How to downgrade your plan
📝 Beta article — this article is part of our new help center. If a step doesn’t match what you see in Movcar, let us know — we’re refining the content daily.
Downgrading moves your subscription to a lower Movcar tier — typically because you don’t use the higher-tier features anymore, or to save cost. It’s a normal, supported action — but unlike upgrading, some features become unavailable the moment the downgrade takes effect. This guide walks you through what to check first and what happens after.
Before you downgrade — checklist
Take five minutes here. It saves headaches later.
| Tier you’re leaving | Features that will be unavailable after the downgrade |
|---|---|
| Corporate → Premium | Driver mobile app pairing, claims management, tachograph upload, P&L report, multi-fleet. Existing data stays but becomes read-only. |
| Premium → Starter Plus | Fuel cards, tire management, drivers section, service visits. Records stay but stop accepting new entries. |
| Starter Plus → Starter | Mileage logs, finances section, team members (back to single user). Past data hidden. |
| Starter → Free | Document expiry reminders, more than 3 vehicles. Vehicles 4+ become read-only until you remove or archive them. |
Before clicking Select on the lower tier:
- Export everything you’d lose access to. Use Export data on each list (Drivers, Fuel cards, Refuellings, etc.) — see How to export your vehicle list and the equivalent on each section.
- Reduce vehicle count if needed. Free has a 3-vehicle cap. If you’re going Free, archive or delete down to 3 first — see How to archive and restore a vehicle.
- Tell your team. Any team members beyond the limit of the new tier lose access on the downgrade.
Step 1 — Open Plan & Billing
Click your avatar → Billing & Payment. The page is titled Plan & Billing.
Step 2 — Pick the lower tier
Scroll to Select preferred plan. The five cards: Free, Starter, Starter Plus, Premium, Corporate. Your current plan has the green Active badge.
Optionally, adjust the vehicle count stepper and the Monthly / Yearly toggle before clicking Select — they apply to the new plan you’re picking.
Step 3 — Click Select on the lower-tier card
Movcar shows a confirmation modal listing what will become unavailable. Read it. This is your last chance to back out without consequences.
Click Confirm downgrade. Stripe processes the change.
What happens immediately
- The new plan is active right away. The Active badge moves to the new tier.
- Stripe handles proration: if you paid Yearly and downgrade mid-period, Stripe credits the unused portion against future invoices. (Monthly subscribers usually see the new lower rate from the next billing cycle.)
- Features above the new tier disappear from the navigation. Existing data in those sections is hidden, not deleted — re-upgrading restores access.
Special case: downgrading to Free
Free is capped at 3 vehicles. If you have more than 3 active vehicles when you click Select on Free, Movcar refuses the downgrade with a message: “Reduce your fleet to 3 vehicles before downgrading to Free.” Archive or delete down to 3 (see How to archive and restore a vehicle), then come back.
Can I undo a downgrade?
Yes — re-upgrade via How to upgrade your plan. Hidden data becomes visible again, and Stripe charges the new tier’s price from that moment forward.
💡 Tip — Only reducing vehicle count? — if you don’t actually want a different tier, just fewer vehicles, use How to reduce vehicles from your subscription instead. That keeps your plan and only lowers the headcount.
What’s next?
- Reduce vehicles from your subscription — if cost was the reason.
- Renewal and cancellation — if you want to leave entirely.
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