This article explains three of the most common billing questions we receive: why your OTTO Sites charge may be higher than expected, whether a frozen project still affects your bill, and how Hyper Drive Credits accumulate, reset, and can be restored. Use the sections below to find your answer quickly.
💰 Why Your OTTO Sites Charge Is Higher Than Expected
A frequent question is why a charge appears as $472 instead of an expected $414 for 6 OTTO Sites. The difference usually comes down to one or more of the factors below rather than a billing error.
🔍 Common reasons for a higher charge
- Tiered or per-site pricing: Your plan's per-site rate may differ from the base estimate. The total reflects the actual rate applied to each active OTTO Site, not a flat average.
- Proration: If you added a site partway through your billing cycle, you are charged a prorated amount for the partial period plus the full amount for the next cycle. This can temporarily raise a single invoice.
- Add-ons and overages: Extra features, additional usage, or premium options attached to one or more sites are billed on top of the base site price.
- Taxes and fees: Applicable local taxes or processing fees are added to the subtotal and may account for the gap.
🧾 How to review your charges
- Go to your Account Menu (top-right avatar) > Billing in your dashboard.
- Open your most recent Invoice to see a line-by-line breakdown.
- Confirm the number of active OTTO Sites, the per-site rate, any add-ons, proration lines, and taxes.
- Compare the subtotal to your expected amount. The line items will show exactly where the difference comes from.
If the breakdown still does not match what you expected, contact support with your invoice number so we can review it with you.
❄️ Does a Frozen Project Still Affect My Billing?
Freezing a project pauses its activity, but it is important to understand what freezing does and does not change on your bill.
✅ What freezing does
- Pauses active processing and most data collection for that project.
- Stops the project from consuming new resources while frozen.
🚫 What freezing does not do
- It does not automatically remove the associated OTTO Site charge. If the site remains provisioned on your account, it continues to count toward your billed site total.
- It does not issue an automatic refund or credit for the current cycle.
In short, a frozen project can still appear on your invoice if its OTTO Site is still active. To stop being billed for a site you no longer need, you must remove or deactivate the site, not just freeze the project.
🛑 To stop billing for a site
- Open the project from the Home page.
- Confirm whether you want to freeze (pause activity) or remove (stop billing) the site.
- To end the charge, deactivate or delete the OTTO Site before your next billing date.
- Verify the change in Account Menu (top-right avatar) > Billing so the updated site count is reflected on your next invoice.
⚡ How HyperDrive Credits Work
Many customers are surprised when accumulated HyperDrive credits appear to reset. Understanding how credits are allocated helps explain what happened.
📆 Allocation and expiration
- HyperDrive credits are typically allocated on a recurring cycle based on your plan.
- Depending on your plan terms, unused credits may expire or reset at the start of each new cycle rather than rolling over indefinitely.
- A balance of several thousand credits resetting to zero is usually the result of a scheduled cycle reset, not a manual action taken without your approval.
🔄 Why this is not a manual reset
Credit resets are governed by your plan's renewal schedule and run automatically. No team member manually zeroes a balance. If your credits reset, it is tied to your billing cycle, a plan change, or your plan's rollover policy.
🔧 Can My HyperDrive Credits Be Restored?
In many cases, yes. If credits were lost due to a genuine error, a plan change you did not intend, or a misunderstanding about rollover, our team can review your account and restore eligible credits.
📝 How to request a credit review
- Note the approximate credit balance you expected and the date you noticed the change.
- Go to Account Menu (top-right avatar) > Billing and check your credit history for any reset or renewal entries.
- Contact support and include your account email, the expected balance, and the date of the reset.
- Our team will review the activity log and confirm whether a restoration applies.
To avoid losing credits in the future, plan to use your allocation within each cycle, or ask support whether a plan with rollover credits suits your usage.
⭐ Quick Reference
- Higher OTTO Sites charge: Check per-site rate, proration, add-ons, and taxes in your invoice.
- Frozen project still billed: Freezing pauses activity but does not remove the site charge; deactivate the site to stop billing.
- HyperDrive credits reset: Usually a scheduled cycle reset, not a manual change; eligible credits may be restored on request.
🙋 Still Need Help?
If your invoice still does not add up or you believe credits were lost in error, contact our support team with your account email and invoice number. We will review your billing details and resolve any genuine discrepancy as quickly as possible.