. Monthly → Monthly

When you move from one monthly plan to another monthly plan or from one yearly to another yearly, when the plan changes depends on whether:

  • if you are switching from Essential to Pro - the plan update happens immediately,

  • if you are switching from Pro to Essential - then it depends on whether the new spend limit is higher or lower.
    If the new spend limit is lower, the update will happen once the current billing cycle is over i.e. you will remain on the initial plan for the period you have initially subscribed for. If the new spend limit is higher, then the plan is updated immediately.

These are the most common examples, so let's take a closer look at how they work:

Upgrade from monthly to monthly

You purchased a Pro plan $99 on August 15th, you were charged $99 for the August 15 - September 15 billing cycle. Pro plan $99 has $10k ad spend limit. In the middle of the billing period you decided to upgrade to the Pro plan $199. As mentioned above you will not be charged anything right away, instead the next invoice amount will be increased by the difference between what you've already paid and what you owe for the bigger plan. The math here is pretty simple: you used plan $99 for half a month and for another half you were on the $199 plan, so the total cost for the August 15 - September 15 period should be the sum of the halves of these plans.

99/2 + 199/2 = $149 — this is how much this particular billing period will cost.

But you have already paid $99 for this billing cycle, which means the next invoice amount will be increased by (149 - 99) = $50. On September 15th you're billed the $50 on top of the fee for the next billing cycle (September 15 - October 15). Given that on September 15th you're still on the $199 plan it means you'll be billed for the 199 plan, so the total invoice amount will be (199 + 50) = $249.

Downgrade from monthly to monthly

Please note that you will not be downgraded immediately. Essentially, you'll spend the rest of the month on your current plan and when the next monthly billing cycle starts, you will be downgraded to the new plan.

initial plan

new plan

plan update

charge

99 monthly Pro

499 monthly Pro

immediately

The next invoice will include prorated calculation of time spent on each plan, you will be charged the difference.

499 monthly Pro

99 monthly Pro

once the current billing cycle is over

once the current billing cycle is over

49 monthly Essential

149 monthly Essential

immediately

The next invoice will include prorated calculation of time spent on each plan, you will be charged the difference.

149 monthly Essential

49 monthly Essential

once the current billing cycle is over

once the current billing cycle is over

49 monthly Essential

99 monthly Pro

immediately

The next invoice will include prorated calculation of time spent on each plan, you will be charged the difference.

99 monthly Pro

49 monthly Essential

once the current billing cycle is over

once the current billing cycle is over

499 monthly Pro

499 monthly Essential

immediately

The next invoice will include prorated calculation of time spent on each plan, you will be charged the difference.

Case 2. Yearly → Yearly

Upgrades and downgrades from to yearly to yearly are based on the same logic as in Case 1:

  • if you are switching from Essential to Pro - the plan update happens immediately,

  • if you switching from Pro to Essential it depends on whether the new spend limit is higher or lower. If the new spend limit is lower, the update will happen once the current yearly billing cycle is over.

initial plan

new plan

plan update

charge

99 yearly Pro

499 yearly Pro

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 99 and what you owe for the time on plan 499

499 yearly Pro

99 yearly Pro

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

49 yearly Essential

149 yearly Essential

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 49 and what you owe for the time on plan 149

149 yearly Essential

49 yearly Essential

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

49 yearly Essential

99 yearly Pro

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 49 and what you owe for the time on plan 99

99 yearly Pro

49 yearly Essential

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

499 yearly Pro

499 yearly Essential

immediately

You will be charged for the new plan when the new billing period starts

Case 3. Yearly → Monthly

Changes from yearly to monthly plans take place depending on:

  • if you are switching from Essential to Pro - the plan update happens immediately,

  • if you switching from Pro to Essential it depends on whether the new spend limit is higher or lower. If the new spend limit is lower, the update will happen once the current yearly billing cycle is over i.e. you will remain on the initial plan for the period you have initially subscribed for.

initial plan

new plan

plan update

charge

99 yearly Pro

1799 monthly Pro

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

once the current billing cycle (year) is over

299 yearly Essential

99 monthly Pro

immediately

the difference between price of these plans will be credited to your internal balance and will be used to cover future payments

Case 4. Monthly → Yearly:

Changes from monthly to yearly plans take place depending on:

  • if you are switching from Essential to Pro - the plan update happens immediately,

  • if you switching from Pro to Essential it depends on whether the new spend limit is higher or lower. If the new spend limit is lower, the update will happen once the current yearly billing cycle is over i.e. you will remain on the initial plan for the period you have initially subscribed for. If the new spend limit is higher, then the plan is updated immediately.

initial plan

new plan

plan update

charge

99 monthly Pro

499 yearly Pro

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 99 during this month and what you owe for the time left during this year on plan 499

249 monthly Pro

149 yearly Essential

once the current billing cycle (month) is over

once the current billing cycle (month) is over

149 monthly Essential

299 yearly Essential

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 149 during this month and what you owe for the time left during this year on plan 299

149 monthly Essential

99 yearly Pro

immediately

You will be charged immediately for the difference between the time spent on plan 149 during this month and what you owe for the time left during this year on plan 99

In case you have decided to cancel your subscription prior to the end of your billing period, the sum will not be refunded irrespective of whether you choose to use the tool or not. Please see Article 3 of our terms and conditions for reference.

If it seems too complicated feel free to ask us for more details and check out this article on how our billing works!

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