Automatic renewal with a saved card or PayPal
How GuavaHost saves the card or PayPal you pay with and charges renewal invoices automatically, and how to switch cards, pay by hand or stop renewals.
4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team
When you pay on guavahost.com by card, with a wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link, or with PayPal, that payment method is kept on file so your renewals can be charged automatically. Each day, any renewal invoice that has reached its due date is charged to it, and your server keeps running without you lifting a finger.
How a payment method gets saved
You do not need to switch anything on. It happens as part of paying:
- Cards and wallets. Any card payment made on guavahost.com saves that card for renewals. That covers the regular checkout, fast checkout with Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link, paying an invoice in your client area, and paying for a plan change. Apple Pay and Google Pay pay with a card behind the scenes, so they count as a card here.
- PayPal. When you pay with PayPal on guavahost.com, GuavaHost asks PayPal to keep your PayPal account on file for future renewals.
Your card details are held by Stripe, our card payment provider. GuavaHost keeps a reference to the card along with its brand, last four digits and expiry date, never the full card number.
One card is kept per account: the most recent card you paid with on guavahost.com. If you have both a saved card and a saved PayPal account, renewals are charged to the card, and PayPal is used only when there is no saved card.
What you agreed to at checkout
Automatic renewal is part of the subscription you sign up for:
- On the regular Pay step you tick a box agreeing to the Terms of Service and confirming you understand the order is a recurring subscription on your billing cycle.
- In fast checkout, the line under the wallet buttons says that by paying you authorise automatic renewals using that payment method until you cancel.
- With Apple Pay, the payment sheet shows the renewal amount, how often it repeats and when the first renewal is due. Because it is set up as a recurring payment, Apple issues a card token that keeps working even after you replace your iPhone.
How a renewal plays out
- A few days before your renewal date, your next invoice is created and emailed to you. You can see it under Billing & invoices in your client area, and the overview page shows it as Your next invoice.
- You can pay it early yourself if you like. Otherwise leave it.
- Once the due date arrives, the daily renewal check charges the invoice to your saved card, or to your saved PayPal if you have no card.
- The invoice is marked paid and your server carries on. The charge is in the same currency as the invoice, which is your account's currency (see Which currency will I be charged in?).
Only services that are still running are charged. An invoice for a server that has already been cancelled or terminated is never charged automatically. A suspended server is different: paying its unpaid invoice, automatically or by hand, is what brings it back.
If a renewal charge fails
A charge can fail because the card expired, the bank declined it, or the bank wanted you to confirm the payment (for example with a 3-D Secure check in your banking app), which cannot happen while you are away. When that happens the invoice simply stays unpaid, and the usual payment reminders follow. Your server is not suspended the moment a charge fails, but it can be if the invoice stays unpaid, so sort it out soon. How billing and renewals work explains what happens to an overdue invoice.
To pay it yourself:
- Sign in at guavahost.com/account and open Billing & invoices.
- Open the unpaid invoice and click Pay. Your saved payment method is checked first.
- If nothing is charged, a Choose how to pay form opens. Pick Card & wallets or PayPal and complete the payment.
Switching to a different card
The card you pay with on guavahost.com becomes your renewal card. So the simplest way to switch is to pay your next renewal invoice yourself with the new card, as soon as it appears in Billing & invoices and before its due date. From then on, renewals use the new card.
If you need the old card replaced before any invoice is due, or the invoice was already charged to the old card, contact support and we will help.
Paying by hand instead
There is no remove button for saved payment methods in the client area, so if you would rather pay every invoice manually, ask support to remove your saved card or PayPal. After that, just pay each invoice from Billing & invoices before its due date. Removing a saved method does not cancel anything. Your server keeps running as long as its invoices are paid.
Stopping renewals altogether
If you no longer want the server, cancel it. Choose End of the billing period and it keeps running until the time you already paid for runs out, then stops and does not renew. How to cancel a server walks through it, and newer orders may still qualify for the 48-hour money-back guarantee.
Related guides
Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.
- auto-renew
- renewal
- saved card
- paypal
- apple pay
- google pay
- billing
- invoices
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