Reserved monthly plans: flat prices for always-on cloud desktops

Since launch, DeskBoot has billed every session per-second. Stop the box, meter stops. That model wins for bursty use — a developer compiling for an afternoon, a tester running a one-off penetration lab, a freelancer who needs Windows for a single client call.

But a growing chunk of customers kept telling us the same thing: they want always-on. Dedicated workstation in the cloud, same OS state every morning, no need to think about the meter. For those customers, hourly billing is the wrong product shape — the "monthly cap" we had built in was still too expensive relative to simpler VPS options.

So we built the Reserved monthly plan.

What it is

Pick any session size at launch. Toggle Reserved monthly instead of pay-as-you-go. We charge the flat rate upfront, lock the box for 30 days, and the per-second meter doesn't run. No auto-stop at $0 balance — you've paid for the window. When the 30 days elapse, the session reverts to per-second billing until you renew.

The prices

Windows adds the same per-hour license surcharge (~$29/mo at Reserved cadence) if you pick a Windows OS. Linux is included at the base price.

When Reserved makes sense

• You keep the same session running most days — the hourly meter was adding up faster than you expected
• You need a stable IP + consistent uptime for a long-running service
• You want to budget a single flat monthly number instead of watching usage charts
• You're migrating from a basic VPS and want cloud-desktop features (RDP preconfigured, Windows licensing included, Africa region, M-Pesa payment) at a flat rate

When pay-as-you-go still wins

• Bursty use — you only need the box for a few hours a week
• You want zero commitment and the ability to stop the meter cold
• You're testing things, running ephemeral labs, or spinning up throwaways

How to switch

Launch screen now has a Billing section with two options: Pay as you go (default) or Reserved monthly. Toggle Reserved, pick your size, click Launch. Balance needs to cover the full month upfront — top up first if you need to.

Existing per-second sessions aren't affected. Reserved is opt-in at launch; you can run both billing modes side by side on different sessions.

What's next

• Reserved renewal: coming next sprint. Right now Reserved windows revert to per-second after 30 days until you launch another Reserved session or we ship the renewal flow.
• Annual Reserved: if there's demand for 12-month commitments at a deeper discount, we'll build it. Reply to any email from us if that's you.

Questions? Contact support, check the FAQ, or read the pricing page for the full comparison.