Subscription grace periods: the two types and how each works

Valid Email Checker has two distinct grace-period flows that get called "grace period" interchangeably but behave very differently. Worth knowing which one you are in, because the recovery path is different for each.

Type 1 — the cancellation grace period

This is the grace you get when you actively cancel the subscription. Triggered when you click Cancel Subscription on the Billing & Payments page.

How it works

• Length: until your current billing cycle ends. Could be anywhere from 1 day to 30 days depending on when you cancelled.
• Status: the subscription stays active, with a cancel_at_period_end flag set to true. The dashboard shows "Ending Soon".
• Monthly credits: fully available throughout the grace.
• Cron behavior: when current_period_end is reached, the cron flips the status to cancelled and zeros the monthly bucket (no renewal charge runs because the cancel flag is set).
• Recovery path: one-click reactivate from the Billing page during the grace.

When this applies

Anytime you explicitly cancel the subscription yourself. The grace period is essentially "you already paid for this cycle, so you get the rest of it." No further charges; you just keep what you have until period end.

Type 2 — the past-due grace period

This is the grace you get when the system tries to charge your card on a renewal and the charge fails. Triggered automatically — you do nothing to start it.

How it works

• Length: hard-coded 7 days from the moment of the failed charge.
• Status: the subscription flips to past_due. current_period_end and next_billing_date both move to "7 days from now".
• Pending invoice: a new invoice is created with a 7-day due date and an email goes to your account address.
• Monthly credits: fully available throughout the 7 days. The dashboard explicitly says *"Pay your pending invoice before [date] to keep your credits active."*
• Cron behavior: the renewal cron explicitly skips this account on subsequent runs — there is no automatic retry of the card charge.
• Recovery path: manually pay the pending invoice from the dashboard banner or the Invoices tab. Adding a new card on the Payment Methods tab alone does not retry the renewal.

When this applies

When a scheduled renewal charge fails — expired card, insufficient funds, fraud-block hold, issuer-side decline. The full mechanics are in what happens if my card fails on a subscription renewal.

Side-by-side comparison

What both grace periods have in common

• Monthly credits stay available throughout the window — you can keep verifying.
• PAYG credits are completely untouched in both flows (they never expire regardless).
• No additional charges happen during the grace.
• The verification side of the product (single, bulk, API) works normally.
• When the grace expires, monthly credits zero out and the subscription transitions to cancelled.

Edge cases worth knowing

Both can be active simultaneously? No.

You can only be in one grace state at a time. If you cancel during a past-due grace, the past-due state is preserved and the cancellation just confirms you do not want to pay the pending invoice. The subscription cancels at the end of the existing 7-day window, not at a new period_end.

Can I switch from past-due to cancellation grace by paying then cancelling?

Yes. Pay the pending invoice → the subscription reactivates to active with a fresh 30-day period → you can then click Cancel and get the standard cancellation grace until that new period ends. Whether that's worth it depends on whether you want the rest of the cycle of access or just want it over with.

What about a scheduled downgrade during a grace period?

Scheduled downgrades are tied to the next billing date. In a cancellation grace, the downgrade is cancelled automatically because you are not renewing at all. In a past-due grace, the downgrade applies if you pay the pending invoice (the subscription reactivates on the downgraded plan). If the past-due grace expires without payment, the cancellation overrides the downgrade.

What you should do

A short decision tree:

• Dashboard shows "Ending Soon" → you cancelled. Decide whether to reactivate or let it expire.
• Dashboard shows a red "Past Due" banner → a renewal failed. Pay the pending invoice before the 7-day deadline.
• Both are gone and the subscription says "Cancelled" → the grace expired. Your PAYG credits are safe; you can resubscribe anytime to a fresh subscription.

Next steps