Payments & billing
Each project has a balance in US dollars: you top it up, and the plan is paid from it for 30 days and renews on its own.
The section is “Settings → Project & access → Plan & billing”. Only the project owner can use it. The section is missing when the platform admin turns the Billing module off, and on installs in Enterprise mode.
Balance and top-ups
- Top Up Balance: an amount in US dollars ($5 minimum) and a payment method. The methods depend on which payment gateways the platform has connected; once the payment is created, the payment page opens.
- The money is credited once the gateway confirms the payment. Payment History lists top-ups and charges with the statuses Pending, Paid, Expired and Cancelled.
- The Promo code field: a code can give a percentage discount (sometimes for a limited time), a paid plan free for a number of days, or money on the balance.
Changing the plan
- Moving to a higher plan, or paying yearly, is charged at once — from the balance or through a payment gateway. The new period starts when you pay: 30 days, or 365 for yearly; what's left of the old plan isn't credited back.
- Moving to a lower plan uses “Switch at period end”: the change is scheduled for the end date and can be cancelled.
- Enterprise is on request: “Contact us” emails sales. If the platform admin has allowed Enterprise for the project, the plan card gets a buy button and possibly an agreed price.
Renewal
- Auto Renewal is on by default. When the period ends, the plan price is charged from the balance and the plan runs for another 30 days. The check runs every hour.
- If the balance is short, the owner gets an email and the project moves to the free Starter plan. Seven, three and one day before the period ends, the owner gets a reminder if the balance is too low.
- With auto renewal off, the project moves to the Plan After Expiry when the period ends: a paid plan is charged from the balance, like a renewal, with the same low-balance reminders seven, three and one day ahead. If no plan is picked or the balance doesn't cover it, the project moves to Starter.
Plan limits
The Resource Usage block shows operators (the owner doesn't take a seat) and tickets this calendar month. Once the ticket limit is used up, no new tickets are created until next month or a plan change, and the owner and admins get a notification. You can't invite operators beyond the limit, and channels outside the plan can't be connected. What each plan includes is set by the platform admin — see Modules and plan features.
Trial
The Starter plan is free with no time limit. You can try a paid plan: on Starter, if the project hasn't had a trial yet, the section shows “Request a trial”, which opens an email to support@forestsnet.com. The platform admin turns the trial on after checking the company, usually for 14 days.
- During the trial the project gets everything in the plan, and the section shows when the trial ends.
- To stay on the plan, top up your balance and press Pay: the paid month starts after the trial, so the remaining trial days aren't lost.
- The trial never charges the balance on its own. If you pick a Plan After Expiry in advance and the balance covers it, that plan is paid when the trial ends; otherwise the project returns to Starter. Data and settings are kept.
- The owner gets an email three days and one day before the trial ends.