SmartSuite has tried to create a billing system that is straightforward, easy to understand, and efficient. This article will walk you through all of the basics so you know what you are billed for, how to manage your workspace, and where to look for up-to-date billing information.
Converting to a Paid Plan
SmartSuite offers both free and paid plans. Paid plans offer increased limits for automations and API usage, storage, record counts and more. For a complete overview of our plans and pricing please refer to our Pricing page.
You can upgrade to a paid plan during the two-week free trial period or from a free plan. You can also upgrade from one paid plan to a higher plan type at any time.
To do so, just click the Choose a Plan button on the Plans & Billing page in Workspace Administration if you're on a free or trial account, or the Change Plan link on the same page if you currently have a paid plan.
For more details on how to upgrade your account to a Paid Plan, please refer to the article Upgrade or Downgrade Your Plan.
Workspaces
Each SmartSuite workspace is billed separately
Your user profile may be a member of multiple SmartSuite workspaces, but you will be billed separately for each one
You must have the Administrator role to manage Workspaces and Subscription Plan or to invite users that would increase your licensed user quantity (i.e. increase your subscription price)
Subscription Plan
SmartSuite offers four plan levels: Free Forever, Team, Professional, and Enterprise. Plan level determines limits for things like storage, the maximum number of Solutions, and certain features. See this page on SmartSuite's Website for all of the details.
Your plan level sets the price per user per billing interval, with different rates for monthly and annual billing.
You can change your plan in the Workspace Administration > Plans & Billing interface by clicking Change Plan
Changes to a higher plan (from Trial to Professional for example) are billed immediately for the prorated amount for your current licensed user quantity
Downgrades to a lower plan (from Professional to Trial for example) are applied at the beginning of your next billing interval
Billing Interval
SmartSuite subscription plans are offered on a monthly and annual basis. A few details:
You are always billed at the start of your billing interval
You will be billed for the then-current number of active users - we call this your "Licensed User Quantity"
If you increase the number of active users during a billing interval, you will be billed for the prorated amount for the new user(s)
Reductions in active users will be reflected at the beginning of your next billing interval (Your licensed user quantity is set to equal your then-active user count)
Managing Members
You are billed per active Member - at the rate set by your selected Subscription Plan and billing interval - at the beginning of your billing interval
Only active Members are billed meaning that if a user has never logged in to SmartSuite, you won't be billed for them
If you have 20 licensed Members, you can have up to 20 active Member profiles at any one time
In this scenario, when you add a 21st Member, your workspace will be billed for the prorated amount for that user for your current billing cycle, and if the Member is still active at the start of the next billing interval, you will be billed for 21 Members
Reducing the number of active Members under your current licensed user count does not have any immediate billing impact
If you have a number of active Members under your current licensed user count at the start of your next billing interval, you licensed user count will be adjusted down to that number and you will be billed for that reduced number of users
Guest Members are free (see more below)
Guest Members
SmartSuite offers a Member role of Guest that allows you to add free, limited-access users to your Workspace. Guest Members can be granted access to any Solution or Table, but they always have Commenter permission to any record.
In addition, there is no charge for Guest Members. Guests are not included in your Active Member count that is used for billing. Note that if you upgrade a Member with the Guest role (to General, Creator or Administrator role), that Member will immediately add to your Active Member count.
If converting the Guest to a regular paid user results in increasing your total available Active Members for the billing period, your Workspace will be charged the prorated amount for the Member for the current billing period.