Billing & Plans
ACOS is priced per seat — you pay for each active team member. All paid plans have a 5-seat minimum. The Free plan is always free with no seat minimum. Billing is in USD or EUR depending on your location.
Plan Tiers
| Plan | Price (USD) | Price (EUR) | Min. bill | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | — | Small teams — 1 full seat + 1 collaborator, 8 projects, 200 contacts, 90-day time history |
| Starter | $9/seat/mo · $7 annual | €8/seat/mo · €6 annual | $45/mo (5 seats) | Small agencies: CRM, projects, time tracking, invoicing |
| Growth | $18/seat/mo · $14 annual | €16/seat/mo · €13 annual | $90/mo (5 seats) | Growing agencies needing integrations, alerts, and retainers |
| Scale | $29/seat/mo · $23 annual | €26/seat/mo · €21 annual | $145/mo (5 seats) | Established agencies: AI insights, audit log, API access |
Subscription billing is processed in USD or EUR via Paddle — USD for most regions, EUR for European customers, auto-detected at checkout. Your invoice currency (what you bill clients in) is set separately in Settings → General and can be any currency. View plans on the Pricing page.
Feature Gating
The following features are available by plan tier:
| Feature | Starter | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRM, Projects, Tasks, Time Tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoicing (up to 10/month) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited invoices | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Basic reporting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced reporting | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Project phases | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Resource planning | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Retainer management | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Client portal | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smart alerts (12 rule-based types) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built-in query interface (20 queries) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations (Slack, Calendar, Xero/QBO) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoice branding & auto-reminders | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom fields & task dependencies | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI LLM insights (Anthropic) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Financial audit log | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| GDPR data export & deletion | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom pipeline stages | 3 max | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Free Trial
Every new organization starts on a 21-day free trial with full Growth plan features. No credit card is required to start a trial.
Trial expiry email sequence
| Day | Email subject | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Day 7 | Halfway through your trial | Summary of what you've built: X deals, X projects, X hours tracked |
| Day 11 | 3 days left — choose a plan | Pricing table with direct plan selection links |
| Day 13 | Your trial ends tomorrow | Urgent prompt with single CTA |
| Day 14 | Your trial has ended | Account suspended — choose a plan to restore access |
Trial-expired state
When the trial ends without a plan being selected, the app shows a full-screen paywall page. No data is deleted. Your projects, time entries, deals, and invoices are all intact. Access is restored immediately upon selecting a plan.
Trial countdown is visible in Settings → Billing as a banner showing days remaining. The Owner also sees a countdown banner above the main navigation during the final 3 days of the trial.
Upgrading Your Plan
Go to Settings → Billing (Owner only)
The current plan section shows your active plan and a Change Plan button.
Click Change Plan
A plan comparison modal opens showing all tiers with your current plan highlighted.
Select a plan and billing cycle
Choose monthly or annual billing. Annual saves 22% vs monthly.
Confirm and pay
You are redirected to Paddle's hosted checkout. Enter your payment details. ACOS never sees your card details directly.
Activation
Once payment is processed, Paddle sends a webhook to ACOS. Your plan is upgraded immediately. New features unlock within seconds.
Upgrades are immediate. If you're mid-billing-cycle, Paddle prorates the difference automatically.
Downgrading Your Plan
Plan downgrades are scheduled, not immediate. When you choose to downgrade:
- The new plan takes effect at the end of your current billing period
- A notice appears in Settings → Billing showing the scheduled change date
- You retain access to your current plan's features until the effective date
If your organization has more active team members than the target plan's seat count, ACOS will block the downgrade until you reduce the team size or adjust your seat count. Seats are billed at a minimum of 5.
Annual vs Monthly Billing
| Monthly | Annual | |
|---|---|---|
| Commitment | Month-to-month | 12-month commitment |
| Discount | None | 22% off — pay per-seat annual rate vs monthly |
| Cancellation | At end of current month | At end of annual term |
| Upgrade/downgrade | Prorated | Prorated (complex — contact support) |
Annual billing is recommended for organizations that have completed the trial and are confident in ACOS as their operational platform. If you're still evaluating, start with monthly.
Payment Methods
ACOS uses Paddle as its payment processor. Paddle is a Merchant of Record, which means:
- Paddle handles VAT/GST compliance for all countries — you don't need to worry about tax on your ACOS subscription
- Paddle supports credit cards, debit cards, and select local payment methods
- Billing currency is USD or EUR — determined at checkout based on your location. Paddle does not support PKR, INR, or other regional currencies for billing; local-currency display on the pricing page is cosmetic only
- Your card details are stored by Paddle, not by ACOS — ACOS never sees raw card data
Updating your payment method
Go to Settings → Billing → Update Payment Method. This opens Paddle's secure billing portal where you can update your card or payment details directly.
Failed Payments
If a payment fails (expired card, insufficient funds, etc.):
- Your subscription status changes to Past Due
- A red warning banner appears above the main navigation (visible to the Owner only)
- The Owner receives an email with a link to update their payment method
- Access to the product continues during the Past Due grace period (typically 7 days, depending on Paddle's retry schedule)
- If payment is not resolved within the grace period, the subscription moves to Cancelled
Data is not deleted when a subscription is cancelled due to non-payment. All your operational data is preserved. Access can be restored by completing a new checkout.
Billing History
Settings → Billing → Billing History shows a table of all payment events: date, description, amount, and status. Each row has a Download Receipt link pointing to Paddle's receipt URL.
Cancellation
To cancel your subscription, go to Settings → Billing → Cancel Plan. This opens the Paddle billing portal where you can cancel. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Your data remains accessible until that date.
After the cancellation date, the account enters a read-only state (like trial-expired). No data is deleted. If you return, you can reactivate by selecting a new plan.
ACOS does not delete organization data on cancellation. If you need your data permanently deleted for compliance or privacy reasons, contact support and request a data deletion.
FAQ
I upgraded mid-month. What happens to the days I already paid for on the old plan?
Paddle handles proration automatically. The unused portion of your old plan is credited toward the cost of the new plan. You'll see this as a reduced charge on your first billing cycle after upgrading.
Can I have multiple organizations under one account?
Each ACOS organization is a separate entity with its own subscription. If you run multiple agencies or companies, you'll need separate ACOS accounts with separate subscriptions. Contact us about volume discounts for multiple organizations.
What currency do I pay in?
Subscription billing is in USD for most regions, EUR for European customers — determined at checkout by Paddle. Your invoice currency (what you charge clients) is a separate setting and can be any currency, set in Settings → General.
Can I add or remove seats mid-cycle?
Yes. Go to Settings → Billing → Manage Seats. Adding seats charges a prorated amount immediately. Removing seats takes effect at the next billing date. Seats cannot go below the 5-seat minimum on paid plans.
I need a VAT invoice for my subscription payments.
Paddle is the Merchant of Record. All VAT-compliant invoices come from Paddle. Download them from the billing portal (Settings → Billing → Update Payment Method → opens Paddle portal → Billing History).