How seat pricing works
Starter Cloud is billed on a per-seat basis. A seat is counted for each active member in your organization — anyone with a role (Annotator, Reviewer, Manager, or Admin) who has accepted their invitation and can log in counts as a seat.
Your subscription includes a base number of seats in the plan price. Any members beyond that base count are billed as extra seats at an additional per-seat rate, charged on top of your base plan.
What counts as a seat
- Active members only — pending invitations that have not been accepted do not consume a seat.
- All roles count equally — Annotators, Reviewers, Managers, and Admins each consume one seat regardless of role.
- Deactivated members do not count — removing or deactivating a member frees that seat.
- The organization owner counts — the account owner occupies one of the included seats.
What's included in your plan
Your Starter Cloud base plan includes a fixed number of seats. You can see your current seat count and how many are in use from your billing settings. If you are unsure how many seats your plan includes, check your original purchase confirmation email or open your billing settings page.
How extra seats are charged
When you add a member that puts you over your included seat count, the extra seat is billed immediately on a prorated basis — meaning you only pay for the portion of the current billing period remaining from the date the seat was added.
On your next renewal, all seats (base + extra) are charged together for the full upcoming period.
Understanding proration
Proration is how we make sure you are only charged for the time you actually use a seat. Here is how it works:
- If you add a seat 15 days into a 30-day billing cycle, you are charged for the remaining 15 days at the per-seat daily rate.
- On your invoice, prorated charges appear as line items like "Remaining time on 1 × Starter Cloud Extra Seat after [date]."
- If you add multiple seats on different dates, each addition appears as its own proration line.
Removing a seat does not generate an immediate refund. The reduction takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle, and your next invoice will reflect the lower seat count.
Adding and removing seats
- Adding a seat: Invite a new member from your organization's Members page. As soon as they accept the invitation and become active, the seat is counted and any extra-seat charge is applied immediately.
- Removing a seat: Deactivate or remove the member from your Members page. The seat is released and the reduced count applies from your next renewal date.
Common questions
Why do I see two charges close together?
This typically happens when you add a seat mid-cycle. You will see your regular subscription renewal charge plus a separate prorated charge for the new seat added during the previous period. Both charges are correct — they cover different things and different time windows.
I removed a member but my invoice still shows the same seat count. Why?
Seat removals take effect at the next billing cycle, not immediately. Your current invoice covers the period before the removal, so the count will not change until your next renewal.
An invited user never accepted — are they using a seat?
No. Pending invitations do not consume a seat. A seat is only occupied once the invitation is accepted and the member is active in your organization.
Can I downgrade my base plan to fewer included seats?
Plan downgrades are subject to your current seat usage — you cannot reduce your included seat count below the number of active members currently in your organization. Remove members first, then contact Support to discuss a plan change.
Where can I see my current seat usage?
Go to your billing settings page to see a summary of your plan, included seats, seats currently in use, and any extra seats being billed.
Need help with a specific charge?
If a line item on your invoice is unclear or you believe a charge is incorrect, contact Support with the following information so we can review it quickly:
- Your organization ID
- The invoice or receipt number
- The specific charge or line item in question and the approximate date it appeared