When should I switch from PAYG to a Monthly plan?

PAYG is the right plan when verification is occasional, lumpy, or experimental. Monthly is the right plan when verification is steady. The cross-over is a specific number, not a feeling — and it shows up in your Credits History as soon as you look for it.

The cross-over math

Compare two numbers:

• Your trailing 90-day PAYG spend on Valid Email Checker. Open Credits History, filter by purchase_payg, sum the last three months.
• The cost of a Monthly plan that would have covered the same volume. Look at the Monthly plan tiers for one that matches your monthly average. Multiply that monthly price by 3 for the same 90-day window.

If the Monthly number is meaningfully lower than your PAYG spend, switch. The break-even point varies by tier — at higher volumes the Monthly cost-per-credit advantage gets larger. See how to choose between PAYG tiers for the per-credit math at each tier.

Other signals that say "switch now"

• You bought PAYG three or more times in the same month. The friction of repeated purchases is itself a cost. Monthly auto-renews and removes the decision.
• Your verification volume has a clear floor. You consistently use at least N credits a month, where N happens to align with a Monthly plan tier. Lock in the lower per-credit rate.
• You're building auto-refill on top. Monthly + auto-refill is the canonical steady-volume setup. See how to structure auto-refill for steady monthly send.
• You want predictable invoicing for accounting purposes. Monthly invoices are easier to budget against than PAYG purchases that fire irregularly.

Signals that say "stay on PAYG"

• Volume varies more than 3x month-to-month. PAYG handles spikiness better. A Monthly plan sized to the median means PAYG handles the spikes anyway, but if the median is itself unpredictable, just stay on PAYG.
• You're a one-off or seasonal sender with a few campaigns a year and nothing in between. Monthly would burn unused credits at every renewal (Monthly credits reset; PAYG never expires).
• You're still under 50,000 verifications a month. The Monthly cross-over usually doesn't beat PAYG until you're past that floor.

The two-bucket system protects you either way

Switching to Monthly does not waste your existing PAYG balance. The credit system is two buckets — Monthly first, then PAYG — and PAYG credits sit there as a buffer when you're on Monthly. If you over-buy PAYG before switching, those credits keep working as a spike-absorber for as long as you stay subscribed. See the difference between monthly credits and PAYG credits.

How to actually do the switch

In the Valid Email Checker dashboard, go to Buy Credits, pick a Monthly tier, complete checkout. The Monthly bucket fills immediately and starts being used first on every verification from that point on. Existing PAYG balance is preserved. The next billing cycle behaves as a regular Monthly renewal.