# Downgrade your plan

:::callout{intent="note"}
To change your billing plan, you must be an [organization owner or billing admin](/guides/admin-organizations-understanding-organizations#organization-roles).
:::

:::callout{intent="tip"}
If you are on the Standard plan with credit/debit card billing and want to reduce spend without returning to the free Starter plan, consider [switching to the Builder plan](#switch-from-standard-to-builder) for a flat $20/month.
:::

## Before you downgrade

When you downgrade to the Starter plan in the Pinecone console, you choose which projects, indexes, assistants, and members to keep, up to the [Starter plan limits](/guides/apis-database-limits-object-limits): 1 project, 5 serverless indexes in the `us-east-1` region of AWS, 5 assistants, and 2 members. Pinecone deletes everything you don't keep, along with all backups, backup schedules, and collections.

The downgrade doesn't reduce your data or change your configuration, so do this first:

- **Move any serverless indexes outside the `us-east-1` region of AWS that you want to keep.** [Create a new index](/guides/index-data-create-an-index) in `us-east-1`, [re-upsert your data](/guides/index-data-upsert-data), and delete the old index before you start the downgrade. Indexes in other [regions](/guides/index-data-create-an-index#cloud-regions) can't be kept on Starter.
- **Migrate any dedicated read node indexes** whose data you want to keep. They can't run on Starter and there's no self-serve conversion. If the index is in `us-east-1`, [back it up](/guides/manage-data-back-up-an-index) and [restore it](/guides/manage-data-restore-an-index) (this creates a new on-demand serverless index in the same region), then delete the original and keep the restored index during the downgrade. If it's in another region, create a new `us-east-1` index and re-upsert your data as described above. You can also [contact Support](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/support/ticket) to migrate back.
- **Migrate any pod-based indexes** whose data you want to keep. [Migrate each one to serverless](/guides/using-pods-migrate-a-pod-based-index-to-serverless) and finish creating the new serverless index **before** you start the downgrade: the migration saves your index as a collection, and the downgrade deletes all collections.
- **Move any `eu`-region assistants you want to keep to `us`.** [Recreate them in `us`](/guides/build-an-assistant-create-assistant) and re-upload their files. `eu` assistants you don't move are deleted.
- **Disconnect your organization's [SSO connection](/guides/admin-organizations-understanding-organizations#organization-single-sign-on-sso).**
- **Reassign or remove members** whose [organization role](/guides/admin-organizations-understanding-organizations#organization-roles) isn't available on the Starter plan.
- **Get under the Starter storage limits.** Do this last, after the migrations above, which can briefly leave a second copy of an index: no more than 2 GB of data across your serverless indexes and 1 GB of assistant storage. [Delete records](/guides/manage-data-delete-data) and [assistant files](/guides/upload-your-data-manage-files#delete-a-file) to fit.

:::callout{intent="note"}
You don't need to bring [Assistant usage](/guides/get-started-assistant-pricing-and-limits) (ingestion units, chat tokens, and context tokens) under Starter caps before downgrading. If you exceed Starter limits after downgrading, new requests may be blocked until usage is within limits.
:::

:::callout{intent="note"}
**Switching from Standard to Builder instead of Starter?** Your organization must be under the [Builder plan quotas](/guides/apis-database-limits-object-limits), backups must be deleted, and any features not available on Builder, such as bulk import, pod-based indexes, storage integrations, RBAC, and SSO, must be removed or stopped.
:::

## Downgrade to the Starter plan

The downgrade process is different depending on how you are paying for Pinecone.

:::callout{intent="warning"}
Start the downgrade in the Pinecone console, as described below. The console walks you through what to keep and cleans up the rest. If you start the downgrade in a cloud marketplace instead, that cleanup doesn't run, so Pinecone deactivates your account and you'll need to [contact Support](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/support/ticket).
:::

:::::tabs
:::tab{title="Credit card"}
If you are paying with a credit card, downgrade as follows:

1. In the Pinecone console, go to [**Settings > Billing > Plans**](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/billing/plans).
2. Click **Downgrade** in the **Starter** plan section.

