Plans, billing & usage - Vendschat Docs

Everything workspace owners and admins need to understand Vendschat subscriptions — what you pay for, what counts toward limits, where to check usage, and how to upgrade without surprise bills. Who this is for: Organization owners (billing), admins (usage monitoring), and anyone asking Co-Admin about plans, invoices, seats, or contact limits. Where to go in the app: Settings → Organization → Billing & Usages (/settings/organization/billing&usages) and Plans (/settings/organization/billing&usages/plans). The page heading is Billing & Usage; the settings nav label is Billing & Usages.

Vendschat Billing and Usage with Current Plan Growth 200, Upgrade Plan, and Stripe Billing Portal. — Billing & Usage

Hub: Billing overview — doc map and route reference. Public pricing page: vendschat.com/pricing — same tiers; in-app Plans shows live checkout prices.

Quick reference

Topic	Answer in one line
Plan families	Starter, Growth (contact tiers), Advanced (contact tiers + API + n8n)
Included on every paid plan	WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger; 10 team seats free; core inbox & AI assist
What “contacts” means	Unique people your organization messages in the current billing period
Starter contacts	Unlimited — no monthly contact cap
Growth / Advanced contacts	Included bucket (200–1500) + $0.125 per extra contact if you go over
Extra seats	$10/seat/mo on Starter; $ 20/seat/mo on Growth & Advanced (after 10 free)
Who can pay or change plan	Organization owner only
Payment & invoices	Stripe — open Stripe Billing Portal from Billing & Usage
Free trial	14-day Growth trial, no credit card (signup from marketing site)
Enterprise (1500+ contacts)	Contact Sales — custom quote

Example: GrowStudio Apps

GrowStudio starts on Starter, hits heavy WhatsApp traffic mid-quarter, then launches a broadcast campaign.

Signal	What it means	Action
Billing & Usage shows high message volume	Starter has unlimited contacts — no cap worry	Stay on Starter if features are enough
Team wants Broadcasts + webhooks	Starter does not include those	Upgrade to Growth before the campaign
Usage shows `180 / 200 contacts` on Growth	Approaching included bucket	Upgrade contact tier or accept $0.125/contact overage
Hiring 3 more agents (13 total)	10 seats free; 3 extra × $20 on Growth	Adjust seats at checkout or after subscribe
Admin (not owner) tries to upgrade	Only owner can checkout	Admin asks owner, or owner delegates billing

Lesson: Check Billing & Usage before big broadcasts or hiring — upgrade before the event, not after failures or overage surprises.

How Vendschat billing is structured

Organization vs workspace

Billing is per organization, not per workspace.
One organization can have multiple workspaces (Advanced plan — see feature matrix).
Contacts and seats are counted at the organization level across all workspaces.
Every team member in any workspace under the org shares the same plan limits.

Subscription lifecycle statuses

You may see these on Billing & Usage:

Status	Meaning
Active	Paid plan in good standing
Trialing	Free trial period (typically Growth)
Past due	Payment failed — update card in Stripe portal
Canceled	Subscription ended
Unpaid	Outstanding balance — service may be limited

Billing cycle

Choose monthly or annual at subscribe/upgrade.
Annual billing saves up to 20% vs twelve monthly payments.
Current period start and end dates appear on Billing & Usage (“Plan started” / “Next billing date”).
Plans auto-renew unless canceled before the renewal date.
Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period — no prorated refund for unused time (see refund policy below).

Payment processor

All card payments run through Stripe.
Taxes (VAT, GST, sales tax) may apply and are your responsibility — prices shown are typically exclusive of tax.
Third-party messaging fees (e.g. Meta WhatsApp conversation charges) are separate from your Vendschat subscription.

Plan families at a glance

Vendschat has three marketing tiers. Growth and Advanced each have contact volume sub-tiers you pick with a slider on the Plans page.

