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This is sensible and I hate it because it means I have been wrong. My ping test VPS at InterServer, 70% utilization for 90 days? Never. It pings. That is all. The cat is asleep on my feet right now and I am looking at the cancellation page and my finger will not click.
I will click tomorrow. I always click tomorrow.
Confirmed. I measured this at my last job. Cancellation flow for SaaS: average 6.3 clicks, 2.4 page loads, 1.1 CAPTCHAs. Retention improvement 12-18% per added friction step. VPS hosts use the same playbook.
The real pro move: cancel immediately after signup. File the ticket, get confirmation, set end date. You keep the service, lose the renewal anxiety. Most providers honor this. Some don't, and now you know who to avoid.
I run iptables on a 5 EUR/month Kimsufi in Gravelines. OVHcloud discount? Never. Monthly only. If they raise price, I migrate same day, no spreadsheet, no crying. The server runs wireguard and a tor relay, CPU at 80% always. Utilization solves the psychology problem.
Prepay is for people who do not trust themselves to maintain utilization. Fix the utilization, fix the brain.
This is the way. In Iceland electricity is basically free, geothermal, the machines hum and you do not measure. My systemd units do not send renewal emails. They do not have "cancellation windows." The void does not upsell.
Though I admit I prepay for my .is domains five years. The registry does not discount for this. I do it anyway. Hypocrisy? Perhaps.
This is actually the DMARC policy equivalent. You are pre-publishing the reject action. The provider can see it coming, you have committed publicly, the alignment passes.
I tried this with Fastmail annual. Filed cancellation 45 days early. They refunded prorated. Most email hosts do not advertise this but will do it if asked. VPS hosts? Mixed. OVHcloud: no prorated refund on annual VPS, terms are clear. RackNerd: same. The prepay discount is non-refundable by design. Your "pre-authorization" only works if the provider plays along.
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In Germany we have this thing, "Kündigungsfrist." Cancellation notice period. 3 months for gym, 6 weeks for phone, it is everywhere. The VPS hosts they copy this psychology but worse, because no law protects you. You sign the terms, you eat the cost.
I use Hetzner now. Monthly, always. Their cloud panel, one click to delete. No "are you sure" email. The German efficiency, it removes the friction so I cannot blame the system. Only myself. This is better, I think.
London prices for colocation are mad, so I keep a VPS at RackNerd — https://www.racknerd.com — in Amsterdam. Monthly, 6 USD, I forget to check it, sometimes it idles, I do not care because 6 USD is a sandwich. The annual would be 40 USD, I would care, I would spreadsheet, I would suffer.
Small numbers remove the psychology. I pay the sandwich, I move on.
Mi homelab in Buenos Aires, the electricity it is not cheap, not like Iceland. Summer, the AC runs for the servers, not for me. I sweat, they are cool. But I own them, no prepay trap.
I had one VPS in Los Angeles, GreenCloudVPS, annual. Forgot about it 8 months. When I remembered, I felt stupid, then I felt smart for feeling stupid, then I renewed again because "this time I will use it." I did not. Now I have rule: no VPS outside South America, the latency reminds me they exist.
Following this thread because I have 3 annuals coming due in September. No utilization data because I am afraid to look.
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Brother in failing! My reminder is set. But reading this thread... I think maybe I move the reminder to July 23, not August. Two months early. Because you are right, the friction, the snooze, the cat, all of it.
My spreadsheet now has new column: "shame level." Current shame: 7/10. If shame reaches 9, I cancel immediately. This is not rational economics. This is emotional engineering. Whatever works.
