Billing
When you are charged, what a plan change costs, and what happens if you stop.
The renewal date is yours
A subscription renews on the day it started: every month, or every year on yearly billing. Upgrades and downgrades keep that date; moving from monthly to yearly sets a new one, the day you switch. It is the anchor everything else is calculated against.
Changing plan
| Change | When it applies | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade | Immediately | The difference, for the part of the period you have not used. |
| Downgrade | At the end of the period you have paid for | Nothing now. |
| Monthly to yearly | Immediately — your year starts that day and renews on that date | A year of the plan, less what is left of your current period. |
| Yearly to monthly | At the end of the year you have paid for | Nothing now. |
An upgrade is charged for the unused part of the period, applies the same day and keeps your renewal date; from then on you pay the new plan's full price. A downgrade is not refunded — it waits instead, and you keep what you paid for until it ends.
If a payment is declined
A declined upgrade or switch to yearly billing leaves you on the plan and billing you were on. Nothing is half-applied. A declined renewal is covered below.
Automatic or manual renewal
Every subscription renews automatically unless you change it. Set to manual, nothing is charged on your renewal date — you renew it yourself, or it ends.
Open Billing in Control
The Renewal row under your plan says which one you are on.
Switch to manual
It asks first, and the question names the date your station would come off air. Switching back to automatic does not ask, because returning to automatic cannot cost you anything.
When your renewal is set to manual, MAWCast emails you 11 days before the renewal date with what is due and by when, and if you have connected Discord, MAW Assistant sends you the same notice at the same time. An automatic renewal needs nothing from you: it is charged on its date.
What happens if it is not paid
The two cases are treated differently on purpose. A card that expired while you were away is an accident. A renewal you set to manual and then did not pay is a decision.
| What happened | Your station | Your files |
|---|---|---|
| An automatic payment failed | Keeps broadcasting for 5 days, then goes off air. | Deleted 14 days after the renewal date. |
| A manual renewal was not paid | Goes off air on the renewal date. No grace period. | Deleted 14 days after the renewal date. |
Between going off air and the deletion date the account is suspended, not gone: nothing has been removed, and paying brings the station and everything on it straight back. See Data retention.
A failed payment does not leave you owing anything. The period it would have paid for never starts, so there is nothing to collect and nobody will pursue you for it; you can subscribe again whenever you want.
If you switch to manual, the station comes off air on the renewal date itself — not five days later. The five days apply only to an automatic payment that failed. Switch to manual only if you intend to renew it by hand.
Cancelling
Cancelling keeps your access until the end of the period you have already paid for. After that, see Data retention for how long your files stay.
Trials
The trial is three days of Starter and needs a verified payment method. One trial per payment method — a card that has already been used cannot start another, on any account.
Still need help? Write to contact@mawcast.com.