# Pricing
Our latest pricing table is available on our website (opens new window). There are 2 types of plan - (1) pay as you go (with no fixed monthly cost) and (2) subscription plans (with a fixed monthly cost). This page provides further details on pricing specifics.
# Pay as you go
The pay-as-you-go plan has the most expensive per-unit cost but no monthly cost. This plan is appropriate for clients who have only a small number of pdfs to convert or for those whose usage is sporadic. If you're a startup and your usage patterns are either unknown or still growing, then it can also be useful to start on this plan and upgrade later.
# Subscriptions
There are multiple plans which work on a subscription basis. Subscription plans offer increased per-unit discounts as usage volumes increase. These plans are appropriate for clients who have higher usage volumes and want to benefit from bulk discount pricing.
# How a subscription plan works
Our subscription plans consist of 3 key pricing metrics:
| metric | description |
|---|---|
| monthly cost | This is the monthly fixed cost of the plan. This cost covers the base allotment and may entitle you to premium features and priority support. |
| base allotment | The monthly cost entitles you to convert a fixed number of pdfs in a month - called a "base allotment". If you need to convert more pdfs than your base then you can either purchase more credits (at the unit cost) or wait till the next month. |
| unit cost | The unit cost is the price that you pay to convert a pdf. If you purchase more credits than your base allotment it will be charged at the plans unit cost (which is lower on higher base allotment plans). |
Note: the base is what we use in order to project your monthly usage levels and is what we use in order to offer the volume discount:
- underage: unused base allotment credits do not "roll-over" to the next month. Base credits are provided on a use-it-or-loose-it basis. You should pick a plan which matches your actual usage levels.
- overage: the base allotment is not a maximum limit: if you require more credits in a given month then you can buy more and will still benefit from your plan's unit discount - see Overage next.
# Overage
It can be disruptive to your operations if you get cutoff after you've run out of your base allotment. Then again some clients prefer a hard-limit to prevent unexpected spikes from racking up a large bill. For this reason we offer you 2 options in how to deal with overage:
| option | description |
|---|---|
| cutoff | we'll email you to alert you that you've run out of credits and you won't be able to convert any more pdfs until either (1) you manually purchase more credits or (2) the next month begins |
| keep the meter running[1] | we will keep processing pdfs after you exceed your base and will simply add the overage costs on to next months' bill |
You can specify your selection in your account settings (opens new window)
# Payfast tokenized payments
We use Payfast (opens new window) as our payments provider. Tokenized payments (opens new window) is the feature which they provide in order for us to support monthly subscription billing.
# How we bill
Our billing run happens on the 1st of every month. We determine your bill as follows:
- the monthly cost[2] of your current plan (in advance)
- + any overage costs[3] from the prior month (in arrears)
We will email you an invoice with overage breakdown and charge the amount to your registered credit card (via Payfast).
You can find more info in our detailed billing guide
# Annual and semi-annual discounts
If you elect to purchase a plan using our annual or semi-annual discounted pricing then you will be charged all monthly fees upfront for the 6 or 12 month term. We will prorata the first month in order to align your billing cycle with our 1st of the month billing run.
# Changing your subscription plan
You are free to change your plan at any point. This will only come into effect on the next billing cycle - i.e. the 1st of the next month. On the 1st you will be billed per the currently selected plan, and the pricing metrics of this plan will remain in force for the duration of that month.
Note: If you have purchased a plan with an annual or semi-annual discount then you need to wait until the end of the term before you can make any changes.
note: this option is only available to clients whom have enable tokenized payments with our payments provider (Payfast) ↩︎
unless you are still within the term of an annual/semi-annual discount ↩︎
where you had elected to keep the meter running and had exceeded your previous months' base ↩︎