🔍 Overview
When you upgrade from the Growth plan to the Pro plan mid-cycle on an annual subscription, you may notice the charge looks higher than expected. This article explains how proration works, why the numbers may seem off, and what to do if your upgrade did not apply correctly.
💡 How Proration Works on Annual Plans
Proration is the process of crediting the unused portion of your current plan and applying it toward the cost of your new plan. Here is how the calculation works in practice:
- Unused credit: Search Atlas calculates the remaining value of your current annual plan based on how many days are left in your billing cycle.
- New plan cost: The full annual price of the Pro plan is calculated from the upgrade date.
- Amount charged: The unused credit is subtracted from the new plan cost, and only the difference is charged to your payment method.
For example, if you have approximately 6 months remaining on your Growth annual plan, you should receive a credit for roughly half the annual Growth price. That credit is then applied to reduce what you owe for the Pro plan.
⚠️ Why Your Charge May Look Higher Than Expected
In some cases, customers upgrading from Growth to Pro on an annual plan have seen a charge of approximately $1,735 when they expected to pay closer to $835 after their unused credit was applied. This discrepancy can occur for a few reasons:
- Credit not applied at checkout: A known issue affected some accounts where the proration credit was calculated but not correctly deducted before the charge was processed.
- Plan upgrade not fully applied: In some instances, the system processed the payment but did not switch the account to the Pro plan, leaving the customer on Growth while being charged for Pro.
- Special offer interactions: Customers purchasing a promotional or summit special offer on top of an existing annual plan occasionally experienced billing calculation errors.
- Multi-step upgrade timing: Accounts that went through a multi-step upgrade process (for example, adding quota top-ups alongside a plan change) sometimes saw credits applied incorrectly or not at all.
These issues have been investigated and resolved in recent platform updates. However, if your account was affected before the fix was deployed, your billing may still reflect the incorrect charge.
✅ What You Should Expect
When upgrading from Growth to Pro on an annual plan, here is what a correct upgrade looks like:
- Your account immediately switches to the Pro plan upon successful payment.
- Your unused Growth plan credit is automatically applied to reduce the Pro plan charge.
- Your new annual billing cycle starts from the upgrade date.
- Activity logs in your account reflect the plan change and the credit applied.
🛠️ Steps to Take If Your Charge Seems Incorrect
If you believe you were charged incorrectly or your plan did not upgrade as expected, follow these steps:
- Check your current plan: Click your Avatar (top-right corner) → Billing (Plans & Top-ups) and confirm whether your account now shows the Pro plan. If it still shows Growth, your upgrade may not have been applied.
- Review your invoice: Open your most recent invoice and look for a proration credit line item. If no credit appears, the system may not have applied it.
- Note the amounts: Write down the charge you received, the date of upgrade, and the date your current annual plan started. This will help our team resolve the issue quickly.
- Contact support: If your plan was not upgraded or you were overcharged, reach out via the live chat widget so our team can review your account and issue a correction if needed.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my unused Growth plan days when I upgrade?
No. Those days are converted into a credit and applied toward your Pro plan. You should never be charged for both plans simultaneously for the same period.
My plan still shows Growth after I was charged. What should I do?
This is a known issue that affected a small number of accounts. Contact support immediately so our team can manually apply the upgrade and review your billing.
How long does the upgrade take to reflect in my account?
Plan upgrades typically apply instantly. If your plan has not updated within a few minutes of payment, something may have gone wrong and you should contact support.
Can I get a refund if I was overcharged?
Yes. If our team confirms that the proration credit was not applied correctly, we will issue a credit or refund for the difference. Please contact support with your invoice details.
💬 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.