Last updated on 15th June 2026

Recovering a suspended account

If a renewal charge fails and the payment can't be recovered after a short grace period, your DeployHQ account is automatically suspended. While suspended, deployments are paused and you'll see a banner across the app explaining the state. This article walks through how to reactivate it.

Why does an account get suspended?

Accounts are suspended when:

  1. A renewal charge against your saved card fails (most commonly because the card has expired, been replaced, or has insufficient funds).
  2. DeployHQ retries the payment over a short grace period.
  3. The grace period ends without a successful charge.

The suspension is a billing-state pause, not a deletion. Your projects, servers, deployment history, configurations, and team are all preserved. The account picks up exactly where it left off once payment is settled.

Your options when suspended

When you reach Settings and open Subscription Plans or Payment details while suspended, you'll see a recovery dialog with three options:

Switch to a cheaper plan and pay

If the full outstanding amount isn't workable right now, you can switch to a less expensive plan, or to a more frequent billing cycle (for example monthly instead of yearly), and pay only the first cycle of the new plan up front.

This is typically the fastest way back online. You pay a smaller amount, the account reactivates immediately, and the card you use is saved automatically for future renewals so the same failure doesn't repeat next cycle.

Pay the outstanding invoice

If you'd rather settle the unpaid invoice and continue on your current plan, this option takes you directly to the Stripe-hosted payment page for the outstanding amount. Once paid, the account reactivates and your subscription continues unchanged.

Cancel

If you don't want to continue with DeployHQ, you can cancel the account from the same dialog. No further charges will be attempted. Your data is retained per our standard retention policy in case you change your mind.

Walking through "Switch and pay"

This is the new recovery path and the most common choice. Here's what happens end-to-end:

  1. Log in to your DeployHQ account.
  2. Navigate to Settings, then Subscription Plans (or Payment details if you want to change frequency rather than plan).
  3. Click Downgrade on the cheaper plan you'd like to switch to, or use the frequency selector on Payment details.
  4. The recovery dialog appears with the three options described above. Choose Switch and pay.
  5. You're taken to a Stripe-hosted checkout page that asks only for card details. The total shown is the first cycle of the new plan, with VAT applied per your billing address.
  6. Enter the card details and confirm.
  7. You're returned to DeployHQ. A short processing banner appears while the payment is confirmed in the background, then it switches to a success message once the swap completes.

After this:

  • Your account is reactivated and the suspension banner is removed.
  • Your plan now reflects the package and billing frequency you selected.
  • The card you used during checkout is saved on the account and set as the default for future renewals.
  • The previous unpaid invoice is voided.
  • Your next charge appears on the regular date for your new billing cycle.

What if I close the checkout page without paying?

Nothing changes. The account stays suspended in its current state and you can retry the swap at any time, or pick a different option from the recovery dialog.

What if my card is declined at checkout?

The Stripe checkout page surfaces the decline message and lets you try a different card immediately. Your account stays in its current suspended state until a charge succeeds. Try a different card or contact your card issuer if the same card continues to be declined.

Security

The checkout page is hosted by Stripe and uses the same payment infrastructure as any other purchase on DeployHQ. We never see or store raw card details. The address bar on the checkout page will be on a stripe.com domain throughout.

What if I can't see these options?

The self-serve recovery dialog appears for accounts on Stripe billing. If your account was set up on a legacy billing arrangement and you're suspended, please contact our support team and we'll help you reactivate manually.

Need help? If you have questions about your account state or run into trouble during recovery, please contact our support team.