At Fern, we believe you should only pay for the time you actually spend playing. Unlike traditional hosts that charge a flat monthly fee (even if your server is empty), we use a transparent, per-minute billing model.

The "Pay-as-you-Go" Concept

Think of your server like a lightbulb. When it’s on, it’s using energy (credits). When you flip the switch and turn it off, the charging stops immediately.

You ARE charged while your server is RUNNING or STARTING. This covers the high-performance CPU and RAM we dedicate to your world.
You are NOT charged when your server is STOPPED. Your world data, mods, and configs are stored for free, so you only pay for the compute power when you’re actually using it.

Credit Rates by Tier

Different server "tiers" have different rates because larger servers require more physical hardware. Here are the base rates:

Server Tier	Credits per Minute	Approx. Credits per Hour
Small	0.50	30
Medium	1.00	60
Large	2.00	120
XL	4.00	240
XXL	7.00	420

Every credit is worth exactly $0.001 (or $5.00 for 5,000 credits).

Why Per-Minute?

Most Minecraft players only use their servers for a few hours a day.

Traditional Host: $15/month (Fixed).
Fern: If you play for 2 hours every night on a Small server, you only spend about 1,800 credits a month (approx. $1.80).

It’s the fairest way to run a community without worrying about a monthly bill hitting your wallet when nobody's playing.

Want to save even more? Check out our guide on Idle Auto-Stop to learn how to shut down automatically when the last player leaves.