CodeCharter subscriptions can be billed monthly or yearly; you pick the cycle with the toggle on the billing page, and yearly billing is about 17 % cheaper than twelve monthly payments. Three plans are available via self-service (Starter, Team, Business); for Enterprise, get in touch via Support and contact. All displayed prices are net amounts in EUR; VAT is added at checkout. All payment processing is handled by Stripe; the invoicing entity is Bochmann Software GmbH in Germany.
Purchase flow
In the portal under /account/billing you select the plan and billing cycle
and are redirected to the Stripe-hosted Checkout page. The checkout is shown
in your portal language (German or English; other languages are detected
automatically). There you enter your company name, address, and VAT ID if
applicable, choose a payment method, and complete the order. After a
successful checkout you land back on the billing page and see the
confirmation. The subscription becomes active within a few seconds after the
payment is confirmed. If there is a brief delay, the page shows the status
with a short notice.
During an active trial you can switch to a paid plan at any time. Once the paid plan takes effect, the trial subscription is automatically ended — we do not keep both running in parallel.
Payment methods
The checkout offers three options, presented in this order:
SEPA direct debit is the most common choice in the DACH B2B market. Once you grant the mandate, Stripe debits the amount directly from your business account. Settlement takes approximately five business days. If a direct debit fails, Stripe automatically retries three times over 21 days and notifies you by email.
Credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) charges the amount immediately. Recommended for international teams without a SEPA account.
Invoice with bank transfer sends a PDF invoice to your accounting address with a 14-day payment term. Stripe marks the invoice as paid automatically upon receipt of funds. The classic option for German accounting workflows when SEPA processing is not possible internally.
VAT
Calculation runs automatically via Stripe Tax. Customers in Germany see 19 % VAT added. Customers in the rest of the EU with a valid VAT ID are billed under the Reverse Charge mechanism at 0 %; Stripe validates the VAT ID against the VIES system directly in the checkout. Outside the EU, the recipient country's rules apply; contact us via the contact form if you have questions.
Changing plans (upgrade or downgrade)
On /account/billing as an active customer you see the available plans side
by side: the three self-service plans plus an Enterprise card marked
"On request". Your current plan is marked with a "Current" label; the others
have buttons labelled "Review upgrade" or "Review downgrade" depending on
direction. Both buttons lead to a confirmation page showing a concrete
amount — only a second click on the explicitly labelled confirmation button
("Upgrade and pay" or "Schedule downgrade") triggers the change. This
switching flow applies to paid subscriptions; during a trial you simply buy
a plan through its regular purchase button.
Upgrading to a larger plan takes effect immediately. The confirmation page shows the prorated amount including itemised VAT and the stored payment method (last four digits of card or last four digits of IBAN). After clicking "Upgrade and pay", Stripe calculates the unused prorated credit from your current plan, applies it as a credit note, raises an invoice for the difference to the new plan, and charges it immediately against the stored payment method. You receive the prorated invoice by email. The new plan is active immediately.
Downgrading to a smaller plan is scheduled for the end of the current period. The confirmation page shows the new annual amount due at the switchover date; nothing is charged now. You keep the larger tier (seats, support SLA) until expiry — after all, it has already been paid for. Only on the renewal date does the plan drop to the smaller tier, and the next annual invoice is raised at the lower price.
While a downgrade is scheduled, the billing page shows a banner with the planned switchover date and a "Cancel downgrade" button. Clicking it releases the schedule and the current plan continues unchanged. If you want to upgrade again after scheduling a downgrade, simply click the upgrade button on the desired plan card — we automatically release the old downgrade schedule before applying the new change.
Payment method, invoices, and cancellation
For everything related to the running subscription (changing the payment
method, downloading PDF invoices, cancelling the subscription), click the
"Manage payment method, invoices, cancel" button on /account/billing. This
takes you to the Stripe-hosted Customer Portal with all these actions in one
place; when you are done, you return to the billing page. The Customer
Portal is shown in your portal language as well.
What happens on cancellation
A cancellation in the Stripe Customer Portal takes effect at the end of the billing period you have already paid for. You retain full access until then; the billing page shows "Cancelled, active until" with the end date. The next invoice is not raised, and when the period expires the subscription ends. Already-downloaded CLI binaries continue to run under their own embedded license until that license's expiry date — once the subscription has ended, the portal no longer provides license files or licensed downloads. More details at License file.
Immediate cancellation without the right to the remaining access period is not available. If you want to waive a paid period, contact us via the contact form and we will handle such special cases manually.
When a payment fails
When a payment fails, Stripe retries the charge three more times over 21 days. You receive reminder emails from Stripe in parallel with a link to update your payment method. While the payment is unresolved, you can still sign in to the portal, but license files and licensed downloads are paused. As soon as a retried payment succeeds, the subscription becomes active again automatically and its term is extended to the new period. If the payment never succeeds, the subscription ends.