Your billing will end immediately. However, you will receive a final invoice for any charges accrued in the current month.
:::

::::tab{title="Google Cloud Marketplace"}
If you are paying through the Google Cloud Marketplace, downgrade as follows:

1. In the Pinecone console, go to [**Settings > Billing > Plans**](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/billing/plans).
2. In the **Starter** section, click **Downgrade**.
3. Click **Confirm downgrade**.
4. On the **Continue your downgrade on the GCP marketplace** modal, click **Continue to marketplace**. This takes you to your orders page in Google Cloud Marketplace.
5. [Cancel the order](https://cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/manage-billing#saas-products) for your Pinecone subscription.

   :::callout{intent="tip"}
   If you don't see the order, check that the correct billing account is selected.
   :::

Your billing will end immediately. However, you will receive a final invoice for any charges accrued in the current month.
::::

:::tab{title="AWS Marketplace"}
If you are paying through the AWS Marketplace, downgrade as follows:

1. In the Pinecone console, go to [**Settings > Billing > Plans**](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/billing/plans).
2. In the **Starter** section, click **Downgrade**.
3. Click **Confirm downgrade**.
4. On the **Continue your downgrade on the AWS marketplace** modal, click **Continue to marketplace**. This takes you to the [Manage subscriptions](https://console.aws.amazon.com/marketplace) page in the AWS Marketplace.
5. [Cancel the subscription](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/marketplace/latest/buyerguide/cancel-subscription.html#cancel-saas-subscription) to Pinecone.

Your billing will end immediately. However, you will receive a final invoice for any charges accrued in the current month.
:::

:::tab{title="Microsoft Marketplace"}
If you are paying through the Microsoft Marketplace, downgrade as follows:

1. In the Pinecone console, go to [**Settings > Billing > Plans**](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/billing/plans).
2. In the **Starter** section, click **Downgrade**.
3. Click **Confirm downgrade**.
4. On the **Continue your downgrade on Microsoft marketplace** modal, click **Continue to marketplace**.
5. On the **SaaS** page, click your subscription to Pinecone.
6. Click **Cancel subscription**.
7. Confirm the cancellation.

Your billing will end immediately. However, you will receive a final invoice for any charges accrued in the current month.
:::
:::::

## Switch from Standard to Builder

If you are on the **Standard plan** with credit/debit card billing and would like to switch to the [Builder plan](/guides/apis-database-limits-object-limits) (flat $20/month), do the following:

1. Bring your organization under the [Builder plan quotas](/guides/apis-database-limits). In particular, you must be within the Builder plan limits for projects, indexes, namespaces, storage, users, and monthly usage units.
2. In the Pinecone console, go to [**Settings > Billing > Plans**](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/billing/plans).
3. Click **Switch to Builder** in the **Builder** plan section.
4. Confirm the change.

After switching, overages are no longer billed—requests that exceed Builder quotas are blocked instead. If you need more capacity, [upgrade back to Standard or Enterprise](/guides/admin-assistant-upgrade-billing-plan) at any time.

:::callout{intent="note"}
The [Builder plan](https://www.pinecone.io/pricing/) is available with credit/debit card billing only and isn't supported through cloud marketplaces.
:::

If you pay through a cloud marketplace, you can't switch to the Builder plan at this time. [Contact Support](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/support/ticket) to be notified when this migration becomes available.

## Related pages

- [Account deactivation for non-payment](./admin-organizations-manage-billing-non-payment-account-deactivation.md)
- [Pinecone Standard plan trial](./admin-organizations-manage-billing-standard-trial.md)
- [Upgrade your plan](./admin-assistant-upgrade-billing-plan.md)
- [Change your payment method](./admin-assistant-change-payment-method.md)
- [Download a usage report](./admin-assistant-download-usage-report.md)
- [Access your invoices](./admin-assistant-access-your-invoices.md)

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