How do I pause my account?

If you would like to keep your account but stop invoicing then you can remove all active services. Removing all active services will prevent invoicing, as there is nothing active, and your account will remain intact. For more information read the following doc:

https://linode.com/docs/platform/billing-and-payments/#removing-services

Will shutting down the linode do the trick or it needs to be removed altogether?

You will still be billed even if your Linode is powered down. This is because even when powered down, Linode maintains your saved data and reserves the ability to tap into your plans allotted resources such as CPU, RAM, and network capacity. If you wish to stop billing you will need to remove the Linode from your account entirely.

Something to keep in mind though is Linode Images. This services allows you to configure a baseline setup of a Linode and store an image of it on your account to be used for rapid deployment. Whats great about this is there is no charge for storing these images. If you find yourself using your Linode in short bursts storing an image would allow you to remove your Linode between sessions, helping to keep costs down. I've included a link to our Linode Images guide below to answer any additional questions and help get you started.

https://www.linode.com/docs/platform/disk-images/linode-images/