If you added an OTTO Sites top-up to cover an extra website, you may later realize you no longer need it. A common example: you bought a top-up to run OTTO on a second site, but you only actually need OTTO on a single domain that is already included in your Growth plan. In this case, you can stop the recurring top-up charge by deep freezing the project tied to that top-up.
This article explains what a top-up is, how deep freezing cancels it, and the exact steps to follow.
Your subscription plan includes a set number of OTTO-enabled sites. A top-up is an additional recurring charge (for example, $239/month) that lets you run OTTO on a site beyond what your plan covers. As long as the top-up is active, you will be billed for it each month.
If the extra site is no longer needed, removing the top-up stops that charge.
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OTTO top-ups are linked to a specific project. When you deep freeze that project, OTTO stops running for it and the associated top-up charge is canceled going forward. Deep freezing fully pauses the project so it no longer consumes a paid OTTO slot.
Your main project—such as the domain already covered by your Growth plan—stays active and continues running OTTO normally.
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Follow these steps to remove the recurring top-up charge:
Log in to your Search Atlas account.
Open the OTTO SEO section from the main menu.
Find the project linked to the top-up you want to cancel (the extra site, not the domain covered by your plan).
Open that project's settings or options menu.
Select the Deep Freeze option for the project.
Confirm the action when prompted.​
Once the project is deep frozen, the recurring top-up tied to it will no longer be billed.
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Before deep freezing, confirm the following so you keep the coverage you need:
Correct project: Make sure you are freezing the extra site tied to the top-up, not the domain included in your plan.
Plan coverage: Verify that the site you want to keep using OTTO on is the one covered by your current plan.
Active work: Deep freezing pauses OTTO activity for that project, so confirm you no longer need optimizations running on it.​
Deep freezing cancels the top-up so it does not renew on your next billing cycle. The charge already paid for the current cycle is not prorated, but you will not be billed for the top-up again after the project is frozen. You can review your billing details in the Subscription or Billing area of your account.
If something doesn't behave as expected after deep freezing, these previously reported issues have been resolved. If you still encounter any of them, contact support so the team can correct it on your account:
Top-up still being charged: A legacy billing issue could cause a canceled OTTO top-up to keep charging monthly even after it should have been removed. If you see a top-up charge after the project is deep frozen, reach out to support to have it removed.
Cancellation looks confirmed but the project still shows active: In some cases the cancellation/freeze confirmation appeared, but the project still showed as active after refreshing the page. Perform a hard refresh and re-check the project status. Contact support if it does not update.
Deep Freeze option appears unavailable: The Deep Freeze option could be incorrectly disabled in a same-day edge case (when the last paid date matched the trial end date). If you cannot select Deep Freeze for a project, contact support.
Unexpected freeze or cancellation warning emails: Some active subscribers previously received cancellation/freeze warning emails in error. If you receive a warning you don't expect, you can disregard it or confirm your status with support.​
If you need OTTO on that site again in the future, you can unfreeze the project. Reactivating a frozen project that exceeds your plan's included sites may require adding the top-up again. This lets you scale your usage up or down as your needs change.
Note: access to deep-frozen projects on accounts that have been canceled is a known limitation the team is still working on. If your account is canceled and you need to access a deep-frozen project, contact support.
If you need further assistance, click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type "Human Teammate" to start a live chat with a member of our team.
When you cancel an OTTO Sites top-up, the pixel slot enters a 14-day Deep Freeze period before it releases for reuse. OTTO automation pauses immediately, but the site's quota slot stays reserved for 14 days before it becomes available to assign elsewhere.
Remove: Permanently detaches OTTO from the project. All OTTO settings and automation history for that site are deleted and cannot be recovered. Use this option only if you are certain you will never reactivate OTTO on that domain.