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Wistia Billing Overview
Wistia Billing Overview

All about your Wistia account's plan and pricing, how you'll be charged, and how to make changes to your account's billing setup.

Caroline F avatar
Written by Caroline F
Updated over a week ago

Got questions about billing? We’ve got answers!

Note

Heads up — the billing page in a Wistia account is only accessible by one user: the Account Owner.

Billing Overview

As an Account Owner, you have control over many aspects of your account’s billing profile. For the most part, you’ll be able to make many billing changes within your account, which we’ll walk through below. If you’re unable to make these changes yourself (like switching to invoice billing) we’re here to help along the way.

You can make changes to the billing details of your account on the Billing and Plans pages. Both of these live in the Account > Settings area of your account.

As with all aspects of your billing profile, this section of your account can only be accessed by the person who is set as the Account Owner. If you aren’t able to access these pages or aren’t sure who the Account Owner is for your account, let us know; we can help you find out and show you how to switch ownership.

Billing Security

For your account’s security, we’re strict with the policies in the following sections. In order to maintain PCI compliance, we cannot learn or save your credit card details. This means we cannot take that information from you either by email or over the phone.

We also want to ensure that unauthorized users do not get access to your account, so we require that you have Account Owner status in order to view or edit any billing or plans pages. This also means we won’t give out the information on these pages to someone who is not set as the Account Owner.

For the details of how to make changes to your billing information, read on!

Adding Payment Methods

You can pay for your account with a credit card, bank account, ACH, or wire transfer. We accept all major credit cards and all major banks in the United States and Canada. Credit card payments and payments taken from your bank account will be processed automatically on your billing date.

You can pay for your subscription on either a monthly or annual basis. If you pay annually for your subscription, you can add multiple payment methods to your account to pay separately for annual renewals and monthly extras. Read on to learn how to add your preferred payment method!

Add a Credit Card

On the Payment Methods page in your Account Settings, select Add a Credit Card.

Verify all of the information is correct and hit Save Credit Card. Once the card is saved you can set it as a default payment method for annual or monthly payments.

If you run into any snags when you’re saving your card, head to our Card Not Updating Troubleshooting section. Or feel free to contact us here.

Add a Bank Account

On the Payment Methods page in your Account Settings, select Add Bank Account.

You’ll need to select your bank from the list provided, then connect to your bank account using your online bank login. We only connect to banks based in the US or Canada at this time. When an order is issued, we’ll use ACH Debit to pull money from the account to pay the invoice.

Set Up ACH or Wire Transfer

On the Payment Methods page in your Account Settings, select the menu next to ACH/Wire Transfer and select Set as Default.

When your invoice is issued on your billing date, it will include the banking information needed to send an electronic payment including the bank name, routing number, account number, and SWIFT code. The invoice will also include a link to pay the invoice directly by card or bank account in case you need it!

Multiple Payment Methods

If you’re paying annually for your plan and want to use a separate payment type for monthly video allotments, you can add multiple payment types on the Payment Methods page. You’ll be able to see a list of all the payment methods that you’ve added to your account. From that list you can select which methods you want to use for your subscription and monthly extras.

View Invoices and Receipts

Head to the Statements page in your Account Settings to view invoices and receipts for your account. You can use this page to check on the status of an invoice.

To download an Invoice or Receipt, select View Invoice/Receipt, there will be an option to Download as PDF in the top right corner.

Adding Billing Contacts

While the Account Owner is the only user able to access the billing profile of your Wistia account, you can add additional users to receive billing-related emails. These users will receive any invoices or receipts related to your Wistia account.

To add a billing contact the Account Owner will need to navigate to the Account > Settings > Billing Information page of their account. From there, add any additional emails addresses under the Billing Email header. Don’t forget to Save Billing Info before navigating away from the page.

Billing Email contacts header

Note

Adding someone as a billing contact does not create a Wistia login for them. Billing contacts will only receive emails. The Account Owner is still the only user able to update billing information.

Changing Plans

If it’s time to upgrade (or downgrade), the Account Owner can make that change at any time. Just head over to the Plans page within your Account Settings area (Account > Settings > Plans and/or Purchase), and select your new plan. Be sure to click Save at the bottom of the page!

You may see an option on your Plans page for a “Premium” plan. If you need advanced integrations with marketing automation software, high levels of bandwidth, account management, or certain other special options, we can help you out. Just drop us a line!

How Renewals Work

Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period. This is the case for both monthly and annual plans. You can see your renewal date on the overview page of your Account Settings.

Your Payment Info menu

If you would rather not renew your subscription (😢) , you can either downgrade to a Free plan, or Cancel your account.

Note

If you decide to downgrade your account, you may need to delete videos or audio if you’re over the media-limit of the current Free Plan.

To cancel your account, head over to the Cancel page of your Account Settings area, and select Cancel account at the end of the current billing period. Then, click the Cancel Account button at the bottom of the page to confirm. Your account will then shut down at the end of your current billing period, rather than renewing.

cancel your account

Upgrading Your Plan

Woohoo! Your business is growing and you need more features, or space for more media. 🚀 If it’s time to move on up to the next plan level, you can do that from within your account.

Just head to the Plans page under Account > Settings, and choose your new plan. Click Save at the bottom of the page, and your account will upgrade right there on the spot. You’ll immediately have the new plan and all its features and media capacity.

You will also see a charge for the pro-rated difference in price shortly after your upgrade — you’ll get an email telling you the exact amount.

