How to use this. Steps reflect common operator problem-handling patterns and public UpCloud flows. Follow your live Control Panel labels; discover actual OS, services, and paths on your host before production changes.
Build a live cost ledger (pricing page ≠ invoice, but start there)
| Field | What to record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Family + plan size | Starter / Premium / Native + RAM/CPU/disk display | Verify live EUR/USD |
| DC | Latency / residency | Stock not promised everywhere |
| Storage (Native) | Tier + GB | Helsinki vs Global rows can differ |
| Simple Backup | +10/+20/+40/+60% or per-GB | Leftovers after delete |
| Fair Transfer TB | Plan-code table | Overage $/GB UNKNOWN—do not invent |
| Prepaid balance | Manual / auto top-up | Credits-run-out ladder |
| Trial offer | Write live signup text | €200/30d vs €10/7d conflict |
Monthly displays assume about 28 billable days. Treat pricing-page rows as display estimates.
Shut down vs delete vs leftover billing (decision tree)
- Starter / Premium: shut down still bills; delete stops plan charges.
- Cloud Native: power-off stops compute; storage and IPs continue until deleted.
- Pricing FAQ: delete services to stop accumulation; remaining balance stays usable.
- Credits run out: servers shut down → remove servers after about one month → remove storages after about two months; IP/storage/backups can keep charging while shut down after credits run out—treat as failure mode, not a feature.
- Account-removal docs describe inactivity auto-removal timelines—not a full cancel wizard. Emphasize inventory deletion + balance audit.
Backup matrix — Simple, Flexible, on-demand, app exports
| Mechanism | Protects | Price evidence | Trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Backup Day/Week/Month/Year | Rotating snapshots for plan system storage | +10/+20/+40/+60% of plan price (ordinary); per-GB Native/GPU/extra disks | Disable/delete converts leftovers to on-demand |
| Flexible Backups | Custom schedule; retention up to ~3 years | Per-GB | Still not app-consistent alone |
| On-demand | Manual instant snapshots; not auto-deleted | Per-GB until manually deleted | Common leftover after server delete |
| App exports | n8n JSON+DB, WP files+DB, keys, model configs | Operator-owned off-host | Mandatory before delete |
Never promise free Day backup on current Starter/Premium—the free-backups guide applies to discontinued GP-class plans.
Quiesce → cutoff → export → independent off-host copy → isolated restore proof → only then delete.
CONTROL WRITES → FINAL EXPORT → VERIFY FINAL-CUTOFF RESTORE → DELETE (+ leftovers) → AUDIT
- Inventory all servers, storages, backups (including converted on-demand), IPs, gateways, and adjacent managed SKUs.
- Control writes / define cutoff.
- Final application-consistent export to off-host storage.
- Verify restore on a non-production target matching that cutoff.
- Delete every billable server; then delete leftover on-demand backups, storages, and extra IPs; confirm Native disks are not left “for later.”
- Audit prepaid balance no longer drains unexpectedly; DNS/mail cutover; secret revocation; archive location.
Hard rule. Never destroy before export. Never accept a restore proof older than the final synchronized state.
Refunds, credits, TOS money rules (narrow)
- Credits generally non-refundable/non-transferable unless UpCloud decides otherwise (TOS/docs).
- Docs: first payment 30-day money-back up to €500/$500 via support—attribute; process, not a button.
- TOS: maintain positive balance; unused time from the current billing hour may credit in some terminations—attribute carefully.
- SLA marketing percentages + TOS compensation-as-credits; Spot excluded from SLA—no performance guarantee from AiXVPS.
- Affiliate commission rates UNKNOWN—omitted.
Fit checks before you top up again
Still need this family/size/DC? Verify live resize rules (Premium/Starter may require shutdown to shrink—attribute docs). Recompose via review; new host via setup; migrate apps via n8n / AI exports.
Also useful: total cost tool · cancel/stop/delete policy hub · backups vs snapshots.