Subscription, Billing & Cancellation Terms

_Last updated: 3 August 2026_

These Subscription, Billing & Cancellation Terms ("Subscription Terms") govern every paid plan on TrustRating: what a plan includes, how billing cycles, renewals and trials work, how upgrades, downgrades and cancellation take effect, what happens when payment fails, and how special arrangements such as courtesy plan grants operate. They form part of the Business Terms of Service; payment methods, invoices, refunds and chargebacks are covered by the companion Payments & Refunds Policy. One principle frames everything: plans buy tools, never scores — see the Content Integrity, Scoring & IP Policy.

1. Plans and entitlements

Plans are tiers of features ("entitlements"): review invitation volumes, widgets, team seats, API access, analytics such as Brand Pulse, marketing assets, featured placement, a dedicated account manager on qualifying tiers, and whatever else the pricing page describes for the current tiers. Quantified entitlements (invitation volumes, seat counts) are limits per billing period unless stated otherwise; unused volume does not roll over, and exceeding a limit prompts an upgrade rather than surprise overage charges — we do not bill for overages you never agreed to. The features included in your plan are those published for that plan at the time of your purchase or renewal; the plan comparison in your business panel is authoritative for what your subscription currently includes. Entitlements are enforced by the platform automatically — when a plan includes a feature it is enabled, when it does not it is locked — and are provided for your company's own use, not for resale (see Section 10 of the Business Terms of Service).

Some tiers may be offered as contact-based plans with individual pricing; for these, the concrete scope and price are those confirmed to you in writing during the sales process, and these Subscription Terms apply to them equally — individual pricing individualises the price, never the integrity rules, the entitlement mechanics or anything else in this document.

2. Prices, currency and taxes

Prices are shown at checkout and on the pricing page, in the currency indicated there. Unless expressly stated otherwise, prices are exclusive of VAT and other applicable taxes, which are added at the statutory rate where required; you are responsible for providing accurate billing details (including a valid VAT number where reverse charge applies). Where we change list prices, the change applies to you at your next renewal at the earliest and only after advance notice as described in Section 9 — never mid-period.

3. Billing cycles and renewal

Plans are billed for a billing period — monthly or yearly, as you select at checkout. Recurring payment methods (card subscriptions via Stripe): your subscription renews automatically at the end of each period and the payment method on file is charged, until you cancel. Non-recurring payment methods (cryptocurrency via NOWPayments, manual crypto, bank transfer): nothing is charged automatically; instead we issue a renewal invoice and remind you by email before the period ends, and the subscription continues when you pay it. Renewal reminders for non-recurring plans and pre-renewal notices where the law requires them are sent to the account email, so keep it current. The period start and end dates, current status and every invoice are always visible in your billing panel.

4. Trials and promotions

Where a free trial or promotional period is offered, its length and scope are stated at signup. A trial converts into a paid subscription only as clearly communicated in the trial offer — recurring trials state the conversion date and price before you confirm, and cancelling before conversion costs nothing. Trials are one per company; abusing trials through repeated sign-ups violates the Acceptable Use Policy. Promotional discounts apply for the stated duration and revert to list price afterwards; a discount obtained through an affiliate or partner offer follows the same rule and never entitles the affiliate to alter your terms.

5. Upgrades and downgrades

You may change plans at any time from the billing panel. Upgrades take effect promptly so you get the features when you need them; where an upgrade takes effect mid-period, the price difference is prorated or the new period starts as shown at confirmation — the checkout always displays exactly what you will pay before you commit, and the number on that confirmation screen is the number that will appear on your invoice, full stop. If a plan-change screen ever shows you one amount and bills another, that is a defect covered by the always-refunded category of the Payments & Refunds Policy. Downgrades take effect at the end of the current billing period: you keep what you paid for until the period you paid for ends. When a downgrade (or expiry) takes effect, entitlements adjust to the new plan automatically: features above the new tier lock, and content or assets tied to higher-tier features (for example premium widgets) stop being served — while your company profile, reviews and score are entirely unaffected, because they were never part of any plan.

6. Cancellation

You may cancel at any time in the billing panel, without cancellation fees, without a phone call, and without a retention gauntlet — the same self-service surface that started the subscription can end it, which is both the law's direction of travel and plain decency. Cancellation stops future renewals; your plan remains fully active until the end of the period you already paid for, and then ends. For non-recurring plans, simply not paying the renewal invoice has the same effect — the subscription lapses at period end. Statutory withdrawal rights, where they apply to your purchase, and any refunds are governed by the Payments & Refunds Policy. After a subscription ends: paid features lock, widgets stop serving (remove embed code per the Widget & Embedding Terms), API keys tied to plan features deactivate — and everything free remains: your claim, replies, profile management and, of course, your reviews and score, per Section 12 of the Business Terms of Service.

