This article discusses frequently asked questions related to the mechanics of billing.
Who counts as a user for billing purposes?
What happens if I downgrade my plan or remove collaborators, and have a positive balance?
What happens if I change my plan from annual to monthly? And vice versa?
What happens if my team is on the annual plan and I change the number of collaborators?
Who counts as a user for billing purposes?
Who counts as a user largely depends on the permission level of the user in question. The following types of users DO count toward your team's per person per month count:
- Team members who are owners, creators, or edit-only collaborators
- Base collaborators who are creators or edit-only collaborators
The following types of users DO NOT count toward your team's per person per month count:
- Read-only base collaborators or team members
- Any base collaborators or team members who have been invited to Airtable, but have not yet accepted their invitation
Note that you can mouse over the number of collaborators on the plan & billing section of the team account page to see the names of the collaborators for whom you are being charged.
Example:
The team Sharkley's Surf Shop is on the Plus plan ($12/person/mo), and has the following collaborators:
- Charles Sharkley, a team member and the owner of the team
- Squidney Poitier, a team member with creator permissions
- Salmon Rushdie, a team member with read-only permissions
- Dolphin Lundgren, an outside contractor who's a base collaborator with edit-only permissions on the base "Sharkley Marketing"
In this instance, all of these collaborators EXCEPT for Salmon Rushdie would count as paid collaborators, so the monthly rate for Sharkley's Surf Shop would be 3 people * $12/collaborators/month = $36/month.
Why does the billing overview on the team account page say one amount, but I was charged a different amount?
The billing overview page shows you how much you will be charged based on the number of collaborators at that point in time, and for the currently selected plan. For example, if there are 5 collaborators for the Pro plan, you will be charged $120 for that month.
However, the following factors will cause the actual amount you are charged to differ from the billing overview:
- Whether new collaborators are added or removed from the base (note that read-only collaborators are free)
- Whether you upgrade/downgrade the plan
- Whether you transfer credit to the team
So, if you add/remove collaborators or upgrade/downgrade your plan, the you will be charged on a pro-rata basis for each collaborator. If you change plans, the next invoice will be charged part of the month for one plan, and part of the billing cycle for the other plan (on a pro-rata basis).
Example 1 (adding a collaborator during a billing cycle):
Your team of two members decides to go onto the Pro plan ($24/collaborator/month), and you pay $48 (2 collaborators * $24/collaborator/month).
After about three weeks, you decide to add a third member to the team. On the next billing cycle, you will be charged about $78:
- $72 for the three people on the team for the next month (3 collaborators * $24/collaborator/month)
- Plus a debit of $6 (since you have not yet paid for the fraction of the month in which the third person was collaborating on your team)
Example 2 (downgrading during a billing cycle):
You are the sole member of your team, which is on the Pro plan ($24/collaborator/month). You pay $24 at the beginning of the billing cycle.
Halfway through the month, you decide to switch to the Plus plan ($12/collaborator/month). On the next billing cycle, you will be charged $6:
- $12 for one team member for the next month
- Minus a credit of $6 (since you initially paid $24, but should have paid only $18 based on your actual usage—half of $24 plus half of $12)
What happens if I downgrade my plan or remove collaborators, and have a positive balance?
If, at the beginning of a billing cycle, you have not used all of your service credits from the previous month, the value of those service credits will be converted to Airtable credits. If, in the future, you upgrade your plan or add additional collaborators, these credits will automatically be applied the next time you are billed.
What happens if I change my plan from monthly to annually? And vice versa?
If you are on monthly plan and change to the annual plan, you will be instantly changed to the annual plan, but you will not be invoiced for the entire year's commitment until the end of the current month. At that point, you will be charged for each billable collaborator for exactly 12 months (at the discounted rate for the annual billing plan).
Conversely, if you are on the annual plan and you change to the monthly plan, but you still have several months left on your old annual plan, you will be refunded for the rest of your annual commitment, but not until the end of the month.
What happens if my team is on the annual plan and I change the number of collaborators?
Every billing cycle is one month long, so at the end of the current month, you will receive an invoice that will charge or credit you appropriately.
Example 1 (adding a collaborator):
Your team of two members decides to upgrade from the free plan to pay annually for the Pro plan ($240/collaborator/year). Your card is immediately charged for $480 (2 collaborators * $20/collaborator/month * 12 months).
2.5 months into your annual commitment, you add one more collaborator. At the end of the third month, you will be charged for the new collaborator's half of month 3 as one line item ($10) and for the new collaborator's next 9 months as another line item ($180), for a total charge of $180.
Example 2 (removing a collaborator):
Your team of three members decides to upgrade from the free plan to pay annually for the Plus plan ($120/collaborator/year). Your card is immediately charged for $360 (3 collaborators * $10/collaborator/month * 12 months).
6.5 months into your annual commitment, you remove one of the collaborators. At the end of the seventh month, you will be refunded for the ex-collaborator's half of month 7 as one line item ($5) and for the remaining 5 months of the annual plan as another line item ($50), for a total credit of $55.