Buy a plan or a credit pack from the Upgrade page. You choose what you want, then the checkout page takes you through three parts: your billing details, how you pay, and a review of your order.

Check these before you buy a plan:

Step 1. Open the Upgrade page.

Step 2. Choose how to pay at the top: Pay monthly, Pay yearly, or Pay as you go for a one-time credit pack.

Step 3. Under Monthly Volume Selection, move the slider to the plan or pack size you want. The right side shows the searches and verifications you get, and the price.

Step 4. Click the button under the price, such as Upgrade Now. The checkout page opens.

The biggest plans and credit packs show Request access instead, because we open them on request. See Problems paying or upgrading: what the messages mean.

Paying yearly saves 25%. On the Upgrade page, Pay yearly shows this as 3 months free. You still get your credits as a monthly allowance, which resets every 30 days.

To pay yearly, choose Pay yearly on the Upgrade page before you check out. Your 25% saving then shows as a Discount in your order. Checkout for a monthly plan also shows a Switch to annual banner. To be sure your saving applies, go back to the Upgrade page and choose Pay yearly instead. See The difference between monthly and yearly plans.

The first part of the checkout page is Complete your billing information:

Use the address your bank has for your card. If your billing details are already saved, this part shows them as Billing information, with an Edit button. For VAT, see Add My VAT Number.

The second part of the checkout page is Payment method:

If your device supports it, Express checkout appears above the card form, so you can pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link instead. For other ways to pay, see Accepted Types of Payment.

The third part of the checkout page is Review your order. It shows your plan, marked Monthly, Annual or One-time, and its price. Change plan takes you back to the Upgrade page.

Below that, you see the Subtotal, any Discount, the Tax and the Total. When you chose Pay yearly on the Upgrade page, your 25% saving is already there as a discount. For when tax applies, see Sales Tax.

You can add a coupon or promo code on the checkout page, before you pay.

Step 1. Under Review your order, click Have a coupon?

Step 2. Type your code in Enter coupon code and click Apply.

Step 3. You see "Coupon applied!", and the discount shows in your order.

If you see "Invalid or expired coupon code", check the spelling. The code may have expired, or it may only work on yearly plans or only on credit packs.

An order takes one coupon. On a yearly plan or a discounted credit pack, that discount is already applied, so Have a coupon? doesn't show. To use your own code instead, click the x next to the applied discount first. Your code then replaces that discount.

Finish your purchase at the bottom of the checkout page.

Step 1. Tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Step 2. Click the button that shows Pay and the amount, such as Pay $49 and upgrade. The button stays greyed out until your card is ready and the box is ticked.

Step 3. If your bank asks you to approve the payment, do it in your bank's app or with the code it sends you.

You see Payment Successful! with "Thank you for your purchase. Your account has been upgraded." The page shows your plan and its searches and verifications. Click Start Finding Emails or View Dashboard.

"You'll receive a confirmation email shortly with your receipt and plan details." Your invoices are also in Billing history. See Where can I find my invoices?

If the payment doesn't go through, you see a message such as "Payment failed. Please try a different card.", or the Payment Failed page. If you leave checkout with the back arrow, you see the Payment Cancelled page. Both pages say no charge was made. See Problems paying or upgrading: what the messages mean.