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.

You don't have to wait for the suspension to sort it out: the same options are available during the grace period. See Before suspension: the grace period.

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.

Before suspension: the grace period

For 7 days after a renewal payment fails, your account keeps working but is past due. A banner across the app shows the date the account will be suspended.

You can resolve it straight away from Settings, then Subscription Plans. Picking a cheaper plan opens a dialog titled "Your renewal payment failed", with two options:

• Pay now: pay the failed renewal and stay on your current plan.
• Switch: move to the cheaper plan and pay for it instead. If the new plan is a downgrade, you'll be asked a short feedback survey first, then taken to a Stripe checkout page. Once you've paid, the failed renewal is cancelled and your billing date stays the same.

A few things to know:

• If the plan you pick isn't cheaper than the renewal you owe, you're sent to pay the renewal instead. Once it's paid, you can change plan as usual.
• If the failed renewal ends up being paid while you're on the checkout page, the switch is cancelled and the checkout payment is refunded in full, so you're never charged twice.
• The switch is paid by card (SEPA and other bank debits aren't supported for it), and existing discounts don't carry over to the new plan.
• If the grace period ends before you pay, the account is suspended and the options below apply.

Your options when suspended

While suspended after a failed renewal, picking a cheaper plan on Subscription Plans (or a cheaper billing frequency on Payment details) opens a recovery dialog titled "Your account is suspended", with these options. Picking a plan that isn't cheaper than what you owe sends you to pay the outstanding invoice instead.

Switch

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. The switch is paid by card (SEPA and other bank debits aren't supported for it), and existing discounts don't carry over to the new plan.

Pay & reactivate

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.

Dismiss

Closes the dialog without changing anything. If you'd rather not continue with DeployHQ, please contact our support team.

Walking through "Switch"

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. Choose Switch.
5. If the new plan is a downgrade, answer the short feedback survey.
6. 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.
7. Enter the card details and confirm.
8. 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:

• If your account was suspended, it's reactivated and the suspension banner is removed. If you switched during the grace period, the past-due banner is removed and your billing date stays the same.
• 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. Your account stays as it was (past due or suspended), and you can try again at any time or pick a different option from the 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 as it was 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.