Short version: Bitcoin payments are non-refundable, but cancellation is pro-rated — cancel whenever you want, and the unused, prepaid time comes back to you as account credit. Here’s how it works, and what to do before you go.
“Non-refundable” means we don’t send Bitcoin back to your wallet — it does not mean you lose unused time. Cancellation is pro-rated: when you cancel a service partway through a billing cycle, the unused, prepaid portion is credited to your SHC account balance, which you can spend on other services or future renewals. The Terms of Service (section 7) is authoritative; this article just explains it.
To cancel, open your service in the portal (My Services → the service → Cancel Service) and choose whether to cancel at the end of your current term or immediately. You can also cancel via the customer API (POST /user-api/v2/vm/{id}/cancel). Cancelling part-way through a cycle pro-rates the unused prepaid time back to your account credit. The API's cancel response shows the number up front — expected_refund and the credit's transaction_id come back on the call itself.
Before you go, export anything you want to keep — once a service is cancelled the disk is cryptographically erased. Want a hand getting your data out? Open a ticket and we're happy to help.
When a service is cancelled or terminated, the disk is cryptographically erased — the encryption keys are destroyed, so the data is gone, not just delisted. See Privacy and Data for the detail. Export anything you want to keep first.
Missing payment is not the same as cancelling, and the timeline is set out in the Terms of Service (section 7.3). In outline: a short grace period during which the service stays up and we notify you, then a suspension window where the server is powered off but your data is retained, and finally termination and purge if it stays unpaid. Pay the outstanding invoice during the grace or suspension window and the service comes back. Don't rely on the suspension window as storage — it ends.
For the exact, binding wording on refunds, cancellation, and the non-payment timeline, read the Terms of Service.