> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.repocloud.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Billing

> Prepaid credit, auto-recharge, usage history, payment history, paused billing, and the VPS grace period

## Billing Overview

RepoCloud uses a prepaid credit model. Your account carries a credit balance, and resource usage is metered hourly and deducted automatically. The **Billing** tab of your dashboard shows your balance, payment options, and usage history.

## Credit Balance

Your current balance is displayed at the top of every dashboard page and in the Billing tab. New accounts receive free credit for their first 30 days to test applications.

## Adding Credit

Purchase credit through the Billing tab using a credit or debit card via Stripe. The minimum top-up is \$1.

## Auto-Recharge

Enable **Auto Recharge** in the Billing tab to automatically purchase a set amount of credit whenever your balance drops below a threshold you choose:

1. Toggle Auto Recharge on
2. Set the **recharge amount** (how much credit to purchase)
3. Set the **threshold** (the balance level that triggers a recharge)

A payment method on file is required. When your balance drops below the threshold, the configured amount is charged to your card and added to your balance automatically.

<Tip>
  Auto-recharge prevents service interruptions from an exhausted balance. Set a threshold above your highest hourly burn rate to ensure uninterrupted service.
</Tip>

## How Billing Works

### Hourly Metering

Resource usage is measured and billed on an hourly basis:

* **Container Apps with autoscaling**: billed at the rate of the tier your instance used each hour
* **Container Apps with fixed tier**: billed at the fixed tier's hourly rate
* **VPS Apps**: billed at the selected tier's hourly rate
* **Paused instances**: billed at 25% of the normal hourly rate (both Container and VPS)

### Paused Billing

Pausing an instance reduces its billing to 25% of the normal rate because some resources (storage, IP reservation) remain allocated. To stop billing entirely, delete the instance.

### VPS Grace Period

When a VPS instance is system-paused at zero balance, a 15-day grace period begins:

| Day | What happens                                                      |
| --- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 0   | Instance paused, billing-paused email sent                        |
| 3   | Reminder email                                                    |
| 7   | Reminder email                                                    |
| 13  | Final warning email with deletion date                            |
| 15  | Instance permanently deleted (all data, snapshots, IPv4 released) |

During the grace period, most management actions are disabled. Add funds to automatically resume the instance. See [Managing VPS Apps](/manage/vps-apps) for details on the billing-paused lockdown.

### VPS Additional Costs

| Resource                    | Cost                                           |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Snapshots                   | \$0.10 per GB per month                        |
| Bandwidth (excess outbound) | \$0.10 per GB beyond the tier's free allowance |
| Dedicated IPv4              | Included at no extra charge                    |

### First-Hour Billing

VPS instances are billed for their first hour immediately at deployment time. This ensures billing coverage even for instances that are created and deleted within one hour.

## Usage History

The Billing tab provides a detailed **Usage History** table showing hourly billing records for all your instances. You can:

* Browse entries with pagination
* Filter by date range
* Download the history as CSV

## Payment History

A separate **Payment History** section shows all credit purchases, including:

* Purchase amount
* Payment method
* Date and time
* Transaction status

Payment history is also paginated and downloadable as CSV.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What happens when my balance reaches zero?">
    **Container Apps**: instances are paused and billing drops to 25% of the normal rate. Add funds to resume them.

    **VPS Apps**: instances are system-paused and a 15-day grace period begins. During this period, most management actions are disabled. If you add funds during the grace period, instances auto-resume immediately. After 15 days at zero balance, the instance is permanently deleted.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get a refund?">
    Contact [support](/manage/support) for refund requests. Refunds are processed on a case-by-case basis.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is there a minimum balance for VPS deployments?">
    Yes. VPS deployments require a balance greater than \$3. Since new accounts start with \$3 in free credit, depositing at least \$1 brings the balance above the threshold. Free credit alone cannot be used for VPS.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I stop billing for an instance?">
    Delete the instance. Pausing reduces billing to 25% but does not stop it entirely.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup>
  <Card title="Pricing Overview" icon="money-bill" href="/pricing/overview">
    Understand the full pricing model including tiers and autoscaling
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dashboard" icon="table-columns" href="/manage/dashboard">
    Monitor all your instances from one place
  </Card>
</CardGroup>