Plans & billing

A workspace is on the Free plan or on a paid plan, Essentials or Enterprise, which raises the workspace’s limits and unlocks additional features. For paid plans’ prices and included limits, see the Alpacon pricing page. The Free plan’s limits are listed under Free plan limits below.

This page covers what you see and do inside the product: where to manage your plan, what happens when you reach a limit or a locked feature, how paying for an upgrade works, what happens if a renewal charge fails, and how to cancel.

Where to manage your plan#

The Billing menu lives inside workspace settings.

1. In the left sidebar, click Workspace settings. This entry is only shown to Staff and Superuser members.
2. Open Billing > Overview.

The Billing group has three items:

• Overview—your current plan, this period’s usage, and the estimated cost.
• Payment—the cards this workspace is charged on, and the billing details behind them.
• History—the invoices, payments, and credits recorded for this workspace.

All three need billing permission (Staff and Superuser). Without it the Billing group isn’t listed at all, and opening one of its pages by URL says only that you don’t have permission to view billing information.

What the Overview page shows#

• Current plan—your plan name, a Trial badge during a trial, and a Fixed term tag on a contract. Upgrade (on Free) or View plans (on a paid plan) opens the upgrade panel over the page you’re already on. Under the name, a subscription shows Renews on (Trial ends during a trial) and the Billing period; a contract shows a single Contract term stat covering the whole term, with the days left as its caption. A workspace billed through a company account also carries a line saying it’s billed to that company, with a Contact your account manager link.
• Estimated next charge—what the workspace is due to pay next and the date it’s charged. It appears once there’s a subscription with a next billing date. A prepaid contract shows Next payment as None instead, captioned with the date it’s paid through. Available credit joins that row whenever the workspace holds any; credit comes off the next invoice on its own.
• Usage this period—a tile each for Active users, Active servers, Websh session usage time, and FTP file transfer volume, every title linking to the matching page for details. Where the plan sets a limit, the tile reads usage against that limit with a gauge and a percentage; where it doesn’t, the figure stands alone and the section notes once that the plan has no usage limits. Websh time reads as a duration, such as 5h 15m.
• Estimated month-to-date cost—a per-service breakdown with any overage, plus subtotal, credit applied, tax, and total. A prepaid contract is paid in full for its term, so this section isn’t shown for one.

The Billing period these figures cover (Contract term on a contract) is shown at the top of the page. The cost is an estimate. The final invoice is issued at the end of each billing period and may differ.

On a monthly plan, each renewal bills you for the server count you have at that moment—the capacity you’re reserving for the period ahead. Removing servers mid-period doesn’t refund what you already paid; it only lowers what’s billed at the next renewal. If your server count runs above what you’re paying for at any point in the period, that overage is settled once, at the following renewal, based on how long you ran above your reserved count over the whole period rather than a single snapshot. Annual plans don’t add overage automatically this way—if you need more capacity than your annual term covers, your account manager arranges it.

Where to see your workspace’s usage#

Every member of the workspace can open the Usage page at /<workspace>/usage/, whatever their role. Unlike the Billing pages above, it needs no billing permission and it’s read-only. Open it from the See usage link in a limit dialog or from the command palette (search for Usage).

The Plan limits section has one tile for each limit your plan can set: Servers, Members, Applications, Websh time, WebFTP transfer volume, and Websh sharing time. Each tile shows what the workspace has used against its limit, with a bar that follows the state Alpacon reports:

• Normal: the bar keeps its default color.
• Near limit: the bar turns amber and the tile carries a tag with that name.
• Limit reached: the bar turns red and the tile carries a tag with that name. What that blocks is described under What happens at a limit or a gate.

Servers, members, and applications are counts. They have no reset date, because adding more is allowed again as soon as you remove one or upgrade. Websh time, WebFTP transfer volume, and Websh sharing time are monthly allowances, and each of their tiles shows the date the allowance resets.

