# Billing & Payments

Understand how billing works on DanubeData and manage your payment methods.

## Billing Model

DanubeData uses **hourly billing** - you only pay for what you use.

### How It Works

1. Resources are billed **per hour** from the moment creation completes until deletion
2. Invoices are generated **monthly**
3. Payment is automatically charged to your default payment method
4. Stopped instances continue to be billed at the full rate — delete to stop billing

### What's Billed

- **Compute**: vCPU and RAM resources
- **Storage**: Disk space used by instances
- **Snapshots**: Snapshot storage (per GB)
- **Backups**: Backup storage (per GB)
- **Network Egress**: Outbound data transfer
- **Replicas**: Additional compute/storage for replicas

### What's Free

- **Inbound Traffic**: Data transfer into DanubeData
- **Private Network Traffic**: Internal communication between instances
- **API Calls**: No charges for API usage

## Pricing

### VPS Instances (Shared CPU)

| Profile | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|-------|-----|---------|---------|
| Nano (Shared) | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €4.49 |
| Micro (Shared) | 3 | 4 GB | 80 GB | €7.49 |
| Small (Shared) | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | €12.49 |
| Medium (Shared) | 8 | 16 GB | 320 GB | €24.99 |
| Large (Shared) | 16 | 32 GB | 640 GB | €49.99 |

### VPS Instances (Dedicated CPU)

| Profile | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|-------|-----|---------|---------|
| Nano | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €8.99 |
| Micro | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB | €14.99 |
| Small | 2 | 8 GB | 160 GB | €24.99 |
| Medium | 4 | 16 GB | 320 GB | €49.99 |
| Large | 8 | 32 GB | 640 GB | €99.99 |

### Database Instances

| Profile | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|------|-----|---------|---------|
| Small | 2 | 4 GB | 50 GB | €19.99 |
| Medium | 4 | 8 GB | 100 GB | €39.99 |
| Large | 8 | 16 GB | 200 GB | €79.99 |

### Cache Instances (Redis/Valkey)

| Profile | vCPU | RAM | Monthly |
|---------|------|-----|---------|
| Micro | 1 | 1 GB | €4.99 |
| Small | 2 | 2 GB | €9.99 |
| Medium | 4 | 4 GB | €19.99 |
| Large | 8 | 8 GB | €39.99 |

### Additional Services

- **Snapshots**: €0.073 per GB per month
- **Object Storage**: €5.49/month (includes 1 TB storage + 1 TB egress)
- **Network Egress**: €1.00/TB overage (20 TB included per VPS)

## Payment Methods

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, UnionPay, and Diners Club. All payments are processed securely through Stripe.

You can manage primary and backup payment methods, with a temporary EUR 1.00 card verification hold when adding a new card.

For full details on adding cards, card verification, and managing payment methods, see [Payments](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-payments).

## Invoices

### Viewing Invoices

1. Navigate to **Billing**
2. Click the **Invoices** tab
3. View all past and pending invoices

### Invoice Details

Each invoice includes:
- **Billing period**
- **Itemized charges** for each resource
- **Usage hours** for each item
- **Total amount**
- **Payment status**

### Downloading Invoices

1. Go to **Billing** > **Invoices**
2. Click **Download PDF** on any invoice
3. Save the PDF for your records

## Usage Tracking

### Current Usage

View your current month's usage:

1. Navigate to **Billing**
2. Click the **Usage** tab
3. See real-time resource costs

### Resource Breakdown

The usage tab shows:
- Active resources
- Hours used this month
- Current month's estimated cost
- Cost per resource

## Budget Alerts

Set a monthly budget and receive progressive email alerts as your spending approaches it:

1. Go to **Billing** > **Budget**
2. Enable the budget and set your monthly limit
3. Get notified as you approach the threshold

You'll also be emailed if a payment fails. See [Payments](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-payments) for the full late-payment process.

## Failed and Late Payments

If a payment fails, we will notify you via email. You can retry the payment up to 5 times from **Billing** > **Invoices**. Unpaid invoices follow an escalation process that can lead to account suspension and eventual termination.

For the full timeline, retry instructions, and how to resolve late payments, see [Payments](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-payments).

## Account Credits

### Promotional Credits

- Applied automatically to your account
- Used before charging your payment method
- Shown on your invoice

### Referral Credits

Earn credits by referring others to DanubeData:
- EUR 15.00 credit for each qualified referral
- Your friend gets EUR 10.00 in credit

## Billing FAQs

### When am I charged?

Invoices are generated on the 1st of each month for the previous month's usage and are due immediately. Your first invoice must be paid within 5 days; all following invoices within 10 days. Billing for a resource starts once it has been successfully created and continues until it is deleted, regardless of whether the instance is running or stopped.

### Are stopped instances still billed?

Yes. Instances are billed at the full rate from the moment creation completes until the instance is deleted. Stopping an instance does not reduce or pause billing. To stop being charged for a resource, you must delete it.

### Can I get a refund?

We generally don't offer refunds, but contact support if you have special circumstances.

### Do you offer annual discounts?

Not currently, but we're working on annual plans with discounted rates.

### How do I cancel my account?

Delete all resources and remove your payment method. Your account will remain active but won't be charged.

### Can I change my billing address?

Yes, update your billing information in **Billing** > **Payment Method**.

## Larger Accounts

Higher account tiers are available with increased resource limits — see [Account Limits](https://docs.danubedata.ro/account-limits). If paying by card doesn't work for your organization, contact support through the dashboard to discuss the billing options available for your account.

## Next Steps

- [Payments](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-payments) — Payment methods, due dates, and late payment policy
- [Pricing](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-pricing) — Detailed pricing for all resources
- [Invoices](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-invoices) — Managing invoices and billing history

Need help with billing? Contact our support team through the dashboard.