Failed payments and account recovery
4 min read · Updated 3 Jun 2026
What happens, and when
When a renewal payment fails, your account moves through a gentle, predictable sequence. Nothing is deleted at any step.
- Past due — the moment a payment fails. You keep full read/write access and see a banner. Our payment provider automatically retries the charge over the next few days, and we email you a link to fix your card. Most accounts never go past this step.
- Read-only — if it's still unpaid after about a week, the account goes read-only. You and your team can still view everything and export your data; new writes pause. We email you again.
- Locked — about a week after that, the app shows a billing-only page. Your data is untouched and preserved.
Fix it in two clicks
From the banner, the link in any of our emails, or Settings → Billing. The billing page is reachable even when the rest of the account is read-only or locked.
Open the secure customer portal and add or update your card. As soon as the outstanding invoice clears, your account flips straight back to active and full access returns within about a minute — every hour, diary entry and report exactly where you left it.
Is this the same as my trial ending?
No. A trial that runs out goes straight to read-only (it skips "past due", since there's no card to retry). The recovery is identical, though: pick a plan from Billing and you're live again. See Billing & subscription for choosing a plan.
What next?
Scaling past your plan's operative cap is a separate, friendlier flow: Operative packs →
Frequently asked
Will I be locked out the moment a payment fails?
No. You keep full access in the 'past due' grace period — typically about a week — while the card is retried and we email you. Read-only and locked states only follow if it stays unpaid.
Can I still get my data out if the account goes read-only?
Yes. In the read-only state you and your team can view and export everything; only new writes pause. Your data is preserved for at least 180 days even after a full lock.
How fast does access come back after I pay?
Once the outstanding invoice clears, the account returns to active and full access is restored within about a minute — everything exactly where you left it.
Is a lapsed trial handled the same way?
Almost. A trial that ends goes straight to read-only (there's no card to retry, so it skips 'past due'). You recover the same way: pick a plan from the Billing page.