Changing Your PDFMonkey Plan: Upgrades, Downgrades, and Billing

Last updated March 23, 2026

You can change your PDFMonkey plan at any time from the Billing section of your Dashboard. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades apply at the start of your next billing cycle.

How to change your plan

  1. Open your Dashboard and go to the Billing section.
  2. Click on Manage My Subscription to open the billing portal.
  3. Choose a new plan tier and confirm the change.

For upgrades, PDFMonkey uses a dedicated upgrade flow that applies the change immediately after confirmation. For downgrades or cancellations, the Stripe billing portal lets you schedule the change for the end of your current billing cycle.

Upgrading

When you upgrade to a higher plan, the change takes effect immediately. You get instant access to the new plan’s features, higher document quota, and longer generation time limit.

Prorated billing

You are only charged for the remainder of your current billing cycle at the new plan’s rate. The unused portion of your old plan is credited toward the new charge. If you have specific questions about how proration is calculated, contact support through the in-app chat.

What changes on upgrade

  • Document quota increases immediately to the new plan’s allowance.
  • Generation time limit increases to the new plan’s maximum (for example, 30 seconds on Free to 2 minutes on Pro).
  • Document retention is extended. Templates that were at the old plan’s maximum TTL are automatically updated to the new plan’s maximum. See Retention and Deletion.
  • Features unlock instantly. For example, upgrading to Pro+ or Premium activates share links for all existing successful documents — you do not need to regenerate them.

Downgrading

When you downgrade to a lower plan, the change is scheduled for the start of your next billing cycle. You keep your current plan’s features and quota until the cycle ends.

Feature and data impact

Downgrading can permanently affect your documents. Review the sections below before confirming a downgrade.

What changes on downgrade

  • Document quota decreases to the new plan’s allowance when the next billing cycle starts.
  • Generation time limit decreases. Documents that need more time than the new plan allows may fail at generation time.
  • Document retention is reduced. Templates with a TTL above the new plan’s maximum are automatically lowered to that maximum, and existing documents’ expiration dates are recalculated accordingly. Documents that fall outside the new retention window are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. See Retention and Deletion.
  • Share links stop working if you move from Pro+ or Premium to a plan that does not include them (Pro, Starter, or Free). If you later upgrade back to Pro+ or Premium, share links reactivate for documents that still exist. See Share Links.
  • External resources (web fonts, remote images, external CSS/JS) stop working if you downgrade to the Free plan. Documents that reference them will fail at generation time. See External Resources.
  • Pay-as-you-go is disabled automatically if you downgrade to the Free plan. Any overage accrued before the downgrade is still billed. See Pay-As-You-Go.

Switching billing frequency

You can switch between monthly and yearly billing. Yearly billing saves you 10% compared to the monthly rate. You can make this change at any time from the billing portal.

When you switch from monthly to yearly, you are charged the annual price immediately (prorated for any remaining time on your current monthly cycle). Switching from yearly to monthly takes effect at the end of your current annual period.

See Our Plans for details on available plan tiers, or visit pdfmonkey.io/pricing for current prices.

Effect on overage methods

If you have Boost Packs or Pay-As-You-Go enabled, keep the following in mind:

  • Boost Pack credits are preserved when you change plans within the same billing cycle. They still expire at the end of the cycle, regardless of the plan change.
  • Pay-as-you-go remains active across paid plan changes. It is disabled automatically only if you move to the Free plan.
  • Both overage methods are unavailable on the Free plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a contract or minimum commitment?

No. All PDFMonkey plans are billed on a recurring basis with no long-term contract. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.

What happens to my documents when I downgrade?

Documents within the new plan’s retention window are kept. Documents outside it are permanently deleted when the downgrade takes effect. Features exclusive to higher tiers (such as share links) stop working until you upgrade again.

Can I switch plans during my 30-day trial?

Yes. You can upgrade to any paid plan at any point during the trial. The change takes effect immediately. See 30-Day Pro Trial for details on what the trial includes.

Will I lose my templates if I downgrade?

No. Your templates are never deleted when you change plans. Only generated documents are affected by retention changes.

How is proration calculated?

Proration is handled by Stripe. When you upgrade mid-cycle, you are credited for the unused time on your old plan and charged the proportional cost of the new plan for the remaining days in the cycle. The exact amounts appear as line items on your next invoice.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a contract or minimum commitment on PDFMonkey?
No. All PDFMonkey plans are billed on a recurring basis with no long-term contract. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.
What happens to my documents when I downgrade my PDFMonkey plan?
Documents within the new plan's retention window are kept. Documents outside it are permanently deleted when the downgrade takes effect. Features exclusive to higher tiers, such as share links, stop working until you upgrade again.
Will I lose my templates if I downgrade?
No. Your templates are never deleted when you change plans. Only generated documents are affected by retention changes.
How is proration calculated when upgrading a PDFMonkey plan?
Proration is handled by Stripe. When you upgrade mid-cycle, you are credited for the unused time on your old plan and charged the proportional cost of the new plan for the remaining days in the cycle. The exact amounts appear as line items on your next invoice.
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