How free plans work for your customers
A free plan has no price and no checkout. When you assign a customer to a free plan, they're activated immediately. Their usage resets every month, just like a paid plan.
| Paid plan | Free plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Has a price | $0 |
| Billing | Monthly, quarterly, or yearly | No charges — usage resets monthly |
| How they start | Checkout + payment | Activated immediately |
| Invoices | Yes | Only for purchases (credits, balance, add-ons) |
| Overage | Configurable per feature | Never allowed — usage is blocked at the included limit |
| Usage resets | Every month | Every month |
Even though there's no billing cycle, your customer's usage resets every month — the same cadence as a paid monthly plan. If you give a free plan 1,000 API calls or $50 in balance, that allowance refreshes on their billing day each month.
When a customer hits their included limit, they're blocked until the next reset. Overage is never charged on a free plan.
Your free plan includes $100 in balance.
Your customer uses $100 by day 15.
→ They're blocked for the rest of the month.
→ On their billing day, balance resets to $100.The Customer Portal adapts when someone is on a free plan:
| Section | Paid plan | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Shows plan, price, and next billing date | Shows plan and status only — no billing date |
| Invoices | Visible | Visible only if they've made purchases |
| Payment method | Visible | Visible only if they've added one |
| MRR | Shows amount | Shows $0.00/mo |
| Usage (balance/credits) | Visible, with "Add Funds" or "Buy Credits" button | Visible, with purchase buttons |
Free plan customers can purchase add-ons, credit packs, and balance top-ups — the same one-off purchases available on paid plans. Since they didn't go through checkout, they don't have a card on file. The first purchase prompts them to enter a payment method, which is saved for future purchases.
The plan itself is free. Purchases are optional extras that customers choose to buy.
If you change the included balance or credits on a free plan, the change applies at each customer's next monthly reset. Balances already granted for the current month don't change.
You increase the free plan's included balance from $100 to $150.
A customer whose billing day is the 20th keeps their current balance until the 20th.
On the 20th, their monthly reset grants $150.The upgrade is always immediate. Since the free plan costs $0, there's no credit to give — your customer simply pays the full price of the new plan from that day.
Your customer is on a Free plan with $100 included balance.
They upgrade to Pro at $99/mo.
Credit from free plan: $0 (it's free)
They pay: $99 (full month)
Invoices, payment method, and billing info appear in their portal.How is this guide?