> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stackryze.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> An end-to-end deconstruction of how Stackryze bills you — including the parts nobody talks about.

<Badge color="green">NEW</Badge>

Welcome to **Billing Deconstructions** — a series where we pull apart every line of how Stackryze charges you. No fluff, no marketing. The actual math, the actual contracts, the actual retries. If you've ever wondered "why is this \$3 a month?", this is where we answer it.

## What you'll find here

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Why we bill this way" icon="circle-dollar">
    The flat-rate economics behind every Stackryze product.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Where the dollar goes" icon="chart-pie">
    A break-even analysis of the Pro plan, including Stripe fees.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Refund mechanics" icon="rotate-left">
    How automatic pro-rated refunds work under the hood.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Free-tier sustainability" icon="leaf">
    How we keep the free tier free without enshittifying it.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Philosophy

Three rules govern Stackryze billing:

1. **The free tier is the product.** If the free tier is bad, no paid tier can save us. We obsess over the free tier first.
2. **Show the math.** Every line on your invoice links to its own deconstruction page. You should never have to take our word for it.
3. **Easy to leave.** One-click cancel, automatic refunds, full data export, no "are you sure" modals. Friction is for adversarial businesses, not for us.

## Upcoming in this series

* **Why we use Stripe** (and don't roll our own)
* **Geographic pricing** — should DNS in São Paulo cost the same as DNS in Nuremberg?
* **What happens if our bank freezes our account** — the legal mechanics

<Vault>
  Got a question we haven't answered? Email [billing@stackryze.com](mailto:billing@stackryze.com) — every deconstruction in this series started as a customer email.
</Vault>