How Piggo Handles Your Payment Details (And What to Ask Any Host)

Someone asked me last night whether it was safe to put a real card into our checkout. He wasn't being rude about it - his words were "not that I think you guys are scammers, but if something gets hacked I'd rather be safe."

That's a completely reasonable thing to think about a hosting company you found a week ago, run by someone you've never met. So here is exactly what happens when you pay us, what we can and can't see, and how you can check we're a real business rather than taking my word for it.

Short version

• We never see your card number. It doesn't pass through our servers and we couldn't store it if we wanted to.
• Payments are processed by Stripe and PayPal. The card form on our page is Stripe's own code, and the number goes straight from your browser to them.
• It renews automatically each month, we email you three days before every charge, and you can cancel in one click.
• We're a registered Dutch business and you can look us up in the public trade register.

What actually happens when you pay

The payment form lives on our billing portal, so it looks like you're typing your card into our site. You aren't, quite - and the difference is the whole point.

The card fields on that page are loaded and controlled by Stripe's own code. When you hit pay, your card number goes from your browser directly to Stripe. It does not pass through our server on the way. Stripe charges the card and sends us back two things: a message saying invoice 2424 is paid, and a token - a meaningless string that represents the payment and cannot be turned back into a card number.

So: our page, Stripe's form, Stripe's servers. The number never lands on anything we run, which is why we couldn't store it even if we wanted to. PayPal works the same way from a different direction - you're on their site and we just get told the invoice is settled.

This isn't unusual care on our part; it's how card payments are built. Handling raw card numbers requires a level of security certification (PCI DSS) that almost no small company has, which is exactly why almost no small company touches them. If a host ever asks you to send card details over email, chat or a Discord DM, stop - that's the thing worth being scared of, not a checkout form.

What we can actually see

Not nothing, so let me be specific. In our Stripe dashboard we can see:

• The last four digits of the card and the brand (Visa, Mastercard)
• The name and billing address you entered
• Your email
• The country the card was issued in, and whether the payment succeeded

That's it. No full number, no CVC, no PIN, no access to your bank account, and no way to charge you anything other than the plan you signed up for.

Does it renew automatically?

Yes - like any subscription. Your server keeps running and you get charged the same amount on the same day each month, so nobody has to remember to pay for the thing they're already playing on.

You agree to this at checkout. It's stated on the page before you pay, not buried in terms.

Three things that make it fair:

We email you three days before every charge. Same amount, same date, and a link to cancel if you don't want it. No surprises on your statement.

You can cancel any time, in one click, from your billing portal. No notice period, no cancellation fee, nobody to talk to. Here's how.

We can only charge the plan you agreed to. We can't change the amount or bill you for something else. If your plan price ever changes, we tell you first and you choose whether to continue.

If you'd rather pay month to month manually, message us and we'll set your account up that way instead. It's your money.

Where your card is while all this happens

Still not with us. The recurring charge works through a token held by Stripe - a reference that lets us request *that specific plan's* payment and nothing else. The card number itself never reaches our servers, before or after you subscribe.

You can remove a saved card from your billing portal whenever you like, which stops future charges immediately.

Prepaid and gift cards

Some of our customers are buying a server for their friends, and a supermarket prepaid Visa or Mastercard is often the sensible way to do that. They usually work. Two things to know:

Register the card first. Most prepaid cards ship with no name or address attached, and the payment page checks the billing address against the card. Whatever site is printed on the back, go and add your name and postcode - and use those same details at our checkout.

Sometimes they're blocked anyway, and it isn't your fault. Some prepaid card ranges get blocked at the processor level because they've been used for fraud elsewhere. When that happens we can't override it, and neither can you. If it happens, message us - we'll try PayPal, and your server isn't going anywhere while we sort it out.

How to check we're real

You shouldn't have to take a website's word for this. We're registered in the Netherlands:

• Piggo - trading name of a sole proprietorship
• Owner: Maksym Savrei
• KVK (Dutch Chamber of Commerce) number: 99874601
• VAT number: NL005415744B04

You can look up that KVK number in the public Dutch trade register and see that the business exists, when it was registered, and where. Very few hosting companies put their registration number on a page like this. I think they should.

What you're entitled to

• A 48-hour free trial, no card needed, so you never have to pay before you know it works.
• A written SLA with what we guarantee and - more importantly - what we don't. Read it here.
• Chargeback rights. If we ever took money we shouldn't have, your card issuer can reverse it. That protection sits with your bank, not with us, and it's a real safety net whoever you buy from.

The general advice, not just about us

Whoever you end up hosting with, these are fair questions to ask, and a decent host will answer them without getting defensive:

1. Who processes payments? (Should be a named processor, not "us")
2. Does it auto-renew, and how do I stop it?
3. Where is the company registered, and what's the registration number?
4. Is there a free trial so I can test before paying?
5. What exactly do you guarantee in writing?

If a host is vague on any of those, that's information.

If you're not playing much

A server you're not using shouldn't cost full price. Before your renewal you can:

• Pause for €5/month - we keep your world, mods and configs, and you restart whenever your group comes back
• Switch to a smaller plan, or fewer hours

Just reply to the renewal email or message us. We'd rather have you on €5 than lose you entirely, and we'll never make you cancel to get a better deal.

Still not sure?

Message us before you pay. Take the free trial first and never enter a card at all until you're happy. And if something about a payment page ever looks off, tell us - we'd much rather answer the question than have you guess.

Start the 48-hour free trial - no card needed