If you run usage-based workloads on Shifter, you know the one failure mode that has nothing to do with your code: the wallet hits zero at the wrong moment, usage-based charges can no longer draw from it, and your proxies pause until someone notices and tops up by hand. It always seems to happen overnight, or over a weekend, or right in the middle of a job that mattered.
Today we are fixing that for good. Automatic wallet top-up keeps your balance above a line you set, so usage never stalls for the simple reason that the wallet ran dry.
Why we built this
Wallet funds power the usage-based side of Shifter, the overage and consumption charges that keep your Residential Proxies running under bandwidth-based pricing. That model is great when the wallet is funded and frustrating the instant it is not. Manual top-ups mean someone has to watch the balance, and balances do not fail politely during business hours.
Auto top-up removes the babysitting. You decide the rules once, and the wallet keeps itself funded quietly in the background.
How it works
You set three numbers, and that is the whole configuration:
- Threshold — the balance that triggers a refill. When your wallet drops below it, a top-up is charged automatically.
- Refill amount — how much lands in your wallet each time it refills.
- Monthly cap — the most auto top-up can add in a calendar month, so spending can never run away from you.
That is it. Once it is on, a dip below your threshold quietly tops the wallet back up, and anything that was paused for an empty balance picks back up on its own.
You stay in control
Auto top-up is designed to be predictable, not clever.
- It is funds-only. Auto top-up adds money to your wallet and nothing else. It never touches your membership or subscription billing, and it cannot change your plan. It is a separate, opt-in mechanism.
- The monthly cap is a hard ceiling. However busy a month gets, auto top-up will not exceed the cap you set. When the cap is reached, it simply stops until the next month.
- It protects itself from bad cards. If a top-up is declined repeatedly, auto top-up disables itself automatically and emails you, rather than retrying forever against a card that is not working. You fix the card, turn it back on, and you are set.
- Off is one click. You can disable auto top-up at any time from your dashboard. Nothing is locked in.
Your card, handled securely
When you enable auto top-up, your card is saved through our payment provider in a secure checkout, the same one you already use for manual top-ups. Shifter never sees or stores your card number. Turning auto top-up off removes the saved card; turning it back on captures a fresh one. Any applicable VAT is added on top of your refill amount at charge time, exactly as it is on a manual top-up, so the amount you set is the amount that lands in your wallet.
Turning it on
Auto top-up lives in your dashboard alongside your wallet and billing settings. Open it, set your threshold, refill amount, and monthly cap, confirm your card in the secure checkout, and you are done.
If you run a team workspace, note that managing auto top-up requires billing permissions, so it sits with the members who already handle payments. Everyone else keeps working while the wallet takes care of itself.
Available now
Automatic wallet top-up is live for every Shifter account today. If your usage is bursty, seasonal, or simply runs while you sleep, this is the setting that keeps it from ever pausing on an empty wallet again. Open your dashboard, set your three numbers, and let the wallet handle the rest.
Questions about the right threshold and cap for your usage? Our team is happy to help you dial it in.