Family	Monthly base (from)	Contacts	Extra seats	Best for
Starter	$40/mo	Unlimited	$10/seat after 10 free	Small shop, testing WhatsApp support, unlimited reach on a budget
Growth	$20/mo (200 contacts)	200 – 1500 included tiers	$20/seat after 10 free	Broadcasts, integrations, custom AI Agents, webhooks
Advanced	$30/mo (200 contacts)	Same tiers as Growth	$20/seat after 10 free	Everything in Growth + Developer API, multiple workspaces, managed n8n instance

For the full price table by contact tier, see Pricing & plan reference.

Growth vs Advanced at the same contact tier

At the same contact bucket (e.g. 500 contacts), Advanced costs more because it adds:

Developer API access
Multiple workspaces under one organization
Managed n8n instance (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 75 GB NVMe, auto backup — upgradable from dashboard)
Dedicated account manager and SLA (support tier)

If you only need broadcasts and Zapier, Growth is usually enough. Choose Advanced when engineering needs API access or isolated workspaces per brand/client.

Enterprise: 1500+ contacts

When the contact slider hits 1500+, pricing switches to Contact Sales — no self-serve Stripe checkout. Email sales or use the contact link on the Plans page for a tailored quote (volume, compliance, custom terms). Internal plan keys for this tier: growth_1500_plus, advanced_1500_plus.

What “usage” means

Contacts (monthly active)

Definition: The number of unique contacts your organization messages during the current billing period (cycle start → cycle end).

Rule	Detail
Counting unit	One contact = one person, once per billing cycle
Repeat messages	Messaging the same person again in the same cycle does not double-count
Scope	Organization-wide — all workspaces combined
Direction	Counts when your team sends outbound messages that bill the contact (first touch in cycle)
Starter	Unlimited — UI shows usage but no cap
Growth / Advanced	Hard included limit per tier; beyond that → overage

Where to see it: Billing & Usage → Usage Overview → Contacts — shows used / limit, progress bar, and remaining count. Overage: On Growth and Advanced, extra contacts beyond your included bucket are charged * $0.125 per contact** for that billing period. The UI states: *“Additional contacts charged at$ 0.125 each.” Overage is billed automatically — you do not need to manually upgrade mid-cycle for overage to apply (though upgrading tier may be cheaper if you consistently exceed).

Seats (team members)

Definition: People on your account who can log in and work in workspaces.

Rule	Detail
Included	10 seats free on every plan
Above 10	Billed per seat: $10/mo (Starter) or $ 20/mo (Growth & Advanced)
UI labels	Active = seats you’re using now; Billed = what Stripe charges this period
Downgrade seats	Active can drop immediately; Billed may stay higher until end of billing period — UI shows “Seats will reduce to X at end of billing period”

Important: “Seats” are login accounts, not “agents online today.” A part-time freelancer who has an account counts as one seat.

Plan cycle dates

Field in app	Meaning
Plan started	Start of current Stripe billing period
Next billing date	End of current period / renewal charge date

Usage counters for contacts reset at the start of each new billing period.

Where to manage billing in the dashboard

Billing & Usage (main page)

Path: Settings → Organization → Billing & Usages

Section	What you see
Current Plan	Plan name (e.g. “Growth 500”), base price, status badge (Active or raw status such as `trialing`, `past_due`)
Billing subtext	“Billed monthly to your payment method” under base price (shown even when subscription is annual — confirm cycle on Next billing date)
Upgrade Plan	Button (owners only) → Plans page
Stripe Billing Portal	Payment method, invoice history, subscription management
Usage Overview	Contacts (progress bar on Growth/Advanced), Seats (active vs billed), Overage card when > $0

Non-owners see usage but get “Contact owner to manage billing” instead of portal/checkout buttons.

