# Plans & Free Trial

## Overview

WaDesk runs as a subscription business. Every workspace is tied to a plan, and a plan decides three things: the limits a workspace gets (messages, devices, users, sub-workspaces, and dozens more), the features it can use (campaigns, flows, AI, calling, branding removal, and more), and whether it is on a free trial.

New workspaces start on a free plan with a trial window so you can explore the whole product before paying. When the trial ends, feature use is blocked until you buy a paid plan.

> Admins bypass everything. Platform admins are never restricted by the trial, plan limits, or per-feature locks. The rest of this page describes what a regular user experiences.

## How Billing Is Scoped

The platform admin chooses how plans apply across the workspaces an owner has:

Billing scope | Behaviour
--- | ---
Per workspace (default) | Each workspace is billed and limited on its own — the agency / per-client model. Limits and features come from that workspace's own plan.
Per account | The owner's best (highest-priced paid) plan applies to every workspace they own. Buy a paid plan anywhere and all your workspaces inherit it — no second trial, no second block.

A workspace is on a free plan when its plan is free (or none is set). It is on trial when it is on a free plan and a trial window was set. The trial is expired when it is on trial and that window has passed. Paid plans, and free plans with no expiry, are never "expired".

## The Free-Trial Bar

While your current workspace is on a free plan with an active trial, a slim dark banner sits across the top of the app. It is non-dismissible by design — a constant, gentle reminder of where you stand.

- During the trial it reads "You have N days to explore this Trial account" and offers two buttons: Connect Channel (jump to Devices) and Buy Now (open the plans page).
- When the trial has ended it switches to "Your free trial has ended — buy a plan to unlock all features" with a single Buy Now button.

> When the bar does not show: It is hidden for platform admins, for workspaces on a paid plan, and for free plans with no expiry set. The day count rounds up, so the final day still reads "1 day" rather than "0".

## What the Trial Allows

A trial is a full preview. You can open and explore every feature in the navigation, connect a channel, and send within your plan's limits. The goal is to let you build out a real workspace — connect WhatsApp, import contacts, draft templates, set up a flow — before deciding to pay.

> Limits still apply during the trial. The trial does not lift the underlying plan caps (messages, devices, users). It is a time window for evaluation, not an unlimited pass. Heavy production sending should wait for a paid plan sized to your volume.

## When the Trial Expires

Once the trial window passes on a free-plan workspace, you can no longer use any feature until you buy a plan. The features stay visible in the navigation so you can see what you would unlock, but opening one (or saving in it) is blocked and sends you to the plans page with a warning.

Some areas stay open on purpose so you are never trapped and can always recover:

Still reachable | Why
--- | ---
Plan picker, checkout, payment pages | So you can actually buy a plan.
Account settings, invoices, support | Manage your account and get help.
Workspace switching | Switch into another (non-expired) workspace instead of being stuck.
Logout, sign-up, email verification, public pages | Basic account flows always work.

> Never locks you out. If anything goes wrong while checking your trial, WaDesk lets the request through — so a glitch can never lock you out of your own workspace. Paid plans, and free plans with no expiry, are never considered "expired".

> Account-wide plans (optional): If the platform admin uses per account billing, buying a paid plan on any one workspace unblocks every workspace that owner has — no second trial. By default (per workspace), each workspace is billed and limited on its own.

## Viewing & Comparing Plans

Open the plans page at Account → Plans, or click Buy Now in the trial bar. It lists every active plan, with a highlighted "popular" option and a side-by-side feature comparison. Your current plan is badged so you can see exactly where you sit.

- Prices use your workspace currency (falling back to the platform default currency).
- If the admin enables it, a yearly toggle applies an annual discount (default 20%).
- A refund window (default 7 days) and a pricing FAQ are shown when the admin has configured them.
- Custom-quote plans route to support ("Talk to sales") instead of self-checkout.

> Tip: Plans, prices, currencies, the yearly discount, the refund policy, and the pricing FAQ are all admin-controlled (via System Settings and the admin pricing screens), so what you see is tailored to your specific install.

## Upgrading via Checkout

To upgrade, pick a plan and proceed to checkout:

1. On the plans page, click the plan's button (e.g. Choose Pro) to open its checkout page.
2. Review the plan. WaDesk converts the price into your workspace currency, then shows the payment methods that support that currency.
3. Apply a coupon if you have one (with an instant preview; it is re-checked at payment), fill in your billing details (name, email, company, address, tax ID), and choose your payment method.
4. Complete payment.

### What happens on success

When the payment is confirmed, WaDesk:

- Marks the order paid and records when.
- Moves the workspace onto the new plan and clears the trial — so the trial bar and the block lift immediately.
- Counts the coupon usage, if one was used, so usage caps hold.
- Returns you to Account → Order history with a success message; limits rise to the new tier and locked features unlock.

This is safe to retry — a duplicate confirmation for the same order will not charge or apply the plan twice.

> 30 payment gateways with multi-currency support are available; which ones appear depends on what your platform admin has enabled and which currencies each gateway accepts. Free plans simply continue free; custom-quote plans send you to sales. For coupon, tax, and gateway detail, see Account & Billing.

## The In-App Paywall

Separate from the trial, individual features can be included or excluded per plan (for example WhatsApp calling, AI agents, or branding removal). Even on a paid plan, a feature not included in your tier is locked — WaDesk shows this in two consistent ways.

### The premium crown

A small shiny gold crown appears next to a feature's label (for example beside Campaigns, Flows, or Templates in the navigation) when your current plan does not include it. Hovering shows "Premium feature — upgrade your plan to unlock", and clicking the crown jumps to the plans page.

### The upgrade bottom-sheet

If you open a locked feature's page anyway, a slide-up paywall covers it. It says which feature is not on your plan and shows the actual plans that unlock it, so you can pick one and upgrade on the spot. It also offers Compare all plans and Go back links.

> No dead ends. The crown and paywall are purely informational and actionable — they show nothing for platform admins or for features your plan already includes. When a feature is unlocked, both vanish.

> Channel note: A few features depend on the channel, not just the plan — for example native WhatsApp Forms require the WhatsApp Cloud API. WaDesk hides or locks those automatically so you never hit a feature your channel cannot support.

## Troubleshooting

Symptom | Likely cause & fix
--- | ---
I bought a plan but the trial bar is still showing | Reload the page; a successful payment clears the trial and moves the workspace onto the paid plan. If it persists, check Order history shows the order as paid.
Feature pages redirect me to the plans page | Your trial has expired. Buy a plan, or switch into a non-expired workspace — switching is always allowed.
A crown shows on a feature I think I paid for | That specific feature is not included in your plan. The crown is per-feature, not per-tier; a paid plan can still exclude an add-on feature. Compare plans to find one that includes it.
My chosen gateway is greyed out at checkout | That gateway does not accept your workspace currency, or the admin has not enabled it. Pick another gateway or contact your administrator.
The current-plan badge is on the wrong plan | Under per account billing, your plan is your best one across all owned workspaces, which may differ from this workspace's own stored plan.
A feature is hidden entirely (no crown, no page) | It likely depends on the channel (e.g. WhatsApp Forms need the Cloud API). Connect the required channel for that workspace.

## Next Steps

To make the most of your trial:

- Connect a Channel so you can send and receive during the trial.
- Explore the Dashboard to watch your numbers build up.
- Manage workspaces and teammates from Workspaces & Switching.
- See order history, invoices, coupons, and tax on Account & Billing.