What stops working if you do not pay: website, e-mail, DNS and domain, one by one

Not paying an invoice does not wipe everything at once: there are three phases, and each one stops different things. First the service carries on, then it is suspended (it stops answering but nothing is deleted), and finally it is terminated (at that point data can leave the server). The days for each phase are in the calendar, not here: see why your invoice shows this amount, and the billing calendar.

What happens to each part

Part Overdue, before suspension Suspended Terminated
The website Works. Stops opening. The files stay. The files leave the server.
E-mail Works. Stops arriving. The messages stay. Mailboxes and messages leave the server.
The databases Work. Stay, unused. Leave the server.
DNS records created in the account Work. Are not deleted. Are not kept for you. Copy them beforehand.
The daily backups Nothing changes. Nothing changes in the data. The history ends; only the last copy is kept, for the period in the Terms.
The domain registration A separate service, with its own invoice and calendar. Not suspended by this. Not deleted by this. See how to cancel a service and keep only the domain.

What to do in each phase

1 Still overdue: pay, and the account carries on as if nothing happened. Notices go to the account’s e-mail; make sure it is one you read. See how to change your registration e-mail.
2 Already suspended: pay the overdue invoice. Reactivation is automatic when the payment is recorded; with a method that confirms itself it takes minutes, with a bank transfer it waits for the check. See how to reactivate a suspended or terminated plan.
3 Close to termination: talk to us before you get there. Once terminated, paying no longer brings back what was deleted. See how long we keep backups.
4 If you are letting the service lapse on purpose, take what you want first: how to take everything with you before you cancel.
Suspended is not the same as terminated. Suspended is fixed by paying, and it comes back whole. Terminated can mean files and mailboxes that no longer exist, and then paying does not bring them back. There is a gap between the two phases and it is what protects your data: do not spend it.
The domain is the costliest thing to lose. Even with the hosting suspended, the name remains yours and carries on renewing. But a site with no hosting leaves the name with nowhere to go. If you are changing host, leave the domain where it is, and point it at the new place: see pointing your domain to us: nameservers, step by step.

Have an overdue invoice and not sure what phase you are in? Send us the number and we will tell you what is stopped and what you can do.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

How to reactivate a suspended or terminated plan

Why your invoice shows this amount, and the billing calendar

Bank transfer: the five stages until your payment is confirmed

A window about unpaid invoices appears when I sign in: what it is and what to do

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