Trials, payment problems and read-only studios
What each billing banner means, what still works while a studio is read-only, and how to restore full access.
When your studio's subscription needs attention, a banner appears at the top of every page for everyone in the studio. Only people who can manage billing get the button to fix it. Admins can, by default.
A read-only studio can't save anything. Techstyles refuses each change when it reaches our servers, so this applies however the change is made, on any page and in any browser.
What each banner means
| Banner | What it means | Can you still save changes? |
|---|---|---|
| Trial: N days left | Your trial is running. It ends on the date shown. | Yes, until the trial ends. |
| Payment problem. | A payment failed. You have 7 days from the first failure to fix it. | Yes, for those 7 days. |
| Your trial has ended. | The trial finished without a subscription. | No. The studio is read-only. |
| Subscription needed. | The studio needs a subscription before it can be used. | No. |
| This studio is read-only. | A payment is overdue, unpaid or disputed, or the subscription has ended, been paused or was never completed. | No. |
Restore full access
- Click Subscribe or Go to billing in the banner. If you don't see a button, ask your studio owner or an admin. The banner tells you to "Ask your studio owner to sort out billing."
- Then, depending on the reason:
- Trial ended, subscription needed, or subscription ended: subscribe your studio.
- Payment problem or overdue payment: click Pay now or Update payment details.
- A payment dispute: contact support@techstyles.ai.
What happens next
- Full access returns as soon as Stripe confirms the payment. You do not need to contact us.
- Nothing is deleted while a studio is read-only.
If a save fails
While a studio is read-only, trying to save shows one message, even if several saves fail. It says what happened, for example "Trial ended" or "Payment failed". If you can manage billing, it also has a button to Billing. Otherwise it says "Ask your studio owner to sort out billing."
While a studio is read-only
- You can still open and read everything, and export.
- Billing, signing in and out, two-factor authentication and accepting invitations still work.
- Every change is refused, including your own profile, password and notification settings.
- The AI tools, including the Clipper, are off. API keys keep their read-only access.
- You can't add seats until the balance is settled. You can still schedule fewer seats.
- Client and contractor portals keep working.
Good to know
- The trial banner can be closed for the rest of your session until the last three days, when it stays.
- The 7-day grace period starts at the first failed payment. Later retries do not restart it.
- When a payment fails, we email the studio owner straight away. Members are told only that there is a payment problem, not the card's decline reason.
- A cancelled subscription keeps full access until its end date. See Cancel or renew your subscription.
- A disputed payment makes the studio read-only straight away, with no grace period.
- A studio that was set up before subscriptions began, and has never had one, isn't restricted.