1. Minimum Contract Terms, Billing Intervals & Notice Deadlines
| Product Line | Selectable Minimum Terms | Invoice Billing Interval | Statutory Notice Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root Server G12.5 | 1 month, 12 months (−13%), 24 months (−26%) | Monthly or per billing cycle in advance | At least 31 days before contract end |
| VPS G12.5 (x86) | 1 month, 12 months (−13%), 24 months (−27%) | Monthly or per billing cycle in advance | At least 31 days before contract end |
| VPS ARM G12.5 | 1 month, 12 months (−13%) | Monthly or per billing cycle in advance | At least 31 days before contract end |
| VPS Lite | 1, 3 or 12 months (by plan) | Per contract term in advance | At least 31 days before contract end |
| Webhosting 1000–8000 | 12 months | Every 3 months (quarterly) in advance | At least 31 days before contract end |
| Domains | 12 months | Annually in advance | At least 31 days before renewal |
Sources: netcup Helpcenter: Contract terms and netcup Terms and Conditions.
2. Worked Calendar Examples for the 31-Day Notice Period
If you wait until the final week of your contract to cancel, you have already missed the 31-day window and your contract has automatically renewed. Study these three concrete calendar examples:
| Contract Term Selected | Provisioning Date | Contract End Date | Latest Deadline to Click Cancel in CCP | What Happens If You Cancel 1 Day Late |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Month Term (Single-month test) | 2026-10-23 | 2026-11-23 (31 days) | 2026-10-23 (Same day as provisioning!) | Cancelling on 2026-10-24 leaves only 30 days before 11-23 — the contract auto-renews for a second month until 2026-12-23. |
| 12-Month Standard Contract | 2026-10-23 | 2027-10-23 | 2027-09-21 23:59 CET | Cancelling on 2027-09-23 (30 days prior) misses the 31-day cutoff and renews the contract. |
| 24-Month Long-Term Contract | 2026-10-23 | 2028-10-23 | 2028-09-21 23:59 CET | You can schedule “cancel at end of contract term” months in advance while keeping the server online until 2028-10-23. |
Best practice: Scheduling a cancellation “at the end of the contract term” inside the CCP does not interrupt your server and can be revoked inside the CCP at any time before the end date. If you do not want automatic renewal, schedule end-of-term cancellation on day 1.
Never abandon an unpaid server: German hosting companies operate under standard European commercial debt collection procedures (Mahnwesen). If you miss the 31-day cancellation window and ignore auto-renewed invoices, netcup sends payment reminders (Mahnung) with late penalty fees, eventually escalating to international debt recovery agencies (Inkasso). Always submit an end-of-term cancellation in the CCP or transfer the active instance for free via PUSH.
3. Step-by-Step Self-Service Cancellation in the CCP
Per netcup’s official cancellation documentation, no support ticket is needed:
Log in to the CCP and open Products
Sign in at
https://www.customercontrolpanel.de(not the SCP) and click Products in the left sidebar.Click the magnifying glass icon on the target product
Open the management view for the specific Root Server, VPS, Webhosting plan or add-on IP.
Open the Cancellation (Kündigung) tab
Select at the end of the contract term. Never select immediately unless you want your VM permanently wiped right away with zero refund for unused pre-paid months.
Type OK in uppercase and verify the confirmation email
Click Cancel product, type
OKinto the confirmation modal, and verify that the scheduled cancellation date appears on the product row. Legally essential: Check your inbox for the formal email titled "Eingangsbestätigung der Kündigung für Produkt..." with the exact contractual expiration date. Under German law, this confirmation is your legally binding proof. If you do not receive it within 10 minutes, check CCP > Messages or submit a ticket immediately to prevent unintended renewal!
4. Free Ownership Transfer (Server PUSH) Checklist
If you no longer need a 12- or 24-month server (or a rare Black Friday / Easter promo tariff), you can transfer the contract to another netcup customer for €0.00 via the official Change of Ownership feature:
- Sanitize disks and snapshots first: In the SCP, delete all Snapshots, detach custom ISOs, and run a fresh OS image installation to overwrite your block device.
- Clear open invoices: Verify under
CCP > Invoicesthat your account has no unpaid invoices. - Generate the transfer token: Go to
CCP > Products > Magnifying glass > Cancellationand click Add product to owner change (Produkt zum Inhaberwechsel hinzufügen). - Recipient redemption: The buyer enters the transfer token in their own CCP account and accepts the contract terms. The server (keeping its IPv4/IPv6 addresses and promotional tariff pricing) moves immediately to the buyer’s CCP and SCP.
5. 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee & Pro-Rata Upgrade Credit Math
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee: First-time orders of Root Servers and Webhosting can be returned within 30 calendar days of provisioning via the CCP for a full refund of the basic fee. Excluded: all VPS / VPS ARM / VPS Lite plans, domain fees, and tariff upgrades.
- In-Place Upgrades & Pro-Rata Credit Formula: Under
CCP > Products > Magnifying glass > Administration, you can upgrade to a larger tariff in the same generation (e.g.,RS 1000 G12.5 → RS 2000 G12.5) for €0 fee without reinstalling your OS (simply expand the partition withgrowpart/resize2fs). netcup’s billing system calculates your unused prepayment down to the day —Credit = Paid Period Total × (Remaining Days ÷ Total Period Days)— and applies that negative credit note directly to your new tariff’s first invoice. - No Downgrades or Promo Upgrades: Per netcup’s upgrade rules, downgrades, cross-generation upgrades (G11 → G12.5) and upgrades on promotional (
SE/Pro/Ultra) plans are not supported.