# After you change a Vast.ai price, do current rentals keep the old rate?

A Vast offer can change. A rental contract keeps the price, end date, and hardware from the moment it was accepted. Unlisting only stops new rentals. The monitor’s Machine ID is still the whole machine.

- Canonical: https://iotahome.site/en/learn/vast-host-machine-vs-contract
- Publisher: IOTA Watch
- Topics: Vast.ai
- Published: 2026-10-24
- Updated: 2026-10-24

## At a glance

One machine can hold several independent contracts, with different prices and end dates. Editing the offer affects only later contracts. The day total on the page is still per Machine ID, not split per contract.

## Separate the offer from locked contracts

After a price change or unlist, check each contract’s own price and end date on the Host machines page. The monitor total is still the machine’s four lines for the day.

## Offer actions and existing contracts

| What you do as host | New rentals | Rentals already running |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Raise or lower the offer price | Accepted at the new price | Keep the price locked at acceptance |
| Shorten the offer end date | Shorter window for new clients | Does not shorten an existing rental end date |
| Unlist the machine | No new contracts | Existing contracts run to their own end dates |
| Extend the offer at the same or lower price | New clients can rent longer | Vast documents this as the way to extend current contracts |

A price change does not rewrite a rental that already exists. When a client accepts the offer, price, end date, and hardware lock into that contract. Later edits and unlisting affect only contracts that have not been accepted yet. One machine can carry several contracts at different prices and end dates.

## What each object is

The offer is what you publish on the Host machines page or with `list machine`: GPU, internet, and storage prices, the interruptible minimum bid, the minimum GPU grouping, and the offer end date. The hosting overview says that an offer with no end date stays open.

A rental contract is created from the offer at the moment a client rents an instance. The client end date in the UI is that contract’s end date. The latest end date on the machine is how long you must keep the service available.

## What to inspect when the numbers disagree

- See whether the client rented before or after the price change. Earlier contracts keep the old price.

- Read that contract’s own end date. Do not replace it with the offer end date you edited later.

- Only then read the day total on the [Vast.ai monitor](https://iotahome.site/en/projects/vast). It is summed by Machine ID and does not list each contract.

## What to do next

- To stop new clients only: unlist. Existing contracts continue, and the machine stays up through the latest end date.

- To extend contracts that are already running: Vast’s documented method is a later offer end date at the same or a lower price. After you have raised the price, that higher offer cannot extend the old contracts.

- To check money already reported: return to [the four lines](https://iotahome.site/en/learn/vast-monitor-guide). For how GPUs are sliced, read [occupancy and offers](https://iotahome.site/en/learn/vast-gpu-occupancy-and-offers).

## Illustrative case

The shape comes from the hosting overview, and it is not a measured payout: on one machine, an earlier contract stays at the GPU hourly price locked when it started, and a later higher offer applies only to a new contract. The two end dates differ. You keep the machine available through the later day. If the monitor shows a day total, that figure is the four lines for the whole machine, not the invoice for one contract.

## Limits

The monitor does not read each contract’s locked price, and it does not write income as zero because you unlisted the machine. Whether an extension worked is the updated end date on the Host machines page. Per-second billing on the public site describes the client side. It does not compute one host contract’s settlement.

## Common questions

### Does a price change bill current clients at the new rate immediately?

No. The hosting overview says a contract locks price, end date, and hardware when the client accepts the offer. Later edits and unlisting do not rewrite that contract. The new price applies only to contracts accepted afterward.

### After I unlist the machine, do I still have to keep it online?

Yes, while any contract is still open. Unlisting blocks new contracts only. Keep the machine available through the latest rental end date on that machine. The monitor does not turn an unlist action into a zero income figure.

### Can the monitor split income by each rental contract?

No. The day total sums the four lines for the Machine ID. It is not split by client or Instance ID. For one contract’s locked price and end date, open that rental on the Host machines page instead of reading only the monitor total.

## Sources and implementation

- [Vast.ai hosting overview](https://docs.vast.ai/host/hosting-overview)
- [Vast Host machines](https://console.vast.ai/host/machines)