Channel revocation after downgrading
When you downgrade to a plan with fewer channel slots, Costello disconnects the channels that exceed the new limit. This page explains which channels get disconnected, when it happens, and how to choose which ones to keep.
When does a downgrade take effect?
Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle, not immediately. You keep your current plan — and all its channels — until the cycle ends.
For example: if you downgrade from Unlimited to Free on the 10th of the month but your billing cycle resets on the 28th, you have until the 28th before any channels are disconnected.
Which channels get disconnected?
When the downgrade takes effect, Costello compares the number of connected channels against the new plan's limit and disconnects the excess.
The order of disconnection is: most recently connected first. If you connected Instagram in January, Messenger in February, and web chat in March, and you downgrade to a single-channel plan, web chat is disconnected first, then Messenger, leaving Instagram active.
| Old plan → New plan | Channel slots | Channels that may be disconnected |
|---|---|---|
| Paid → Free | 2 → 1 | The 2nd connected channel |
| Unlimited → Paid | 3 → 2 | The 3rd connected channel |
| Unlimited → Free | 3 → 1 | The 2nd and 3rd connected channels |
Choosing which channels to keep
If you want control over which channels remain active after a downgrade:
- Before the billing cycle ends, manually disconnect the channels you want removed, leaving only the ones you want to keep.
- When the downgrade takes effect, there are no excess channels to revoke.
You can disconnect a channel from Integrations at any time — it doesn't affect billing or trigger the downgrade early.
What customers experience during the transition
Customers don't see any message or error. Their messages simply go unanswered after the disconnection — the same as when the message cap is reached. There's no "this service is unavailable" notification.
If you have a Facebook auto-reply set up on your Page, that would still fire — but Costello won't reply.
Reconnecting a revoked channel
After the downgrade takes effect, you can reconnect a previously revoked channel at any time by:
- Upgrading back to a plan with sufficient channel slots.
- Re-connecting the channel from Integrations.
No data is lost during disconnection. Conversation history is preserved.
Next steps
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