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Plan changes and renewals

Your plan renews monthly on its subscription date. Renewal, upgrade, and overage charges flow through the organization wallet. This page explains when plan changes take effect and what happens after a payment failure.
Open Billing and payments > Overview. The plan card shows the renewal date and any scheduled change.

Upgrades take effect immediately

An upgrade applies after its payment settles. Bird charges the current-period price difference rather than prorating by time. The full new allowance becomes available for the rest of the period, and the renewal date does not change.
Bird charges the wallet first. If the balance does not cover the upgrade, Bird charges the saved card for the difference. If no card is available, the dashboard prompts you to add funds. The upgrade applies after the payment settles.
After an upgrade, downgrades are locked for the rest of the billing period. The earliest a downgrade scheduled after an in-period upgrade can take effect is the end of the following period. You can still cancel the subscription.

Downgrades and cancellation land at period end

Moving to a cheaper plan schedules the change for the end of the billing period. The current plan and allowance remain active until then. The plan card and the Settings page show the scheduled change.
Cancellation also takes effect at the end of the current billing period. The paid plan remains active until then, after which the organization moves to the Free plan. You can resume the subscription before the period ends.
Cancellation does not create a partial-period refund. It takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

How renewals are funded

On the renewal date, Bird charges the next period's plan price and any overage from the previous period.
  • If the wallet covers it, that's the whole story. The charge appears on the Spend page and on that month's invoice.
  • If the wallet is short, Bird uses the available wallet balance and charges the saved card for the difference. The Overview page warns you before renewal.
  • If there's no card on file, the Overview page asks you to add funds before the renewal date. Without a card, a short wallet on renewal day starts the payment-retry window described in When a renewal payment fails.
To reduce renewal shortfalls, configure auto top-up as described in Payment methods & wallet.

When a renewal payment fails

A failed renewal follows this sequence:
  1. Your plan is marked past due, and sending continues. You keep your included allowance throughout. Your billing contacts get a payment-failed email immediately.
  2. Overage is suspended. While the renewal is unpaid, sends beyond your included allowance are rejected rather than billed. Bird won't extend more usage credit on top of an unpaid bill.
  3. Bird retries the card daily for up to 7 days. A successful retry or a manual wallet top-up settles the balance and restores overage.
  4. After 7 days unpaid, the plan is canceled. Any outstanding overage from the previous period is still charged to the wallet, the paid plan ends, and your organization moves to the Free plan. Your billing contacts are notified. Add-on subscriptions with failed payments (a dedicated IP, a phone number) are released rather than downgraded.
During this window, update the card or top up the wallet from the Overview page.
A negative prepaid wallet balance blocks sending, including sends within the plan allowance, until you add enough funds. The Overview page shows the amount due.
Failed-payment emails go to the billing contact set at Billing and payments > Settings. Use a monitored team alias so the notice does not depend on one person.

Next steps