Payment Failures

Payment failures are handled by Stripe's Smart Retry logic. Your instance stays running during retries — you do not lose access immediately if a single payment fails.

What triggers a payment failure

Card declined (insufficient funds, expired card, fraud block)
Bank-side rejection
Payment method removed before billing date
3D Secure authentication timeout

Stripe's retry schedule

When a payment fails, Stripe automatically retries according to your account's Smart Retry configuration:

Attempt	Timing
1st attempt	Billing date
2nd attempt	~3 days later
3rd attempt	~5 days later
4th attempt	~8 days later
Final failure	After last retry — subscription cancelled

You receive an email from Stripe after each failed attempt with a link to update your payment method.

What happens to your instance during retries

Your instance continues running normally during the retry window. The billing status on your Dashboard will show past_due but all API operations remain available. This is intentional — a single failed payment should not interrupt your work.

If the final retry fails, Stripe cancels your subscription and our system begins the cancellation flow:

Your instance moves to read_only (30-day grace period begins)
You receive a notification that your subscription has ended
From this point, the cancellation flow applies

Resolving a payment failure

The fastest way to resolve a payment failure is to update your payment method:

Go to Dashboard → Billing → Manage Subscription
In the Stripe Billing Portal, select Payment Methods → Add
Add a new card or update the existing one
Stripe will retry the payment immediately

If the payment succeeds, your subscription returns to active status and the past_due flag clears.

Suspension (if all retries fail)

If all Stripe retries are exhausted and the subscription is cancelled:

Your instance moves to read_only within seconds
The 30-day grace period starts (see Cancel Subscription)
You have 30 days to resubscribe and start a new instance

To resubscribe, go to the Dashboard and complete a new Stripe Checkout. Note that resubscription creates a new instance — your previous atoms are in the read-only instance but are not automatically migrated. Export them during the grace period if needed.

Adding credits to resolve suspension

If your account has been suspended due to failed payments and you want to reactivate without resubscribing, you can add credits to bring your balance positive. Credit additions are processed atomically — the balance update and billing event are recorded together, so credits cannot be lost or double-counted. Each credit is tracked by its Stripe payment intent ID, making the operation safe to retry.