# Payment failed or your plan is on hold

URL: https://useembers.com/help/account-and-billing/payment-failed-and-on-hold/
Category: Account and billing
Plan: Solo and above
Updated: 2026-09-12
Last verified: 2026-09-12

> What an on hold subscription means, which parts of Embers keep working, and how to update your payment method before the plan lapses.

When a renewal charge does not go through, the subscription moves to **on hold**. Embers shows a banner reading "Your payment failed. Update your billing details to keep access", and the plan card adds "There's an issue with your payment. Please update your payment method to avoid losing access."

## What on hold means

On hold suspends paid access while the payment issue is open. It is not a cancellation and it is not a deletion. Concretely:

- Your plan level drops until the charge succeeds, so everything gated to Solo and above stops working.
- Because Free cannot run signal agents, your agent jobs are paused automatically. The jobs, their configuration, and their history are kept.
- Embers emails the account owner to say the subscription is on hold.
- The subscription record stays in place, so fixing the card restores the plan rather than starting a new one.

> **Warning: Do not resubscribe from scratch**
>
> Update the payment method instead. Creating a second subscription while one is on hold is rejected with "You already have an active subscription. Use plan change instead."

## What still works

| Still available | Suspended until payment succeeds |
| --- | --- |
| Signing in, and the Billing screen where you fix it | Signal agents and new scans |
| The warm leads list and the dashboard stats | The priority queue, lead detail, statuses, and notes |
| New engagers, going cold, and ICP watching | Enrichment and contact information |
| Every lead, note, and report already stored | Integrations, Slack, HubSpot, webhooks, CSV export, the email digest |

Nothing you have already collected disappears. What stops is the part that produces new work: the agents, the queue you work from, and everything that pushes leads out of the app.

## Fix the payment method

### Open Settings, then Billing

Go to **Settings**, then **Billing** (`/settings/billing`). The banner's **Update billing** button lands on the same screen.

### Choose Update payment method

While the subscription is on hold, the plan card shows **Update payment method**. It opens the secure customer portal at Dodo Payments, which handles cards, invoices, and receipts.

### Add a working card in the portal

Replace the card, or add a new one and make it the default. The portal is where the card lives. Embers never stores your card details.

### Return to Embers and reload Billing

Once the charge succeeds, the subscription goes back to active, your plan is restored, and the agents that were paused for the plan change start running again on their normal 24 hour cadence.

## Common causes

**The card expired**

The plan card shows the brand, the last four digits, and the expiry of the card on file. If the expiry has passed, add a replacement in the portal.

**The bank declined an international or recurring charge**

Payments run through Dodo Payments and are charged in USD. Some banks block cross border or subscription charges by default. Approving the charge with your bank and retrying from the portal usually clears it.

**Not enough funds at the renewal moment**

Top up, then update or re-save the card in the portal so the charge is retried.

## If it stays broken

If the payment cannot be fixed, the subscription eventually terminates and the account settles on Free with all of its data intact. You can subscribe again at any time and pick up where you left off, and Embers sends one return offer worth 20% off the first cycle, good for 14 days.

Still stuck? Email viraj@useembers.com with the date of the failed charge and the last four digits of the card, and use the **Report issue** control in the app if the screen itself is misbehaving.

## Related

- [Invoices and payment method](/help/account-and-billing/invoices-and-payment-method/): The customer portal in detail.

- [Cancel, pause, or resume](/help/account-and-billing/cancel-pause-or-resume/): If you would rather stop than fix.

- [Plans and limits](/help/account-and-billing/plans-and-limits/): What paid access unlocks.

## Frequently asked questions

**Did I lose my leads?**

No. Nothing is deleted when a payment fails. Leads, ICP, agents, reports, and settings are all kept, and paid features come back as soon as the payment goes through.

**Why can my teammate not see the warning?**

The payment banner is shown to the account owner only, and it is hidden on plans set by an administrator.