# Account & billing overview

Everything about your HostTracker account lives under **Profile**, **Billing** and **Access** in the top-right
menu. This page covers how an account comes to exist and how you get back into it, then links to a full guide
for every other part.

## Signing up and signing in

HostTracker offers two ways to get an account, and both land you on the same 30-day trial (see
[The free trial](/account/trial/)):

- **Email and password.** The ordinary sign-up form at `/en/user/signup` - you set a password up front, and
  a 5-digit confirmation code is emailed to activate the account (valid 30 minutes, 3 attempts).
- **Email only, no password.** The instant-check tools and the sign-up wall (the prompt you see after using
  the free anonymous tools past their daily limit) offer a one-field "just my email" sign-up. HostTracker
  generates a password internally that nobody knows - the account is fully functional, but there's nothing
  you could type to sign in with later. Once you confirm the emailed code, a one-time card appears at the top
  of the **Sites** dashboard: **"Set a password, or connect Google, so you can sign in next time."** Setting
  a password there (or linking a provider below) is what makes the account reachable again on a new browser
  or after the session expires. Skipping it ("Not now") hides the card for a week.
- **Google, Microsoft or LinkedIn.** Click the provider's button on the sign-in or sign-up page (or on an
  instant-check result). See [Sign in with Google, Microsoft or LinkedIn](/account/oauth/) for how this links
  to an existing account and what happens on a first-time sign-in.

Signing up (either way) and confirming your email both start a **persistent 30-day sign-in session** - closing
the browser or coming back tomorrow does not sign you out. Subaccount sign-ins keep a shorter, browser-length
session.

## Profile

- **Defaults** - your [default monitoring locations](/monitors/default-locations/), default check settings for
  new monitors, and your account [theme and formats](/account/settings/).
- **Security** - your password and sign-in email, and linking [Google, Microsoft or LinkedIn](/account/oauth/)
  for one-click sign-in.

## Plan & billing

- **[Plans & packages](/account/plans/)** - what a plan governs (how many monitors, how often they can run, and
  which features are unlocked) and the tiers available.
- **[The free trial](/account/trial/)** - what you get with no card, and exactly what happens when it ends.
- **[Upgrade or downgrade](/account/upgrade-downgrade/)** - switch plans without losing data.
- **[Quotas & limits](/account/quotas/)** - monitor counts, check intervals and API rate limits, and where to
  see your current usage.
- **[SMS balance](/account/sms-balance/)** - the credit that SMS and voice alerts draw from.
- **[Payments & invoices](/account/payments/)** - payment methods, receipts and order history.

## Team & access

- **[Subaccounts](/account/subaccounts/)** - invite teammates and control what each one can see or change.

## Other

- **[Affiliate program](/account/affiliate/)** - earn commission by referring new customers.

## Do it with the API or MCP

`GET /account` (MCP `get_account`) returns your identity, plan, usage, limits and status flags in one call -
the same document the app's profile and billing pages are built from. It requires a bearer token; see
[Quotas & limits](/account/quotas/) for how to mint one.

## Related

- [Set your default locations](/monitors/default-locations/)
- [Integrations overview](/integrations/overview/)