Subscription Management

Flexible subscription plans with seamless upgrades, downgrades, and usage-based billing.

Overview

PenguinMails offers tiered subscription plans designed to scale with your business. Manage your subscription, upgrade or downgrade plans, and monitor usage all from a single dashboard.

Subscription Model

Multi-Tier Plans - Starter, Professional, Business, Enterprise
Usage-Based Add-Ons - Additional email sends, extra users, dedicated IPs
Monthly or Annual Billing - Save 20% with annual commitment
Prorated Upgrades/Downgrades - Pay only for what you use
No Setup Fees - Start immediately with no hidden costs

Level 1: Subscription Plans

Available Plans

🌱 Starter Plan

Perfect for small teams getting started

Pricing

$49/month or $470/year (save $118)

Includes

10,000 emails/month
2 team members
3 workspaces
5 custom domains
Basic analytics
Email support

Best For

Freelancers, small agencies, startups

🚀 Professional Plan

Pricing

$149/month or $1,430/year (save $358)

Includes

50,000 emails/month
5 team members
10 workspaces
15 custom domains
Enhanced analytics
Priority email support
CRM integrations
API access

Best For

Growing agencies, marketing teams, SMBs

💼 Business Plan

For established businesses with high volume

Pricing

$399/month or $3,830/year (save $958)

Includes

200,000 emails/month
15 team members
Unlimited workspaces
Unlimited custom domains
Advanced analytics
Email + chat support
All integrations
Dedicated IP (1 included)
Advanced automation

Best For

Established agencies, enterprise marketing teams

🏢 Enterprise Plan

Custom solutions for large organizations

Pricing

Custom (Contact Sales)

Includes

Unlimited emails
Unlimited team members
Unlimited workspaces
Unlimited custom domains
Real-time analytics
24/7 phone + dedicated support
SSO (SAML, OAuth)
Advanced security features
Dedicated IPs (multiple)
Custom SLA
Onboarding & training
Dedicated account manager

Best For: Large enterprises, white-label partners

Usage-Based Add-Ons

Need more than your plan includes?

Add-On	Price	Description
Extra Emails	$10/10k emails	Additional email sends beyond plan limit
Additional Users	$15/user/month	Extra team member seats
Dedicated IP	$50/IP/month	Dedicated sending IP address
Extra Workspaces	$20/workspace/month	Additional workspace (Starter/Pro only)
Priority Support	$99/month	24/7 support upgrade (Starter/Pro)

Level 2: Managing Your Subscription

Viewing Current Plan

Access your subscription details:

Navigate to Settings → Billing
View Current Plan section

Information Displayed:

Plan name and tier
Monthly cost
Billing cycle (monthly/annual)
Included usage limits
Current usage (emails, users, workspaces)
Next billing date
Payment method

Upgrading Your Plan

Scale up as your business grows - prorated billing ensures you only pay for what you use.

How to Upgrade

Go to Settings → Billing → Change Plan
Select higher-tier plan
Review prorated cost for current billing period
Confirm upgrade
Immediate access to new features

Proration Calculation

Example: Upgrade from Starter ($49/mo) to Professional ($149/mo) on day 15 of 30-day month:

Days remaining in period: 15 days
Professional daily rate: $149 / 30 = $4.97/day
Starter credit: $49 / 30 = $1.63/day × 15 = $24.50
Upgrade cost: ($4.97 - $1.63) × 15 days = $50.10

Total charged today: $50.10
Next billing (full month): $149.00

Benefits of Upgrading:

✅ Immediate access to higher limits
✅ Pro-rated billing (fair pricing)
✅ Unlock advanced features instantly
✅ No downtime or service interruption

Downgrading Your Plan

Reduce costs if your needs change - changes take effect at end of current billing period.

How to Downgrade

Go to Settings → Billing → Change Plan
Select lower-tier plan
Review impact on usage limits
Acknowledge data/feature limitations
Confirm downgrade
Changes effective next billing cycle

Important Downgrade Considerations

What Happens When You Downgrade:

âš ï¸ Usage Limits Reduced - Next billing cycle
âš ï¸ Feature Access Lost - Advanced features disabled
âš ï¸ Data Retained - No data loss, but access restricted
âš ï¸ Exceeded Limits - Must remove excess before downgrade

Pre-Downgrade Checklist:

Check current usage vs new plan limits
Remove excess team members if needed
Archive or delete excess workspaces
Disable features not in lower plan
Backup data if concerned

Example: Downgrade from Professional (5 users, 10 workspaces) to Starter (2 users, 3 workspaces):

Required Actions:

Remove 3 team members (keep 2)
Delete or archive 7 workspaces (keep 3)
Downgrade takes effect next billing date

Canceling Your Subscription

Cancel anytime - no cancellation fees, service continues until end of billing period.

