# Billing FAQ

### Systems Explanation

#### The "Hours" System <a href="#user-content-the-hours-system" id="user-content-the-hours-system"></a>

The "Hours" System is a 30-day rolling window which tracks how many hours of botting you have done in the last 30 calendar days. As a Free User, you can use up to 200 botting hours in the 30 day window, with supporters of $3.00 or more having elevated limits.

If you're ever in doubt about the number of hours you have used and your remaining balance, you can check on the [Services Page](https://www.runemate.com/services/stats/). Free User tier allows for an average of 6.5 hours of botting per day.

Consider the following example:

```
Party is a Free User and has a limit of 200 hours per month.

He bots 10 hours/day June 5th to June 15th. (10d * 10h, 100 hours total)
He then bots 5 hours/day June 16th to June 30th. (15d * 5h = 75h, 175 cumulative)

He WANTS to bot for 10 hours per day for the next 5 days, but this would cause him to exceed his 200 hour limit. See below:
July 1st - 10 hours (185 cumulative)
July 2nd - 10 hours (195 cumulative)
July 3rd - after 5 hours he reaches his 200 hour limit and can not bot.
July 4th - no remaining hours
July 5th - no remaining hours
July 6th - the hours he used on June 5th are no longer within the 30-day rolling window, which means he has 10 hours he can now use.
```

_**NOTE**_: Hours are calculated per instance. If you run 2 instances simultaneously you will consume twice as many hours.

#### Upgrade Tiers <a href="#user-content-upgrade-tiers" id="user-content-upgrade-tiers"></a>

The amount of additional hours your can use, and simultaneous instance you can run is dependent on how much you pay.

* $2.00 - **ONLY** provides access to Supporter bots and a rank on the forums.
* $3.00 - Limit increased to 300 hours (from 200), 3 bots running simultaneously.
* $4.00 - Limit increased to 400 hours (from 200), 4 bots running simultaneously.
* etc.

**Sponsor Tier** is provides all the perks of **Supporter Tier** but with advertisements removed on the forums and client for an additional $10.00. You can also PM a Discord Moderator for the Sponsor rank on Discord.

Upgrades purchased are valid for 30 days from the date of purchase, and can be stacked. eg. If you upgrade to $3.00 tier on June 5th, your limit will drop back to 200 hours on July 5th (Free Tier). eg. If you upgrade to $3.00 tier on June 5th, and another $3.00 on June 6th, your limit will be 600 hours until July 5th when it will drop to 300 hours, and July 6th it will drop back down to 200 hours (Free Tier).

_**NOTE**_: If it's taking more than 24 hours to receive your upgrade, please verify that the payment has completed with PayPal. Our systems will only upgrade you once we have confirmation of payment from PayPal.

#### Premium Bot Billing <a href="#user-content-premium-bot-billing" id="user-content-premium-bot-billing"></a>

Usage of premium bots are billed hourly per instance **at the start of the hour**. The cost of these is deducted from your [RuneMate Balance](https://www.runemate.com/community/adcredits/) (credits).

***

### Frequently Asked Questions: <a href="#user-content-frequently-asked-questions" id="user-content-frequently-asked-questions"></a>

> When does billing for Premium Bots occur?

As soon as you start a bot, and every hour after that. Stopping a bot in the middle of an hour will not refund any balance.

> Do Premium Bots also consume hours used?

No - premium usage does not count towards your allowance of hours.

> Can I purchase credits from another user?

You may, at your own risk. If you have a dispute you may contact a Staff member on Discord.

> How do I check my allowances?

At the bottom of the [Upgrade Page](https://www.runemate.com/upgrade).

> I am a developer, is my local usage counted whilst developing bots?

Yes, and they will also not appear on the Services page, which we're aware is not ideal. We're looking into solutions.

> Can't I just create additional RuneMate accounts to bypass these limits?

We have additional protections in place to prevent abuse.

> Do Paused bots still count towards my usage?

Yes, they are still "running", meaning they will consume both hours and credits (if premium).

> How do I cancel a recurring subscription?

We appreciate your continued support, but understand if you need to cancel your subscription. This needs to be done via PayPal, see their [support article](https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/FAQ2058) for more information.
