Whether you’re taking a well-deserved break or had an unexpected delay in delivering benefits, you can put a pause on billing your patrons for a month at a time. Keep reading to learn more about how to pause and what you can expect.
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How do I pause billing my patrons?
- While logged in, click on the Settings link from the left navigation
- In your Creator Account settings, click the Pause billing cycle button
- Click the Confirm button to pause your current billing cycle
We’ll display a yellow banner on your account settings page, letting you know that we have paused your billing. A similar message will let patrons know that they won’t get billed.
Enjoy your break – when you’re ready to come back, we’ll be here!
Important things to note about pausing
- Once a billing cycle has been paused, you will not be able to charge patrons for that time retroactively
- If you bill up-front, new patrons will still pay on sign-up for access to your backlog
- Patrons will be able to access your page and posts while your billing is paused – your page is live; we’re just not billing your existing patrons for the month
- If you want to pause multiple billing cycles, you will need to log back in after first-of-the-month billing (PT) and request to skip the next month
- You can choose to resume the billing cycle at any time before the 1st of the month (PT)
How do I resume billing patrons again?
Billing automatically resumes after 1 billing cycle (i.e. the 2nd of the following month). If you paused but decide to unpause it within the same month, here’s how you can do that:
- While logged in, click on the Settings link from the left navigation
- In your Creator Account settings, click the Resume (this month) Billing button
- Click the Confirm button
We recommend letting patrons know that you’ll be pausing their subscription billing for 1 month. You can do this with a post or by sending a bulk message through your relationship manager.
Frequently asked questions
How long can I pause my page?
Patreon’s pausing feature allows you to skip 1 billing cycle. You can continue to enable our pause feature; however, you’ll need to log in each month to re-enable it.
I skipped billing by accident. Can I bill my patrons for that billing cycle?
Even the best-laid plans can go awry, but once you’ve paused billing, we’re unable to charge your patrons retroactively.
What if I want to take an extended break?
If you are taking an indefinite break, you have 2 options:
- You can manually pause billing after each billing cycle has been skipped
- Or, you can unlaunch your creator page. Unlaunching your page lets you take a break without the worry of needing to re-pause or billing new patrons if you charge up-front
Learn more about unlaunching your page here: Unlaunch my creator page
How does pausing affect monthly billing creators (non-charge upfront)?
Our pause feature works nearly the same; you can pause 1 billing cycle at a time. Billing will automatically resume for the next billing cycle. The difference with non-charge up-front billing is that you won’t need to worry about new patrons getting charged on sign-up.
How does paused billing affect annual patrons?
When you pause billing, annual patrons’ memberships extend by one month.
For example, say a patron has an annual subscription set to end on 1 November 2025. If you pause your billing cycle in August 2025, their membership will extend by 1 month and now ends on 1 December 2025.
How does paused billing work if I bill per creation?
Our pause feature isn’t available with our per-creation billing option. Why? To pause billing patrons on the per-creation model, all you need to do is stop making paid posts.
Can I post during my pause?
Yes! You can still post content even if you’ve paused billing. Patrons can still access your page and posts during a paused billing cycle. Additionally, you and your patrons can still interact via comments and direct messages.