A tile with no limit reads Unlimited. On Essentials, Websh time and WebFTP transfer volume read Fair use: they’re measured and never blocked.

Below the limits, Other usage this period lists usage that is measured for reference only and never blocks anything: AI command verifications, Port forwarding time, and Editor time, each with the date the period started.

Next to the buttons that register a server, invite a member, and create an application, a short hint such as “2 of 3 servers” shows how much of the limit is used, and links to the Usage page. It’s shown only for a plan that sets a limit on that item.

What happens at a limit or a gate#

When you reach a plan limit or open a feature your plan doesn’t include, Alpacon shows a dialog naming the plan that unlocks it, summarizing what you gain, and linking to the pricing page. Continuing from that dialog opens the upgrade panel over the page you were on. Nothing opens a new browser tab and you don’t lose your place. The action you attempted isn’t completed until the plan is upgraded.

The dialog doesn’t show your numbers. To see what the workspace has used and when a monthly allowance resets, follow its See usage link to the Usage page.

What the panel offers depends on how the workspace is billed and on what you’re allowed to do:

You can open the same panel yourself from the Overview page—Upgrade on Free, View plans on a paid plan. Started that way it opens on the plan summary; reached from a limit it opens straight on card entry, because the dialog already asked.

The dialog you see at a limit, as opposed to a locked feature, also offers Talk to us beside the upgrade button, which reaches our team instead of upgrading from the console. When there’s nothing you can buy from the console, because you don’t manage billing or the plan you’d need is arranged with us directly, it’s the dialog’s only way forward.

The table below is qualitative. The Free plan’s numbers are under Free plan limits; for paid plans’ numbers and the features each plan includes, see the pricing page.

Plan limits#

Free plan limits#

On the Free plan:

• Servers: 3.
• Members: 3, pending invitations included.
• Applications: 1.
• Workspaces: one. While you belong to a Free workspace, adding another needs an upgrade.
• Websh session usage time: 30 hours per usage period. Once they’re used up, starting a new terminal session is blocked until the next period starts. A session already open keeps running.
• WebFTP transfer volume: 100 MB per usage period. Once it’s used up, starting a new upload or download is blocked until the next period starts. A transfer already in progress completes.

The usage period is monthly, and the Overview page shows the current one.

Servers, members, and applications are counts, and a count limit only stops you from adding more. A workspace that already has more than Free allows, such as servers registered during a paid plan, a trial, or under an earlier, higher limit, keeps everything it has, and all of it keeps working. Adding another is blocked until you’re back under the limit or you upgrade. Reinstalling the agent on a server registers it as a new server, so in a workspace at or over the server limit, delete the server’s old entry first.

On Essentials, Websh session usage time and WebFTP transfer volume are fair use: both are measured and shown on the Overview page, but never blocked. Enterprise has no limit on either.

Features by plan#

Paying for an upgrade#

Card entry happens in the upgrade panel, on the page you’re already on.

• A card already on file: the panel lists the cards this workspace can be charged on, with the default card selected. Continue with it or pick another; to enter a new card, select Add another card. Expired cards, and cards that can’t be charged in the workspace’s billing currency, aren’t listed.
• Card: with no card on file, or when you add a new one, the card fields render inside the panel itself. Your bank can still send you to its own verification page and bring you straight back, and the panel picks up where it left off.
• Country and postal code: shown alongside the card, prefilled from your billing details but editable, and used to work out sales tax. A postal code is asked for only where the selected country needs one.
• Workspaces billed in Korean won: Toss opens its own window for the card instead, and no postal code is asked. In a desktop browser that window stays inside the console; on a phone it takes over the tab and returns you here when it’s done.
• Workspaces with no billing details yet: the first charge needs a billing record. If there isn’t one, the panel stops and offers Add billing details, which takes you to Billing > Payment. Fill the form in, then start the upgrade again.

Once the charge goes through, the new limits apply straight away and the panel offers to take you back to what you were doing.