7. Failed payments, grace and dunning

Payment failures are usually accidents — an expired card, a bank's overzealous fraud filter, a bookkeeper on holiday — and the dunning process is designed around that assumption. If a renewal charge fails or a renewal invoice goes unpaid at its due date, we do not cut you off instantly. The sequence: we notify you and, for card payments, retry the charge; a grace period keeps your paid features running for a reasonable time while you fix the payment (update the card, pay the invoice — both possible in the billing panel); during dunning we send escalating reminders to the account email. If payment is not made by the end of the grace period, the subscription is suspended: paid features lock exactly as on expiry, until payment resumes them. Persistent non-payment ends the subscription. Suspension for non-payment never touches your score or reviews, and never deletes your data during the reasonable retention window — resubscribing restores your configuration where technically feasible.

8. Courtesy plan grants

We may, at our discretion, grant a company the features of a higher plan than the one it pays for — for example as a partnership courtesy, a make-good after a problem on our side, or an extended evaluation of a tier the company is considering. A courtesy grant works as follows: your billing continues unchanged on your paid plan (same price, same renewal); your effective features are those of the granted plan for as long as the grant lasts; the grant remains valid only while your underlying paid subscription is active and in good standing — if your paid subscription lapses, is suspended for non-payment or is cancelled, the grant ends with it and features revert to whatever your actual status provides; a grant may carry an expiry date, after which features revert to your paid plan automatically; changing your paid plan does not by itself end the grant — it continues over the new paid plan under the same conditions; and a grant is a gratuitous benefit, not a contractual entitlement — it may be modified or withdrawn prospectively at our discretion, does not change your paid plan's price or terms, and creates no right to renewal or to a refund of anything. Courtesy grants never affect scores, moderation or anything in the integrity commitments — they are feature access only.

9. Changes to plans and these terms

We evolve plans over time: features may be added, improved, repackaged or retired. Changes that materially reduce what your active subscription includes will not take effect against you mid-period; they apply at renewal at the earliest and we give advance notice — where a change at renewal materially disadvantages you, you may simply not renew, and where the law grants a termination right we honour it. Price changes likewise apply from renewal after notice (Section 2). Changes to these Subscription Terms follow the change process of the Terms of Service.

10. Suspension for cause

Independently of payment status, we may suspend or terminate paid services for material breach — review manipulation, API abuse, widget misrepresentation and the other grounds in Section 11 of the Business Terms of Service. Termination for cause does not entitle the breaching customer to a refund of the elapsed period where the law permits, and the appeal route of the Moderation & Appeals Policy applies.

11. Worked examples

Rules are clearest in motion, so here are the common lifecycles. The straightforward year: a company subscribes to a monthly plan by card in March; each month renews automatically; in November it switches to yearly billing at the discounted rate shown at checkout; the yearly period starts as confirmed on the change screen. The upgrade mid-month: a company on a starter plan wins a large client and upgrades on day 14 of a 30-day period; the upgrade activates immediately and the checkout showed the prorated difference before confirmation — no surprises, no double charging. The downgrade: a company downgrades from a premium tier on day 3 of a paid month; premium features continue for the remaining 27 days it already paid for, then the lower tier takes over; nothing is clawed back and nothing extra is owed. The crypto renewal: a company paying via NOWPayments receives its renewal invoice and reminder before period end; it pays on the last day; the new period activates on payment confirmation with no gap. The lapsed card: a card expires unnoticed; the renewal charge fails; reminders go out, the grace period keeps features alive, the owner updates the card in the billing panel on day 5 and the retry succeeds — from the outside, nothing ever happened. The courtesy grant: a company paying for a mid tier receives a granted top tier for a partnership; eight months later the partnership ends and the grant is withdrawn prospectively; the company keeps its mid-tier subscription untouched throughout. Every one of these transitions is visible in the billing panel's history as it happens.

12. Records

Every invoice, payment, plan change, grant and status transition is recorded and visible in your billing panel, and invoices are also delivered by email. Keep your billing contact accurate; notices to that address count as delivered. Larger organisations with procurement processes are welcome: billing details can carry the legal entity, address and VAT number your bookkeeping requires, invoices payable by bank transfer fit purchase-order workflows, and where your process needs something specific on the documents, ask — accommodating honest paperwork costs us nothing.

Team seats included in a plan are for people working for the subscribing company (employees and engaged agents); a seat is a person, credentials are not shared between people, and seat counts are managed in the team panel where you can add, change roles and remove members at any time — removals free the seat immediately.

For payment methods, refunds, credit notes and disputes, continue to the Payments & Refunds Policy; for anything unclear, contact us before a problem becomes a dispute — billing support resolves most issues in one exchange.