If you are interested in upgrading to a Premium plan, we can help you get the plan you need. If you click the Premium option on your Plans page, you’ll see an option to get in touch with us so that we can discuss your exact needs!

Understanding Charges

Not sure why you saw a certain charge on your credit card? The first place to check is the Billing page of your Account > Settings area while logged in as the Account Owner. On the lower section of the page, you’ll see a list of all charges, and you can click the arrow next to each one to see the details.

sample billing statements

We will only charge you for certain specific things:

  • Your plan subscription, either monthly or annually

  • Any extra medias in your account beyond your plan’s pre-included allowance

  • Any extra bandwidth you’ve used beyond your plan’s monthly allowance

  • Captions or transcripts you have purchased for one or more videos or audio episodes

  • Pro-rated upgrade charges if you’ve upgraded your plan

Note

Just a heads up, you’re welcome to upload different file types, however any file you upload to your account will be counted as a “media” in terms of storage & pricing no matter the format.

If you have questions about a charge from Wistia, let us know — we’d be happy to clear it up for you.

Making Changes to your Billing Information

If you’re the Account Owner, you can make changes to the billing information for your account. On the Billing Information page you can update the information that appears on your invoices. You can add an address, VAT number, PO number, TIN number, and memo. You can update and save this information at any time and it will appear on all the existing invoices in your account. You can download an updated copy of an existing invoice on the Statements page.

On that same page, you can also designate someone else (or multiple people) as a billing contact.

A billing contact is a person who will be sent all billing-related correspondence, such as receipts, late payment notices, and cancellation alerts. All of these notices will also be sent to the Account Owner. Bear in mind that adding someone as a billing contact does not grant them a login to the account — they’ll receive emails, but they won’t be able to access the Billing page, as that’s restricted to the Account Owner.

Canceled Due to Nonpayment

One of the less fun parts of our job is cancelling accounts for non-payment. If you miss a payment, we will send you an email to alert you. Usually this is simply due to a problem with the credit card — like if it needs to be updated, and can be rectified right away.

If the issue isn’t rectified (and our automated billing system continues to fail to process the card), the Account Owner, billing contacts, and Managers on the account will receive a warning email. This email explains that your account will be shut down if payment isn’t made by a certain date. If the payment hasn’t gone through successfully by that date, your account will be cancelled.

When an account is cancelled, your content isn’t deleted, but your videos and audio episodes immediately stop playing and your stats stop counting. Additionally, no one can sign in during the time when an account is cancelled, except for the Account Owner — as they are the only ones with access to the Billing page to update the billing info.

If your account is cancelled and you would like to reactivate it, just sign in as the Account Owner and update your payment details. We’ll try the new card immediately, and if it goes through successfully, your account will reactivate straight away.

If you need help reactivating your account, though, we’re here for you! Just Let us know.

Note

If you’re on invoice billing and your account has been cancelled, give us a shout. We’ll be happy to help.

Credit card not updating

Trying to update your credt card on file but encountering a problem? Not to worry, this is usually caused by a few usual suspects. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

  • The first thing we recommend is clearing your browser cache. A bad or outdated cache can be affecting your browsers ability to enter new information. Another handy trick to make sure your browser cache is not the issue is to try a different browser altogether (like switching from Chrome to Firefox), or trying an incognito window.

  • Make sure you’re entering your card number without spaces or dashes. Our billing system will automatically format your card for you, so you’ll just have to enter the numbers and we’ll handle the rest. Otherwise, you might be inputting extra characters that are not part of your card details.

  • If you believe you may be close to your daily/weekly/monthly transactional limits, then there can be a chance your card is getting soft-declined. In this case, we recommend reaching out to the cardholding bank to see if the payment can get approved.

If you’ve tried these steps out but still encountering an issue, then reach out to us and we’ll take a look!

Billing FAQ

Who is the Account Owner?

If you’re unable to see the menus we discussed in this help page, you’re probably not the Account Owner. If this is the case, and you’d like to know who the Account Owner is, give us a shout. We’ll be happy to help.

How do I change the Account Owner?

We’ve made you a handy help page for that. Check it out.

Do you have a SWIFT code?

Yes, we do. Contact our support inbox and we’ll be happy to give it to you.

Can I add a PO number?

Yes! The Account Owner can add a PO number to your invoices. This can be done on the Account > Settings > Billing page in your account. Or you can click this handy link.

Purchase Order field

Can I get a W9?

Yes, we offer a W9. Send us an email to the support inbox, and we’ll be happy to send it along if you need it.

How do you charge for bandwidth?

We’ve got a whole section for that! The bandwidth page has all the information you need.

When is my bill due?

Your billing date is day that you purchased your account, so this is different for everyone. The Account Owner will be able to check out the billing date for an account by navigating to the account settings overview.

Your Payment Info field

Do you collect VAT?

Wistia is a non-EU provider, and we do not currently have VAT registration. VAT will not be applied to any Wistia charges or invoices. Instead, your business should account for VAT using a reverse charge basis.

What is the currency we’re charged in?

Wistia is an US-based company, so we charge in US Dollars. Unfortunately this means we don’t have control over the exchange rate you’re charged. Your bank will set any exchange rates and fees.

Can I see my old receipts or invoices?

Yep! Checking out old receipts or invoices is an Account Owner privilege. If you’re the Account Owner you can access old receipts by navigating to the Account > Settings > Billing. You can also click this handy link.

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