What it means
Reserved for future use, but in practice services return it when payment or a paid plan is required to continue.
Common causes
- Subscription expired or payment failed
- API quota of a paid plan exhausted
- Stripe and other APIs signalling a declined charge
How to fix it
As a client or visitor
Check billing for the account, update the payment method or upgrade the plan.
As the site or API owner
Explain what payment is needed in the body. There is no standard semantics, so document your use.
Example response
HTTP/1.1
HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:30:00 GMT
Server: nginx
Content-Type: application/problem+json
{
"type": "about:blank",
"title": "Payment Required",
"status": 402,
"detail": "Your plan has no build minutes left this month."
}Specification
FAQ
› Is 402 standardized?
Only reserved. The spec does not define its exact meaning, so behavior varies by service.
› Should I use 402 or 403 for unpaid accounts?
402 is clearer when payment would resolve it; 403 is fine when access is denied for other reasons.