Plans page

Path: Settings → Organization → Billing & Usage → Plans (or Upgrade Plan)

Control	Purpose
Monthly / Annual toggle	Annual shows “Save up to 20%”
Starter card	Fixed $40 base; unlimited contacts; seat selector
Growth / Advanced cards	Contact tier slider (200 … 1500+); seat selector
Subscribe / Upgrade	Opens Stripe Checkout (owners only); current tier shows Current Plan (no re-checkout)
Contact Sales	For 1500+ tiers — opens sales email link (no Stripe checkout)
View Full Comparison	Collapsible feature matrix at bottom of Plans page

After successful checkout, you return to Billing & Usage with ?success=true. Canceled checkout returns to Plans with ?canceled=true. Price on plan cards: Totals on the Plans page use in-app display prices plus selected extra seats. Stripe Checkout charges the live Stripe price IDs from the catalog — if display and Stripe ever differ, the checkout total is authoritative.

Who can do what

Action	Owner	Admin	Member
View usage & current plan	✅	✅	✅ (if settings access)
Upgrade / subscribe	✅	❌	❌
Open Stripe portal	✅	❌	❌
Request downgrade	✅	❌	❌
Change seat count (billing)	✅	❌	❌

Tip: Designate one owner as billing contact; admins can monitor usage and nudge before limits hit.

Upgrading

When to upgrade from Starter → Growth

Consider Growth when you need any of:

WhatsApp Broadcasts to labeled segments
Incoming & outgoing webhooks
Zapier, Make, or n8n integrations (Growth connects; Advanced adds hosted n8n)
Custom AI Agents with knowledge sync (website/files)
Team internal chat
Priority support

Starter still includes: full chat suite, AI Reply generate, summaries, labels (basic), team collaboration, reports, mobile app, all three messaging channels.

When to upgrade Growth → Advanced

Consider Advanced when you need any of:

Developer REST API + API keys for custom backends
Multiple workspaces (e.g. agency per client, or brands separated)
Managed n8n instance included (4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM / 75 GB NVMe)
Dedicated account manager or SLA

How to upgrade (owner)

Go to Settings → Billing & Usage → Plans
Pick monthly or annual
Select contact tier (Growth/Advanced) and total seats if > 10
Click Subscribe or Upgrade
Complete Stripe Checkout (promotion codes supported)
Confirm new plan on Billing & Usage

Upgrades typically take effect immediately after successful payment; Stripe may prorate.

Downgrading

Plan downgrade

There is no downgrade button in the dashboard UI today. Downgrades go through:

Stripe Billing Portal → Manage subscription, or
Support / sales review, or
Backend POST /settings/plan/downgrade-request (owner only) — creates a pending_sales request with risk_data_loss when current contact usage exceeds the target tier limit

Before downgrading: Reduce contact usage below the new limit or accept that overage rules change. Export anything you need from Analytics if retiring features (e.g. API access on Advanced → Growth).

Increase seats: Adjust at next Plans checkout for new subscribers, or use Stripe portal where available. Backend POST /settings/plan/seats/change exists (owner, prorated upgrade) but is not exposed as a button on the Billing & Usage page.
Decrease seats: See seat downgrade below — active drops now; billed at period end.

Seat downgrade

Lowering seats below current billed count: active seats drop now; billing adjusts at period end — UI shows “Seats will reduce to X at end of billing period”

Cancel subscription

Use Stripe Billing Portal → Manage subscription or contact [email protected]. Cancellation applies at period end. Portal return URL after payment management: /settings/organization/billing&usages.

Backend billing API (reference)

Endpoint	Purpose
`GET /settings/plan/catalog`	Stripe price IDs, contact limits, seat/overage unit prices
`GET /settings/plan/subscription`	Current org subscription row
`GET /settings/plan/usage`	Plan, seats, contacts, invoice snapshot for dashboard
`POST /settings/plan/checkout-session`	Stripe Checkout (owner) — supports `additional_seats`, promotion codes
`POST /settings/plan/stripe-portal-session`	Stripe Billing Portal (owner; requires existing Stripe customer)
`POST /settings/plan/seats/change`	Seat upgrade (prorated) or downgrade (effective period end)
`POST /settings/plan/downgrade-request`	Plan downgrade request → `pending_sales`
`POST /settings/plan/contacts/track`	Record unique contact for billing cycle + Stripe overage meter (called when messaging bills a contact)

Free tier: New orgs without checkout get plan_tier: free, contact_limit: 100, until a paid subscription is created via Stripe webhook after checkout.

