Updated July 14, 2020

Billing is flexible with our cloud hosting system. To get started, **add at least $3 in Cloud Credit** through the Client Area [here](https://clientarea.ramnode.com/).

**Cloud credit** will be deducted based on the hourly cost of your services. You can monitor your usage in the Cloud Control Panel under the [Billing](https://cloud.ramnode.com/billing/history) tab.

## 3 Ways to Fund Your Account

### Auto-Pay

Leave a [credit card on file](https://clientarea.ramnode.com/account/paymentmethods) to receive an invoice once a month or upon reaching our post-pay threshold (currently $40 - open a ticket to request a higher limit).

Our system will **automatically charge your card** after issuing the invoice.

### Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG)

Manually add credit to your cloud account to stay prepaid. Your usage is automatically deducted from this credit balance.

You can add credit at any time from the Client Area.

### Post-Pay

Contact us to enable post-pay billing if you prefer to receive invoices. This option is available upon request.

## How Hourly Rates Are Calculated

Hourly Rate = Monthly Price ÷ 730 hours

All monthly prices are divided by 730 hours (average hours in a month) to calculate the hourly rate.

### Example Calculation

Monthly price: $5.00

Hourly rate: $5.00 ÷ 730 = $0.007/hour

Instance exists for 100 hours: $0.70

Instance exists full month (730 hours): $5.00 (capped)

💰 Monthly Price Cap

Instances are billed for every hour they exist, regardless of whether they are powered on or off. To stop billing, you must **destroy (delete)** the instance. Hourly rates are **capped at the monthly price** — you'll never pay more than the monthly rate.

### Monitor Your Usage

Track your current usage and estimated costs in real-time through the Cloud Control Panel:

[View Billing History](https://cloud.ramnode.com/billing/history)