How hourly billing works
Every server size has a monthly list price. Divide it by 730 (the average number of hours in a month) and you have the hourly rate. Each running server is metered per started hour and drawn from a prepaid wallet.
Hourly servers carry a 48 hours minimum from the moment they are built. Delete one inside that window and the remaining hours are charged once, at termination; the panel shows the amount before you confirm. After that you pay only for the hours the server ran.
A stopped server on hourly billing is still charged for its disk and reserved IP address, because both stay allocated to you.
How term billing works
A monthly plan is 30% below the hourly list price. Longer terms go further: a 12-month term is 44% below the hourly list and a 36-month term 65%. Terms are paid upfront.
Cancel a monthly or longer plan early and the unused part comes back as wallet credit, with a GST credit note, so a term is less of a lock-in than it sounds.
The break-even point
Because a monthly plan costs 30% less than a full month of hourly billing, monthly is cheaper once a server runs for about 511 hours (roughly 21 days) in the month. Below that, hourly costs less; above it, the monthly plan does.
Rule of thumb: if the server will be on for most of the month, take a monthly plan. If it is a test, an event or a weekend project, stay hourly.
- Weekend game server or load test: hourly.
- Trying a new provider, broker or EA for a few days: hourly.
- Production website, database or trading terminal that runs all month: monthly or longer.
- A server you know you will keep for a year: a 12-month term.
Switching between hourly and a term
An hourly server can move to a monthly or longer plan at any time. The VM, its IP address and its disk stay as they are; only the billing changes from the next hour. That makes "start hourly, commit when it works" a safe default.
See every size with its hourly, monthly and multi-year price on the pricing page, or price a custom size on the builder.