If a renewal charge fails#

If a scheduled charge doesn’t go through, a banner appears at the top of the Overview page. It says whether the card was declined or we couldn’t calculate tax from your billing address, with a button straight to fixing it (Manage cards or Fix billing address) and a Retry payment button that tries again right there.

We also retry automatically—on a monthly plan, on day 1, day 3, and day 7 after the failed charge (day 3, 7, and 14 on an annual plan)—and email you at each stage: when the first attempt fails, again before the last retry, and once more if the subscription ends up paused. If the final retry still fails, the subscription is paused and the workspace moves to the Free plan with everything it already has (see Free plan limits); fixing your card or billing address before then keeps it on its current plan.

Cancelling a subscription#

Cancel subscription sits at the bottom of the Overview page, for any self-serve paid plan that isn’t already on Free or under a contract. Cancelling is immediate: the workspace returns to the Free plan right away, not at the end of the current billing period, and nothing renews after that.

What you already paid for this period isn’t refunded for the days left in it. If your server count ran above what you’re paying for at any point in the period, that’s settled once, at the moment you cancel, on the same whole-period basis a normal renewal uses—so most cancellations add nothing further, and only a fleet that ran well above its reserved count for much of the period is charged more.

Cancelling is never blocked by usage. A workspace with more members or servers than Free allows cancels just the same, and everything it has keeps working on Free; you can’t add more of what’s over a limit until you’re back under it or you upgrade again. During a trial, the same button ends the trial immediately instead, and nothing is charged.

A workspace billed through a company account or under a contract doesn’t cancel this way—reach your account manager instead.

Payment and history#

Billing > Payment holds two sections:

• Payment method: the cards this workspace is charged on. Add a card, make one the default, or remove one. A card the subscription is currently using is labeled, so you can tell which one pays.
• Billing details: who the invoice is addressed to and the location used to calculate tax. Most workspaces bill directly, and for those the form asks for name, email, country, and phone (optional), plus a postal code where the country needs one for tax—the US, Canada, India, the EU, and the UK, among others. A workspace billed through a company account is asked for the full address instead—postal code, city, and street address required, state and a second address line optional—because that record is printed on the company’s statements.

Billing > History has three tabs:

• Invoices: every invoice issued to the workspace—Issued, Item, Invoice number, Amount, and Status (Estimated, Issued, Open, Paid, or Cancelled). Selecting a row opens that invoice; where a document exists, the last column downloads it as a PDF.
• Payments: every charge against the workspace—Issued, Item, Amount, and Status (Paid, Pending, or Failed). A row expands in place, under itself, for the card it was charged to, the charge breakdown, a refund note if there was one, and a View receipt link that opens the payment provider’s receipt page in a new tab, where the payment provider issued one.
• Credits: each credit’s Code, Amount, how much is Used, what’s Remaining, and when it was Redeemed. A long code is shortened, with a button beside it that copies the full value.

An Open invoice is a recurring charge that is being collected from the card on file and hasn’t settled yet. It isn’t something you pay from the console.

Who can manage billing#

• See the plan, usage, and estimated cost: Staff and Superuser members. Without billing permission the Billing group isn’t shown, and opening Overview by its URL only says you can’t view billing information.
• Manage cards, billing details, invoices, and payments: Staff and Superuser members. Payment and History don’t appear for anyone else.
• Change the plan: Staff and Superuser members. Anyone else who reaches a limit is shown the members who can change it, with a link to email them, and is pointed to support if the workspace has none.

Self-hosted deployments#

Plan, usage, and billing apply to Alpacon Cloud. Self-hosted deployments have no payment service, so the Billing menu, the usage meters, and the cost estimate aren’t shown, the Usage page says the deployment has no plan limits to show, and an upgrade prompt sends you to us rather than to a checkout.

Related docs#

• Manage workspace settings
• Invite team members
• Get a workspace
• Alpacon pricing