Settings & Billing

Settings is where you manage the explicit parts of Matrix: billing plan, computer capacity, location, integrations, and account controls. Open it from the top-right user menu or from the sidebar in any shell mode.

Billing

The Billing section shows your current computer's plan and opens the Stripe billing portal for invoices, payment methods, and plan changes. Each Matrix computer has its own Stripe subscription under your existing Stripe customer, so billing or canceling one computer does not change another computer's plan.

Plans and compute tiers

Each plan maps to a dedicated Matrix computer. The three available tiers are:

Builder is the default selection and suits most developers running a coding agent alongside a dev server. Choose Max for parallel agent workers, heavy builds, or multiple long-lived processes.

New Checkout sessions use monthly billing. Existing annual subscriptions remain supported and keep their attached Stripe price.

Three-day trial for your first computer

Your first primary computer is eligible for one three-day free trial on Starter, Builder, or Max when the offer is enabled. A card is required in Stripe Checkout, but you pay $0 today. The Billing screen shows the exact recurring Stripe price when it is available, the trial-ending date, and the cancellation deadline.

Eligibility belongs to the Matrix account, not an email alias, card, plan, or computer. Previous subscribers cannot start another trial. Additional computers and subsequent subscriptions begin billing immediately.

Matrix may prepare the selected computer while Checkout is open, but it authorizes access only after a verified Stripe webhook projects the subscription as trialing. Checkout return parameters never grant runtime access. If early preparation is not available, Checkout and billing continue normally, and Matrix automatically starts or resumes provisioning after authorization. There is no second provisioning choice or start button after payment.

Active plan view

When billing is active, the Billing section shows:

• Plan name — Starter, Builder, or Max.
• Status — Active, Past due, canceled, or a grace-period label with the end date.
• Billing — the recurring price and interval attached to this subscription. Legacy customers see their legacy price, not today's list price.
• Location — the actual provider-neutral location of the current computer, such as Ashburn, Virginia or Falkenstein, Germany.

During a trial, the shared shell also shows the days remaining, upcoming price and charge date, and a link to the Stripe customer portal. The reminder becomes more prominent during the final three days.

Starter, Builder, and Max each include exactly one computer. The plan controls that computer's strength; it does not grant shared slots that another computer can consume.

Adding another computer

Open Runtime and choose New computer. Matrix reuses the same plan, region, billing interval, and Checkout steps as first-time setup:

1. Name the computer.
2. Choose Starter, Builder, or Max and a region.
3. Review monthly billing.
4. Complete a new Stripe Checkout subscription.
5. Wait for the signed Stripe webhook to activate that runtime slot, then continue through normal provisioning.

Checkout reuses your existing Stripe customer, but creates an independent full subscription for the new computer. Matrix does not purchase computer capacity through a Customer Portal subscription-update flow.

Additional computers are not trial-eligible and start billing immediately.

Billing portal

In Web Desktop and Web Canvas, choose Open billing portal. In Electron Desktop, open Settings → Billing and choose Manage billing. Electron Desktop uses your signed-in Matrix account to open the billing portal in your default browser. From there you can:

• Manage an existing Starter, Builder, or Max subscription without deleting data or machines.
• View invoices and receipts.
• Update your payment method or billing email.
• Apply coupons.
• Cancel — access stays active through the billing cycle and the configured grace window.

Existing customers can still view receipts and manage payment settings when a subscription is overdue, unpaid, or canceled. Runtime access and access to billing records are separate.

After making changes in the portal, return to Electron Desktop and select Refresh to reload your billing status. If the portal cannot open, Settings shows an error and lets you retry.

Billing management remains visible while availability is checked. If a portal is not available for your account yet, the button is disabled with an explanation.

Canceling

Cancel from the Stripe billing portal, not from the shell. Canceling a trial keeps access available until Stripe's displayed trial_end; no charge is made when cancellation completes before that deadline. Access is gated when the trial ends, and Matrix retains the stopped VPS and its owner data rather than deleting it.

For established paid subscriptions, a recoverable renewal failure keeps the existing three-day grace period. The first payment failure immediately after a trial does not receive that grace: access pauses at once, and the VPS is scheduled to power off 24 hours later. Updating the card and completing payment restores access automatically and wakes a suspended computer.

Compute and region

When you do not yet have an active plan, or when you are re-provisioning, the Billing section shows the computer and region pickers.

Choosing a computer

The computer picker shows the three tiers (Starter, Builder, Max) with their vCPU, RAM, and disk specs inline. Builder is pre-highlighted as the recommended option.

Choosing a region

Matrix selects the closest available location from the browser's time zone. New computers can be provisioned in four locations:

• Germany — Falkenstein and Nuremberg
• United States — Ashburn, Virginia and Hillsboro, Oregon

Region selection determines where your Matrix computer is provisioned. You cannot change the region of an existing machine without reprovisioning.

Other Settings sections

Appearance

Control the shell color theme and visual preferences.

Integrations

Connect external services. Matrix keeps provider credentials platform-side and requests permission before acting through a connected service. Common integrations include GitHub, Discord, Slack, Gmail, Calendar, and Drive.

System

Runtime status, restart controls, and system-level preferences for your Matrix computer.

Next steps

Account export and deletion

See Account data and deletion for the planned five-day grace period, download and migration options, billing cancellation, and ownership transfer requirements.