{"article":{"id":"943d5e69ef5a702c19c64a675d6dce24","categorySlug":"billing-account","slug":"hourly-billing","title":"How hourly billing works","excerpt":"Understand how hourly Cloud Instances are metered, where every per-hour charge appears, and how to keep your balance funded so instances keep running.","body":"Cloud Instances can be billed by the hour instead of by the month. With hourly billing there is no prepaid period and no renewal invoice — you pay only for the hours the instance exists, and every charge is drawn from your account balance. This article explains what each hour costs, where to see the charges, and how to make sure your balance never runs dry.\n\n# Hourly or monthly — you choose at order time\n\nWhen you configure a Cloud Instance, the order form offers two billing modes:\n\n- **Monthly** — the classic prepaid model. You pay an invoice up front, the service renews on a cycle, and cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period. The order button reads **Order \u0026 continue to payment**.\n- **Hourly** — pay-as-you-go. The order button reads **Deploy now** and the instance starts immediately, with each hour charged to your account balance.\n\nHourly billing is paid from your account balance, so you need funds there before you can deploy — sign in and add funds under **Payments** first. Hourly instances are marked with an **hourly** badge in your server list and on the instance page, so you can always tell the two modes apart. Not sure which mode fits your workload? See [Choose a line: Standard, 100 Gbps, GPU or hourly Cloud Instances](/kb/choosing-a-vps-line).\n\n# What each hour costs\n\nEvery billed hour is split into four components, and the configurator shows you the per-resource price breakdown before you deploy:\n\n- vCPU cores\n- Memory (RAM)\n- Disk (NVMe storage)\n- IPv4 address\n\nA stopped instance pays only for its disk and IP address — the vCPU and memory portions stop while it is powered off. Charges are applied every hour, on the hour.\n\n# Charges come from your account balance\n\nHourly usage never produces a monthly invoice. Instead, each hour is deducted from the account balance shown at the top of the **Payments** page and in the portal header, where the balance chip has an **Add funds** shortcut.\n\n\u003e If your balance runs out, hourly services are suspended until you add funds — they resume after a successful top-up. Keep a buffer in place, or let auto top-up handle it for you.\n\nThere are two ways to keep the balance funded:\n\n1. Open **Payments** and use the **Account balance** card: pick a quick amount ($10, $25, $50, $100) or enter your own between $5 and $10,000, then click **Top up**. The top-up is billed as an invoice you pay by card or crypto, and the funds land the moment the invoice is paid.\n2. Turn on the **Auto top-up** card next to it: set the **Below** threshold and the **Add** amount, then click **Save rule**. When the balance drops below the threshold, we charge your saved card automatically. Auto top-up needs a saved card — see [Renewals, saved cards and cancelling](/kb/auto-renewal-cards).\n\n![The Payments page: account balance with quick top-up amounts, the auto top-up rule and the top-up history](/assets/kb/billing/payments.png)\n\nFor the full tour of balance and top-ups, read [Account balance and top-ups](/kb/account-balance-topup).\n\n# Read the hourly usage log\n\nThe **Hourly usage** panel on the **Payments** page lists every billed hour, so you can verify each charge. It appears once your account has hourly usage.\n\n- Switch the range with the **24 h**, **7 days** and **30 days** buttons.\n- Each row shows the time window, the service it belongs to, a stacked cost bar split by vCPU, RAM, Disk and IPv4, and the exact cost of that hour.\n- The footer shows the **Shown period** total for the selected range.\n\n![The Hourly usage panel: per-hour rows with stacked vCPU, RAM, Disk and IPv4 cost bars and the period total](/assets/kb/billing/usage-log.png)\n\n# Stopping the charges\n\nPowering an instance off reduces the hourly cost to disk and IP only — it does not stop billing. To stop paying entirely, delete the instance: open its **Management** tab and use the **Delete instance** card (or the **Delete instance** button next to the instance in your server list), then confirm with **Delete permanently**. This destroys the instance and its disk for good; you are charged for the current partial hour and nothing after that.\n\nMonthly services cannot be deleted this way — they are cancelled at the end of the paid period instead, as described in [Renewals, saved cards and cancelling](/kb/auto-renewal-cards).","status":"published","position":4,"createdAt":"2026-07-15T11:11:28Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-15T11:11:28Z"},"related":[{"id":"e7477cea8f684bf50aa79d7334242269","categorySlug":"billing-account","slug":"invoices-vat-payment","title":"Invoices, VAT and how to pay","excerpt":"Find and download your invoices, understand the VAT line, apply a coupon, and pay by card or cryptocurrency — or arrange a bank transfer with our billing team.","position":1,"status":"published"},{"id":"e3b6b6fac6582c970ac7c7b1833b13c7","categorySlug":"billing-account","slug":"account-balance-topup","title":"Account balance and top-ups","excerpt":"Add funds to your SprintCDN account balance, set up automatic top-ups from a saved card, and see exactly what your balance pays for.","position":2,"status":"published"},{"id":"8fbc41aca336ff4389e08379d44a58f7","categorySlug":"billing-account","slug":"auto-renewal-cards","title":"Renewals, saved cards and cancelling","excerpt":"Save a card so renewals are paid automatically, know what happens if an invoice goes unpaid, and cancel a service at the end of its billing period.","position":3,"status":"published"},{"id":"161f47cd922f1a8ced3fd6324f82bb34","categorySlug":"billing-account","slug":"affiliate-program","title":"Earn with the affiliate program","excerpt":"Join the SprintCDN partner program, share your referral code, track tiered commissions and turn earnings into account credit or a payout.","position":5,"status":"published"}]}