This guide explains why your PhantomBuster payment might fail, what happens when it does, and how to fix or avoid issues with blocked or declined transactions.
Common reasons your payment may have failed
Payments can fail for a few different reasons:
- Expired card: Your saved credit card has expired.
- Card declined: Your bank or card issuer blocked the transaction.
- Insufficient funds: The card doesn’t have enough available balance.
- Security restrictions: Some banks block international or recurring payments by default.
PhantomBuster currently only accepts major credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express). PayPal, wire transfers, and other methods are not supported.
When a payment fails, you’ll see a red banner in your workspace prompting you to update your billing information.
What happens after a failed payment
PhantomBuster will automatically retry the payment once per day for up to 10 days.
During this retry period:
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A persistent red banner will appear in your workspace.
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Execution time and Phantom slots may be locked or show 0.
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You may temporarily see the plan status as “Free.”
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Your Phantoms or Workflows may not launch as expected.
If the payment still fails after 10 attempts, your subscription will be canceled and your workspace will downgrade to the Free plan.
How to fix a failed or blocked payment
1. Update your payment method:
- Log in to your PhantomBuster workspace and hover over your name in the upper right corner of the page.
- If you manage more than one workspace, ensure the correct one is selected from the drop-down menu next to your currently active workspace. Look for the ✔️ symbol next to the active workspace name.
- Under the Workspace section, click Billing.
- Scroll to the Payment info section and click Add payment information.
- Enter your updated credit card details.
- Click Save & continue.
2. Contact your bank:
If your card details are correct but payment still fails:
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Ask your bank whether they’ve blocked the transaction.
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Request that future payments to PhantomBuster be approved.
3. Wait for the automatic retry:
After you update your card, PhantomBuster will retry the payment automatically within 24 hours.
If the retry is successful:
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Your subscription will be restored.
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Locked resources (slots, execution time, credits) will be reactivated immediately.
Seeing 0 slots or no execution time after upgrading
This often means your upgrade payment didn’t go through, even if the Billing page shows the new plan.
Signs to look for:
- Execution time still shows 0 or is unavailable.
- Plan still shows as “Free” or limited despite upgrade.
- You see a message like: “Your plan is customized. Your maximum of 00s differs from the plan’s default.”
What to do:
- Review and update your payment method as shown above.
- Wait up to 24 hours for the payment retry to apply.
- If it still doesn’t work, reach out to our Customer Care Team for help validating your account and completing the upgrade.
What if I need a refund
Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis and follow PhantomBuster’s Refund Policy.
To request a refund:
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Cancel your subscription first from your Billing page.
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Contact the Customer Care Team with your workspace email and billing details.