How to manage subscriptions in Plesk

A subscription in Plesk is the set of hosting resources and permissions assigned to a domain. Managing subscriptions lets you control disk space, traffic limits, service plan associations and domain ownership without touching the command line.

This article covers the main subscription tasks available in the Plesk UI: creating a subscription, editing its settings, switching service plans and removing a subscription you no longer need.

Create a new subscription

Creating a subscription provisions hosting resources for a domain under a chosen service plan. The service plan defines the limits that apply, such as disk space, bandwidth and the number of databases allowed.

1. Log in to Plesk.
   Access your Plesk control panel using your administrator or reseller credentials.
2. Open the Subscriptions page.
   In the left sidebar, click Subscriptions. A list of all existing subscriptions on your account is displayed.
3. Start a new subscription.
   Click Add Subscription in the top-right corner of the page.
4. Enter the domain name.
   Type the domain name into the Domain name field, for example example.com. This is the primary domain that will be associated with the subscription.
5. Set the login credentials.
   Enter a username and password in the Username and Password fields. These credentials are used to access the subscription’s hosting environment via FTP and the Plesk panel.
6. Select a service plan.
   Choose a plan from the Service plan dropdown. The plan you select determines the resource limits applied to this subscription.
7. Confirm the IP address.
   If your server has multiple IP addresses, select the correct one from the IP address dropdown.
8. Save the subscription.
   Click OK. Plesk creates the subscription and returns you to the subscriptions list.

The new subscription now appears in your subscriptions list and is ready to host the domain.

Edit subscription settings

You can adjust individual resource limits for a subscription without changing its service plan. This is useful when a single domain needs more disk space or a higher database limit than the plan default allows.

1. Open the subscription.
   From the Subscriptions list, click the domain name of the subscription you want to edit.
2. Go to the plan and permissions tab.
   Click the Hosting Plan tab, then select Customize. This opens the resource settings for this specific subscription.
3. Adjust the resource limits.
   Update values such as Disk space, Maximum traffic or Maximum number of databases as required. Entering 0 in a field removes the limit for that resource.
4. Apply the changes.
   Click OK to save. Plesk applies the updated limits immediately.

The subscription now uses the updated limits rather than the plan defaults.

Change the service plan for a subscription

Switching a subscription to a different service plan replaces all current plan-level limits with those defined in the new plan. Do this when a customer’s requirements have outgrown their current plan or when you want to standardise subscriptions across a new plan.

1. Open the subscription.
   From the Subscriptions list, click the domain name of the subscription you want to update.
2. Access the hosting plan settings.
   Click the Hosting Plan tab.
3. Select the new plan.
   In the Service plan dropdown, choose the plan you want to switch to.
4. Save the change.
   Click OK. Plesk updates the subscription and applies the new plan’s resource limits straight away.

The subscription is now associated with the new service plan and its limits are updated accordingly.

Remove a subscription

Removing a subscription deletes the domain’s hosting environment, including all files, databases and email accounts associated with it. Back up any data you need before proceeding.

1. Go to the Subscriptions list.
   In the left sidebar, click Subscriptions.
2. Select the subscription.
   Tick the checkbox next to the subscription you want to remove.
3. Delete the subscription.
   Click Remove at the top of the list, then confirm the action when prompted. Plesk permanently deletes the subscription and all associated data.

The subscription is removed and no longer appears in your subscriptions list.

Troubleshooting

The Add Subscription button is greyed out

This usually means no service plans have been created yet, or your account has reached its subscription limit under the current reseller plan.

• Check that at least one service plan exists under Service Plans in the Plesk sidebar.
• If you are on a reseller plan, confirm you have not reached the maximum number of subscriptions allowed.
• Contact your hosting provider if the limit needs to be increased.

Resource changes are not taking effect

If updated disk space or traffic limits do not appear to apply, the subscription may still be synchronised to a service plan that overrides manual changes.

• Check the Hosting Plan tab to confirm the subscription is set to Custom rather than locked to a plan.
• If the subscription is plan-locked, use the Customize option as described in the edit settings section above.
• Allow a few moments for Plesk to propagate the changes before testing again.

Subscription removal fails or returns an error

A removal error can occur if the subscription has active processes running or if a database lock is in place at the time of deletion.

• Wait a few minutes and try again, as background tasks may need to complete first.
• Check the Plesk event log under Tools & Settings > Action Log for a specific error message.
• If the error persists, raise a support ticket with the error message from the action log included.

Wrapping up

You can now create, edit, switch and remove subscriptions in Plesk using the control panel UI. Each task gives you direct control over how hosting resources are allocated and which service plan governs a domain.

For related tasks, see our guides on creating an email account in Plesk, adding domains to your hosting account and installing an SSL certificate. If you manage multiple clients, our guide on managing your clients covers account-level administration in more detail.

Take a look at our Plesk hosting plans if you need more subscriptions or additional resources for your domains.