Free trial

Item	Detail
Offer	14-day free trial on Growth (marketing signup)
Credit card	Not required to start trial
Conversion	Trial does not auto-convert — you must choose and pay for a plan
Features during trial	Some channel connections or features may be restricted
After trial	Select Starter, Growth, or Advanced to continue

Landing CTA: “Free 14-day trial. No credit card required.”

Overage & automatic billing adjustments

Contact overage (Growth & Advanced)

You message a new unique contact beyond your included limit
System records overage for the cycle
Stripe metered line item increments ($0.125 per contact)
Billing & Usage may show an Overage card with running amount
Charge appears on the period invoice

FAQ pattern: “What happens if I exceed my limits?” — You’re notified as you approach the cap; billing adjusts automatically for on-demand usage. No manual upgrade required for overage to accrue (though a higher tier may save money at scale).

Starter

No contact overage — unlimited contacts included in base price.

Pricing mechanics (seats + annual)

Example: Growth 500 with 15 seats, monthly

Base Growth 500: $40/mo
Included seats: 10
Extra seats: 5 × $20** = **$ 100/mo
Total: $140/mo (before tax)

Example: Starter with 12 seats, annual

Base: $40/mo** → annual total **$ 384/yr (20% off × 12)
Extra seats: 2 × $10 =$ 20/mo → annual seat portion discounted similarly at checkout
UI shows effective monthly equivalent on annual toggle

Always confirm the total on the Plans card before checkout — it updates live when you change seats or contact tier.

Features by plan (summary)

All plans include WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram Direct.

Feature area	Starter	Growth	Advanced
Chat application suite	✅	✅	✅
Team collaboration	✅	✅	✅
AI Reply Generator & chat summarization	✅	✅	✅
Reports & analytics	✅	✅	✅
Mobile app	✅	✅	✅
Label management	Basic	Advanced	Advanced
Team internal chat	❌	✅	✅
Broadcasts	❌	✅	✅
Custom AI Agents	❌	✅	✅
Webhooks	❌	✅	✅
Zapier / Make / n8n integration	❌	✅	✅
Managed n8n instance	❌	❌	✅ (included)
Developer API	❌	❌	✅
Multiple workspaces	❌	❌	✅
Community support	✅	✅	✅
Priority support	❌	✅	✅
Dedicated account manager & SLA	❌	❌	✅

Full row-by-row matrix: Pricing & plan reference.

n8n on Advanced

Advanced includes a managed n8n instance (not available on Starter or Growth alone):

Spec	Value
Compute	4 vCPU
Memory	8 GB RAM
Storage	75 GB NVMe
Backup	Auto backup
Scaling	Upgradable on demand from dashboard

Use n8n to chain inbound messages → CRM → Slack → custom logic. Growth plan can still use external n8n via webhooks/Zapier; Advanced gives you hosted capacity.

Discounts & special programs

Program	Benefit	How to apply
Annual billing	Up to 20% off vs monthly	Toggle Annual on Plans or pricing page
Non-profits	20% discount for qualified organizations	Contact support to apply
Promotion codes	Varies	Enter at Stripe Checkout (`allow_promotion_codes` enabled)
Enterprise 1500+	Custom pricing	Contact Sales

Invoices, refunds & policy highlights

Aligned with Vendschat Terms of Service:

Topic	Policy
Refunds	Subscription fees non-refundable except where law requires; no credits for partial periods or mid-cycle downgrades
Refund requests	Case-by-case — email [email protected]
Price changes	30 days’ notice before new prices apply; continued use after = acceptance
Late payment	May incur late fee; service may suspend
Invoice access	Stripe Billing Portal → Invoice history

Meta / WhatsApp costs (separate bill)

Vendschat subscription does not include Meta WhatsApp conversation fees. Depending on region and conversation category, Meta may charge per 24-hour conversation window. Those charges are:

Paid directly to Meta or via your BSP, or
Invoiced separately if Vendschat resells access

Coach customers to check Analytics for delivery metrics and Meta’s own billing for conversation costs.

