Your server allowance determines how many deployment servers you can add to your DeployHQ account. Each package includes a specific number of servers across all your projects.

## What Is a Server Allowance?

A server allowance is the total number of servers you can configure for deployments across all projects in your account. Each server connection (FTP, SFTP, SSH, cloud platforms, etc.) counts as one server toward your allowance.

### Servers vs. Deployments

Your server allowance is a limit on **unique configured servers**, not on the number of deployments. You can run as many deployments as you like to those servers without affecting your allowance.

For example, on the Pro package (50 servers) you can:

- Configure up to 50 distinct server connections across all your projects
- Deploy to any of those servers as often as needed, including multiple deployments per day to the same server

A single deployment to a server group with five servers still counts as one server connection per server, regardless of how many times you trigger it.

[Build minutes](Article: #307) are a separate allowance and only apply to projects that use a [build pipeline](Article: #301).

## Server Allowances by Package

Different packages include different server allowances:

- **Free**: 5 servers
- **Solo**: 15 servers
- **Pro**: 50 servers
- **Business**: 100 servers
- **Enterprise**: 250 servers
- **Enterprise I**: 500 servers
- **Enterprise II**: 750 servers
- **Enterprise III**: 1,000 servers

## How Server Allowances Work

### Account-Wide Limit

Your server allowance applies across your entire account, not per project. For example:
- If you have the Pro package (50 servers)
- And 3 projects configured
- You can distribute those 50 servers across all 3 projects in any combination

### Per-Project Default

Each project has a default allowance of 5 servers when created, but this is just a starting point. You can add more servers to individual projects as long as you stay within your account-wide allowance.

## Checking Your Server Allowance

You can view your current server usage in several ways:

1. **Account Overview**: Shows total servers used vs. allowance
2. **Project Settings**: Each project displays how many servers it has configured
3. **Server Management**: The server list shows your overall usage

## Managing Servers Within Your Allowance

### Adding Servers

When adding a new server:
1. Ensure you have remaining server allowance
2. Configure the server connection details
3. The server counts immediately toward your allowance

### Removing Servers

To free up allowance:
1. Navigate to the project containing the server
2. Go to **Servers** settings
3. Delete servers you no longer need
4. The allowance is freed immediately

### Exceeding Your Allowance

How DeployHQ handles going over your allowance depends on whether your package includes a hard server cap or only a soft allowance:

**Free plan (hard cap)**

The Free plan enforces a strict 5-server limit. Once you reach it, server creation is blocked with the message *"You have exceeded your server limit. Please upgrade to a paid plan to add more servers."* To add a sixth server you must either delete an existing one or upgrade to a paid plan.

**Paid plans (soft allowance with overage)**

Paid plans (Solo, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers) do not block you from going over the included allowance. Excess servers are billed as a small per-server surcharge on top of your subscription:

- The included allowance is fixed by your package (for example, 50 servers on Pro)
- Any servers beyond that count are charged as overage, prorated on your next invoice
- DeployHQ displays a notice in the dashboard when you are above your allowance, showing how many extra servers you are currently paying for
- If overage becomes a regular pattern, upgrading to a higher package is usually cheaper than paying the per-server surcharge - see your [billing page](https://www.deployhq.com/account/billing) for current pricing

To check the exact surcharge that applies to your account, head to **Settings > Billing**, or [contact support](mailto:support@deployhq.com) for a quote.

If you would rather stay strictly within your included allowance, you can:
- Delete unused servers to free up the count
- Upgrade to a package with a higher allowance

## Upgrading for More Servers

If you need more servers:

1. Navigate to **Settings** > **Billing** > **Change package**
2. Review packages with higher server allowances
3. Select and upgrade to your desired package
4. Your new server allowance is available immediately

**Need help?** If you have questions about your server allowance or need assistance managing your servers, please [contact our support team](mailto:support@deployhq.com).