How Billing & Features Work

The core model behind TDC Site Builder — who controls billing, how feature access is granted, and what happens when plans change.

This is the single most important concept to understand about TDC Site Builder. Billing, feature availability, and usage limits are not set per individual user — they are controlled at the workspace level by the workspace Owner, and everyone else in the workspace inherits access from the plan the Owner has chosen.

If you have ever wondered "why is this feature locked for me?" or "who can change our plan?", this page answers it.

The Three Layers of Control

Three parties shape what you can and cannot do. Understanding which layer controls what removes almost all confusion.

Layer	Who	What they control
Platform	TDC Site Builder (the provider)	Defines the plan catalog — which plans exist, their prices, which features each plan unlocks, and the quota limits attached to each plan.
Workspace Owner	The admin who created or owns the workspace	Chooses and pays for the plan. Their choice sets the feature access and limits for the entire workspace.
Members	Editors, Viewers, and site collaborators	Receive access automatically, based on the workspace's active plan and their assigned role. They cannot change billing.

Think of it as a building. The platform decides which floors exist and what's on each floor. The Owner buys the keycard that unlocks certain floors for the whole team. Members use that same keycard — their role decides which doors on the unlocked floors they're allowed to open.

How Billing Works

Plans are owned and paid for by the workspace Owner

Every workspace has exactly one active plan at a time. Only the Owner can:

Choose a plan or change to a different one.
Enter and update payment details.
Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel the subscription.
View invoices and payment history.

Editors and Viewers never see billing controls. If they try to use a feature that isn't on the current plan, they are shown a prompt to ask an Owner to upgrade — they cannot upgrade themselves.

Because billing is owned by a single role, transferring workspace ownership also transfers billing responsibility. Make sure the new Owner has valid payment details before completing a transfer.

The plan determines feature access for everyone

When the Owner selects a plan, its capabilities apply to the whole workspace at once. There is no per-member purchasing. If the active plan includes custom domains, then every eligible member can configure custom domains. If the plan does not include them, no one in the workspace can — including the Owner — until the plan is upgraded.

Usage limits, credits, and quotas are plan-based

Beyond on/off feature access, each plan sets quotas — numeric ceilings shared across the workspace, such as the number of sites, pages per site, storage, monthly form submissions. These are consumed collectively by the whole team, not per person. See Usage Limits & Quotas for the full list.

Subscription status gates access in real time

Access depends not only on which plan is active but on whether the subscription is in good standing. A workspace whose payment has failed (status Past Due) keeps working during a short grace period, but if it lapses, paid features become unavailable until billing is restored. See the subscription lifecycle.

How Features Work

Features are not globally available by default

A new or downgraded workspace does not automatically have every capability. Features are unlocked by the plan — nothing more, nothing less. This is why two users on the same platform can have very different experiences: their workspaces are on different plans.

Feature access is inherited, then scoped by role

Access flows down in two steps:

The plan unlocks the feature for the workspace. This is the gate. If the plan doesn't include a feature, it is locked for everyone.
The member's role decides what they can do with it. Once a feature is unlocked, a member's role determines whether they can use it fully, partially, or only view it.

Platform defines plans
        │
        ▼
Owner selects a plan ──► unlocks features + sets quotas  (workspace-wide)
        │
        ▼
Member's role ──► scopes what each member can do with the unlocked features
        │
        ▼
What you can actually do

Both gates must pass. A feature is usable only if (1) the plan includes it and (2) your role permits it. A Viewer on the highest-tier plan still cannot publish pages — the plan unlocks publishing, but the Viewer role does not grant it.

Locked vs. limited features

There are two different ways a feature can be unavailable, and the distinction matters:

State	Meaning	What you see
Locked	The feature is not part of your plan at all.	A "feature locked" overlay (e.g. Custom Domain Locked, Live Collaboration Locked) with an upgrade prompt.
Limited	The feature is included, but capped by a quota you've reached.	The feature works, but the relevant Create / Add action is disabled with a "limit reached" notice.

Locked features need a plan upgrade. Limited features need either a higher plan (bigger quota) or for you to free up usage (e.g. delete an unused site). See Feature Access for the full breakdown.

What Happens When the Plan Changes

Plan changes are designed so you never lose paid work unexpectedly. The timing differs depending on the direction of the change.

When you upgrade

Upgrades take effect immediately (or at the next renewal, if scheduled). Newly included features unlock right away and quotas increase. Any content that was blocked by the old plan's limits becomes editable again. Billing is pro-rated for an immediate upgrade. See Upgrading.

When you downgrade

Downgrades are deferred to the renewal date so you keep your features for the rest of the billing period you already paid for. On the renewal date the lower plan takes effect, and any features it no longer includes become locked.

Downgrading does not delete your data. If the new plan's quota is smaller than what you currently use (for example, you have 5 sites but the new plan allows 3), your existing content is preserved and remains viewable, but you cannot create new items in that category until you are back under the limit. Locked-feature content (such as a custom domain) stops being served until you upgrade again.

When the subscription is canceled

Cancellation is also deferred: the plan remains fully active until the end of the current paid period. After that, the workspace falls back to the most limited tier — paid features are locked and quotas drop to the free baseline. Your sites, pages, and data are retained; you simply can't use the paid capabilities until you subscribe again.

When the subscription expires (payment fails)

If a renewal payment fails, the subscription enters a Past Due grace period. A banner warns the Owner to update payment. During the grace period the workspace keeps working. If payment is not restored before the grace period ends, paid features are suspended exactly as with a cancellation — and resume the moment a successful payment is made.

Event	Timing	Effect on features	Effect on data
Upgrade	Immediate (or scheduled)	More features unlock; quotas increase	Unchanged; blocked content becomes editable
Downgrade	At renewal	Some features may lock; quotas decrease	Preserved; creation blocked above new limits
Cancel	At period end	Paid features lock	Preserved (read-only for paid features)
Payment fails / expires	After grace period	Paid features suspended until paid	Preserved; resumes on payment

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1 — A contractor can't connect a domain. Maria (an Editor) is asked to point a client's custom domain at their new site, but the Domains tab shows a Custom Domain Locked overlay. The workspace is on a lower-tier plan that doesn't include custom domains. Maria can't fix this herself — the workspace Owner must upgrade to a plan that includes the feature. Once they do, the Domains tab unlocks for Maria automatically.

Scenario 2 — Hitting a site limit mid-project. An agency on a mid-tier plan (which allows, say, 10 sites — just an example) tries to spin up an 11th client site. The + New Site button is disabled with a "limit reached" message. This is a limit, not a lock — they can either upgrade to a higher tier for a bigger cap, or archive/delete an old site to free a slot.

Scenario 3 — Downgrading without losing work. A business downgrades from a higher tier to a lower one to cut costs. The change is scheduled for their renewal date, so they keep the higher-tier features until then. After the switch, a capability that only the higher tier offered (for example, a larger AI-generation quota) is reduced, but every site, page, and form they built remains intact and online.

Scenario 4 — A failed card. A workspace's saved card expires and the monthly renewal fails. The subscription goes Past Due and a banner asks the Owner to update billing. The team keeps working during the grace window. The Owner adds a new card, the charge succeeds, and the workspace returns to Active with no interruption.

Quick Reference

Who pays? The workspace Owner — billing is per workspace, not per user.
Who can change the plan? Only the Owner.
What unlocks a feature? The active plan (the gate), then your role (the scope).
Why is something locked? It's not on the current plan — ask an Owner to upgrade.
Why is a button disabled? You've hit a usage limit — upgrade or free up usage.
Will I lose data if we downgrade or cancel? No. Data is preserved; paid features pause until you upgrade.