Practical monitoring habits

Monthly calendar reminder — check contacts at 70% of limit (Growth/Advanced)
Before peak season (Black Friday, holidays) — upgrade tier or budget for overage
One billing owner — clear escalation for admins
After hiring — reconcile seat count in Plans vs actual accounts
Ask Co-Admin — “How many contacts have we used?”, “What plan are we on?”, “What’s included in Growth?”

Common customer questions (Co-Admin answer patterns)

Question	Guidance
How many contacts do we have left?	Direct to Billing & Usage → Contacts — `remaining` count and % used
Why can’t I upgrade?	Only organization owner can; admins must ask owner
Are we charged per message?	No — charged per unique contact per billing period (Growth/Advanced); Starter unlimited contacts
Same customer on WhatsApp and Instagram — two contacts?	Typically one contact record per person in Vendschat; billing counts unique contacts messaged, not channels
Can I switch monthly ↔ annual?	Manage via Stripe portal or upgrade flow; changes follow Stripe rules
Do broadcasts count toward contacts?	Yes — each unique recipient messaged in the cycle counts
What’s the difference between Growth and Advanced?	Same contact tiers possible; Advanced adds API, multi-workspace, hosted n8n, premium support
Is there a free plan?	New orgs may start on internal free tier with limited contacts until subscribing; marketing emphasizes 14-day Growth trial
Non-profit discount?	20% — contact support with proof of status

More Q&A: Billing FAQ.

Starter → Growth → Advanced decision tree

Need only inbox + unlimited contacts + basic AI?
  └─ Starter ($40/mo)

Need broadcasts, webhooks, integrations, or custom AI Agents?
  └─ Growth (pick contact tier 200–1500)

Need API, multiple workspaces, or hosted n8n?
  └─ Advanced (same contact tiers, higher base)

Need >1500 contacts/month or custom contract?
  └─ Contact Sales (1500+)

Billing overview — hub and route map
Pricing & plan reference — complete price table, internal tier names, feature matrix
Billing FAQ — extended question bank for support AI
Integrations overview — Growth+ features
Broadcasts — Growth+ campaigns
AI Agents overview — custom agents on Growth+
Terms of Service — legal billing terms

​Quick reference

​Example: GrowStudio Apps

​How Vendschat billing is structured

​Organization vs workspace

​Subscription lifecycle statuses

​Billing cycle

​Payment processor

​Plan families at a glance

​Growth vs Advanced at the same contact tier

​Enterprise: 1500+ contacts

​What “usage” means

​Contacts (monthly active)

​Seats (team members)

​Plan cycle dates

​Where to manage billing in the dashboard

​Billing & Usage (main page)

​Plans page

​Who can do what

​Upgrading

​When to upgrade from Starter → Growth

​When to upgrade Growth → Advanced

​How to upgrade (owner)

​Downgrading

​Plan downgrade

​Seat changes after subscribe

​Seat downgrade

​Cancel subscription

​Backend billing API (reference)

​Free trial

​Overage & automatic billing adjustments

​Contact overage (Growth & Advanced)

​Starter

​Pricing mechanics (seats + annual)

​Example: Growth 500 with 15 seats, monthly

​Example: Starter with 12 seats, annual

​Features by plan (summary)

​n8n on Advanced

​Discounts & special programs

​Invoices, refunds & policy highlights

​Meta / WhatsApp costs (separate bill)

​Practical monitoring habits

​Common customer questions (Co-Admin answer patterns)

​Starter → Growth → Advanced decision tree

​Related docs