Upgrade, downgrade, and scheduled plan changes

Two kinds of change

Every plan switch is either an upgrade or a downgrade, and the app treats them differently:

• An upgrade applies now. Moving to a higher plan, or from monthly to annual on the same plan. You are charged the price difference today, the features unlock immediately, and the credit difference is added to your balance right away. Your renewal date does not move.
• A downgrade is scheduled. Moving to a lower plan, or from annual to monthly on the same plan. Nothing is charged today. You keep your current plan and credits until the end of the term you paid for, then the new plan starts.

The pricing page lists what each plan costs on both billing intervals, if you want to compare before you switch.

Upgrade to a higher plan

1. Open Plan & Usage from the sidebar.
2. Under Other plans, find the plan you want.
3. Click Switch.
4. A summary titled Confirm Your Switch opens. Check the four lines: Plan (the plan and whether it is billed monthly or annually), Charged now (the price difference), Credits added now (the extra credits you get on confirm), and Payment method (the card on file, for example VISA ending 4242).
5. To pay with a different card, click Change payment method, enter the card, and click Save Card.
6. Click Confirm.

The charge is the full price difference between the two plans, not a prorated slice. In return, the full credit difference lands in your balance the moment you confirm. Example: Sarah Johnson is on Starter (325 credits) and switches to Creator (790 credits). She is charged $60 now and 465 credits are added immediately.

If the card is declined, the summary shows the error inline and nothing changes: you stay on your current plan, no credits are added, and you can fix the card and try again.

”Processing your payment” after you click Upgrade

Sometimes your bank takes a moment to confirm the charge. When that happens the upgrade prompt says Processing your payment and the button reads Processing Your Payment… and cannot be clicked again. That is the right state, not an error: the payment is authorised and we are waiting for it to settle.

• It usually clears in a few seconds and can take a few minutes.
• Leave the page open and it unlocks on its own, with no refresh and no second click.
• Closing the tab loses nothing. Come back later and the plan will be live.
• Do not click Upgrade again. The first payment is already on its way, and a second click is not needed.

If the payment is refused, the prompt replaces that message with Your payment did not go through, followed by the exact reason your bank gave (for example “Your card has insufficient funds”), and a link to complete the payment on Stripe with another card. The Upgrade button becomes clickable again so you can retry with a different card instead.

Switch from monthly to annual

On the Plan and Usage page, the current plan card has a Switch to Annual · Save 20% button. It opens the same summary. Because annual is treated as an upgrade, the switch applies now and you are charged the difference today. From then on you are billed once a year. Credits still arrive month by month.

Downgrade to a lower plan

1. Open Plan & Usage.
2. Under Other plans, click Switch on the lower plan.
3. A summary titled Schedule Plan Change opens. It shows Due today: $0 and Starts on with the date your current term ends.
4. Click Schedule Downgrade.

A banner appears at the top of the page: “Scheduled change: switching to on . You keep your current plan until then.”

Switching from annual to monthly on the same plan works the same way: it is scheduled for the end of the annual term you already paid for.

Cancel a scheduled downgrade

Changed your mind before the effective date?

1. Open Plan & Usage.
2. On the scheduled change banner, click Cancel Downgrade.
3. Confirm in the dialog.

Your current plan simply continues. Choosing any other plan while a downgrade is scheduled also replaces the scheduled change with the new decision.

What does not change

• Your renewal date stays the same through an upgrade.
• Your card stays on file unless you change it in the summary.
• Your avatars, videos and settings are untouched by any plan change. If you downgrade below the number of active avatars your new plan allows, the extra ones are not deleted; you will be asked to archive one before you can activate another.

If something goes wrong

“Could not load the summary. Please close and try again.” means the price preview did not come back. Close the summary and click Switch again. If it repeats, or a charge appears on your card without the plan changing, write to Support@AvatarFactory.IO with the email on your account and the time you tried. We check the charge on our side before you try again.