737-304-6185What happens if you don’t pay your AWS or Azure bill?
What happens if I don't pay my Azure bill?
1. Grace Period:
Microsoft gives you a short grace period (usually a few days) after the bill is due. During this time, your services keep running normally, but you’ll see payment reminders.
2. Subscription Gets “Disabled”:
If payment isn’t made, after about 30 days (sometimes sooner for some types of accounts), your Azure subscription is disabled:
Your VMs shut down.
Your databases go read-only or inaccessible.
Any hosted apps or websites go offline.
You lose access to create or manage resources.
3. Data at Risk:
Even after disabling your services, Microsoft usually keeps your data (VM disks, databases, storage) for a bit longer — about 90 days after the subscription is disabled.
BUT:
You can’t use it.
You can’t download it unless you pay first.
After 90 days, your data is deleted permanently.
4. Collections:
If you still don’t pay, Microsoft may eventually send your account to collections (especially for significant amounts), which can impact your business’s credit rating.
What happens if I don't pay my AWS bill?
1. Payment Due:
You get your AWS bill monthly. If you don’t pay on the due date, AWS will immediately start sending payment reminder emails.
2. Account Suspension Warning (within a few days):
After around 15 days of non-payment:
AWS warns you that your account will be suspended.
Your services still run, but you might lose access to billing features and some console functionality.
3. Account Suspended (after about 15–30 days):
If payment still isn’t made:
Your services are stopped.
EC2 instances, databases, websites — all paused or terminated depending on the service.
You can’t launch new resources.
AWS Management Console access gets restricted.
4. Data Retention (shorter window than Azure):
AWS usually retains your data for about 90 days after suspension.
But some services (like EC2 snapshots, S3 buckets) might start deleting data sooner — depending on AWS’s policies and how your account is set up.
5. Permanent Account Closure:
If you don’t resolve payment issues:
AWS may permanently close your account.
Data is deleted irreversibly.
6. Collections & Credit Impact:
Just like Azure, AWS may send your overdue balance to collections agencies, and it can hurt your business credit score.
Important difference between AWS & Azure's suspension process
AWS often acts faster (around 2 weeks) and less forgiving if your account looks inactive or abandoned.
If you are expereincing problems with your AWS or Azure spend and need to extend your runway talk to us. We might be able to show you how you can, quickly and easily extend your cash flow options, save month while maintaining performance or just help you get back on top of it all.