Payment and billing details FAQ


How to use discount coupon codes
How can I buy the agency pack?
Do inactive projects count towards account limits?
What are Archive and Legacy plans?

How does keyword limit calculation work in the new subscription plans?
How can I manage keyword limits effectively?
Can I upgrade my subscription plan anytime?
I still have an unused subscription. Will I lose it if I upgrade now
Does the number of keywords in the subscription plan refer to a single website or to the entire account?
How can I buy a subscription plan?
What payment methods are available?
Where can I find the invoices?
How do I stop automatic recurring billing?
Why was VAT added to my payment?
Where can I change the payment method?
Can I pay monthly for a subscription plan?
I've made a payment, but don't see any activated subscription plan in my account
How can I pay for a subscription plan without VAT?
How to get a refund?
How to cancel my subscription?
How to purchase Local Marketing and/or Content Marketing tools?


How to use discount coupon codes?

Step 1: There are two options for making a payment directly in your account on the platform. You can either purchase a subscription to one of our plans or top up your account balance to pay for extra tools, such as Keyword Grouper, Search Engine Autosuggest, Search Volume Checker, or Parameter Checker. Click the Subscription section from the drop-down menu below your profile icon to get there.

Please, keep in mind that the money on your balance is intended solely for paying for the extra tools. This amount cannot be used to purchase a subscription plan.

Step 2: You’ll be redirected to the payment page after choosing a subscription plan or the top-up amount. Click the ‘I have a discount coupon’ button to use your promo code and paste the promo code into the window that pops up, and press Add.


How can I buy the Agency pack?

The Agency pack is available to users with Pro and Business annual subscriptions. You can buy it with the main plan or separately at any time. To purchase the add-on to your subscription, go to the Agency pack section on the pricing page. After making your payment, new sections and features will open for you, and the limits will be added automatically.


Do inactive projects count towards account limits?

Even if you deactivate a project, the keywords and backlinks in it will still be considered when calculating your account limits. To free up space, delete keywords, backlinks, or entire projects.


What are Archive and Legacy plans?

An Archive plan is one of our Personal, Optimum, Plus, or Enterprise subscription plans that were available before the pricing update in Summer 2021. These plans do not provide access to some features like Historical data in keyword and competitive research and Organic SERP history in keyword research.

Legacy plans were in use until the October 2024 update, which introduced new subscription plans with flexible keywords. In those Legacy plans, each added keyword deducted 1 point from the keyword limit regardless of how many search engines or locations the user tracked. In our current plans, the keyword limit is calculated based on the number of search engines and locations where it’s being tracked. 


How does keyword limit calculation work in the new subscription plans?

In the new subscription plans, we are using the following formula: 

Keywords (the number of keywords to be added) x Search engines (the number of selected search engines to add keywords) = Calculated keyword limit

This number will be deducted from the available keyword limit provided in your subscription plan. 

Example

Legacy plan

New plan

Keyword phrase “taxi service” in Chicago and New York counts as 1 keyword (total for both locations)  

Keyword phrase “taxi service” in Chicago and New York counts as 2 keywords (1 keyword per added location) 

Keyword phrase “phone repair” tracked in Boston across Google and Bing counts as 1 keyword

Keyword phrase “phone repair” tracked in Boston across Google and Bing counts as 2 keywords (1 keyword per 1 selected search engine)


How can I manage keyword limits effectively?

If you are tight on the keyword limit, we recommend you optimize and prioritize your keywords, locations, and search engines.

  • Remove unnecessary keywords: regularly audit your keyword lists and delete irrelevant key phrases. 
  • Prioritize the specific location(s): tracking all keywords in all locations and search engines, as it was before, could be overwhelming. Now, you can focus on tracking positions only in relevant locations.  
  • Prioritize search engines: concentrate on those search engines that have proved their efficiency for your business and are used by your target audience.

If you still need to track various keywords across multiple search engines and locations, upgrade your subscription plan to have a higher keyword limit.



Can I upgrade my subscription plan anytime?

Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan anytime. To do this, go to the Billing section in the account settings and click “Buy subscription,” then select your new plan and click “Buy.” The system will automatically calculate the cost differences for each plan, and present it for you to review. The updated subscription will have the same end date as your previous subscription if you didn't change the payment period during the plan upgrade/downgrade procedure. If you selected another payment period (e.g., instead of the first month of the year, switched to the last, or vice versa), then some adjustments will be made upon plan upgrade/downgrade. Your new subscription start date will be the day you made the upgrade/downgrade. The end date is the day according to your selected payment period. You will see the final price on the checkout page. If you switch to a cheaper plan, the cost difference will be credited to your Stripe account. For all following SE Ranking purchases, we will charge funds directly from your Stripe balance.

Billing_upgrade-a-plan_S1


I still have an unused subscription. Will I lose it if I upgrade now?

The new plan will be activated instantly once you upgrade it. The system automatically calculates your unused subscription’s paid amount and subtracts it from the price of the upgrade, so you’ll only have to cover the difference when upgrading.


Does the number of keywords in the subscription plan refer to a single website or to the entire account?

The total number of keywords is available for the entire account. Keywords can be distributed among different projects in any proportion. Each keyword can be checked in 5 search engines/locations within a project.


How can I buy a subscription plan?

There are a few ways to buy a subscription plan:

When you select a subscription plan, you will be transferred to the checkout page, where you will be able to select a payment method and submit your payment through Stripe – our partner billing system.

Stripe-Payment-methods


What payment options do you provide for clients?

All payments go through our billing partner, Stripe. We accept card payments by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and others. You can find the full list of supported card brands here. Users can also pay via Google Pay, Apple Pay, Direct Debit, iDEAL, and other payment services. You can find all supported payment methods on this page. The list of available payment methods depends on the user's country and their currency and is presented on the payment page. If you cannot find a payment method that suits you, please contact our Support.


Where can I find the invoices?

All the invoices are available in the “Invoices” section of your SE Ranking’s account. You can go there and check any invoice from those you have received at any time.


How do I stop automatic recurring billing?

You can cancel it directly in your account by opening the Billing page > Current plan and clicking on the "Cancel automatic renewal" button: 

cancel-auto-renewal-subsription_2


Why was VAT added to my payment?

All payments are processed through our billing partner, Stripe. Stripe's VAT policy complies with the latest worldwide tax regulations. Currently, VAT is charged for users from European Union countries and the UK. Here is how to avoid paying VAT:

  1. Check the "Billing and tax information" box under the payment method block on the checkout page.
  2. Open the Tax ID information list.
  3. Select the European VAT number that corresponds to your country from the list. 
  4. Fill out the other required fields below and complete the purchase.

STRIPE-VAT.


Where can I change the payment method?

To change billing details, you need to open the billing page in your account and click on the “Billing details” button.


Can I pay monthly for a subscription plan?

All our plans are billed on a monthly basis – Essential, Pro, and Business. More details on our subscription plans can be found here.


I've made a payment, but don't see any activated subscription plan in my account

It can take up to 40 minutes to activate a subscription plan in the account.

Make sure you submitted your payment from your account or used the registered email address while checking out from the Plans & Pricing page. If you buy a plan from the Plans & Pricing page and use a different email (not the same one you used during registering), a new account will be created in the system. The login credentials will be sent to the email which was used for making payments from SE Ranking.

Please contact our support team, if you want to transfer the plan from the newly created account to the one you initially registered.


How can I pay for a subscription plan without VAT?

Currently, VAT is charged for users from European Union countries and the UK. Here is how to avoid paying VAT:

  1. Check the "Billing and tax information" box under the payment method block on the checkout page.
  2. Open the Tax ID information list.
  3. Select the European VAT number that corresponds to your country from the list. 
  4. Fill out the other required fields below and complete the purchase.

STRIPE-VAT.


How to get a refund?

According to the Terms of Use, the User is notified and agrees that the Service Administration of the Service does not refund paid but unused funds, except for cases when poor, inconsistent with the Service obligations, service is delivered or as specified by the special promotion

Please contact our support team to receive additional help with refund procedure.


How to cancel my subscription?

To cancel your subscription, turn off the auto-renewal setting in your account. This can be done through the “Current plan” page by clicking the “Cancel automatic renewal” button in the block with your current plan. Please note that doing so will also disable auto-renewal for any add-ons purchased together with your plan.


How to purchase Local Marketing and/or Content Marketing tools?

Both these tools are included by default in the Pro and higher subscription plans. Users can also purchase them as separate add-ons and buy additional limits directly from the Billing page in their account.