How to Cancel

Go to Settings → Billing → Cancel Subscription
Select cancellation reason (optional feedback)
Review access end date
Confirm cancellation
Receive confirmation email

What Happens After Cancellation

Immediate:

✅ Cancellation confirmed
✅ No future charges
✅ Service continues until period end
✅ Access to all features until expiration

At End of Billing Period:

âš ï¸ Account moved to Free Tier (read-only)
âš ï¸ No new emails can be sent
âš ï¸ Data retained for 90 days (export available)
âš ï¸ After 90 days, data permanently deleted

Free Tier (Canceled Accounts):

Access: Read-only view of data
Duration: 90 days
Data Export: Available anytime
Reactivation: Restore full access anytime

Reactivating a Canceled Subscription

Changed your mind? Reactivate anytime.

Log in to account (even if canceled)
Go to Settings → Billing → Reactivate
Select plan (previous plan or different tier)
Enter payment method
Immediate reactivation

Data Restoration:

✅ All data restored if within 90 days
✅ Full feature access immediately
✅ Billing starts today (no backdating)

Level 3: Advanced Subscription Features

Annual vs Monthly Billing

Save 20% with annual commitment.

Switching to Annual Billing

From Monthly to Annual:

Go to Settings → Billing → Switch to Annual
Review annual cost (20% discount applied)
Pay annual amount today
Monthly billing stopped
Next charge in 12 months

Credit for Remaining Monthly Period:

Prorated credit applied to annual payment
Example: 15 days left on monthly → $24.50 credit → reduces annual payment

Benefits:

💰 20% cost savings
📆 Predictable yearly budgeting
🎁 Bonus features (priority support, extra sends)

Switching to Monthly Billing

From Annual to Monthly:

Changes take effect at end of annual period
No refunds for unused annual time
Can switch anytime, effective on anniversary

Usage Monitoring & Overages

Track usage and handle overages gracefully.

Usage Dashboard

View real-time usage:

Emails Sent: X / Y included (Z% used)
Team Members: X / Y seats
Workspaces: X / Y workspaces
Domains: X / Y domains

Usage Alerts:

âš ï¸ 80% of limit - Warning email
âš ï¸ 95% of limit - Urgent notification
🚫 100% of limit - Action required

Overage Handling

Email Sends:

Auto-Add On: Automatically purchase extra emails ($10/10k)
Manual Approval: Require approval before overage charged
Block Sends: Stop sending when limit reached (not recommended)

Team Members:

Cannot add beyond limit
Must upgrade plan or remove members
Pending invitations don’t count until accepted

Workspaces:

Cannot create beyond limit
Must upgrade or archive existing workspaces

Subscription API

Manage subscriptions programmatically.

Get Current Subscription

GET /api/v1/billing/subscription
Authorization: Bearer {api_key}

Response:
{
  "plan": "professional",
  "status": "active",
  "billing_cycle": "monthly",
  "amount": 149.00,
  "currency": "USD",
  "next_billing_date": "2025-12-24",
  "usage": {
    "emails_sent": 23450,
    "emails_included": 50000,
    "users": 3,
    "users_included": 5,
    "workspaces": 7,
    "workspaces_included": 10
  }
}

Update Subscription

POST /api/v1/billing/subscription/update
Authorization: Bearer {api_key}

{
  "plan": "business",
  "billing_cycle": "annual"
}

Response:
{
  "subscription_id": "sub_abc123",
  "plan": "business",
  "status": "active",
  "proration_amount": 250.00,
  "next_billing_date": "2026-11-24"
}

Multi-Currency Support (Future)

Coming Q2 2026 - Support for multiple currencies.

Planned Currencies:

USD (US Dollar)
EUR (Euro)
GBP (British Pound)
CAD (Canadian Dollar)
AUD (Australian Dollar)

Subscription Lifecycle

Typical Subscription Journey

Sign Up (Trial)
  â†“
Select Plan & Enter Payment
  â†“
Active Subscription
  â†“
Usage Monitoring
  â†“
Upgrade/Downgrade as Needed
  â†“
Renewal (Automatic)

OR

Cancellation → Free Tier (90 days) → Data Deletion

Subscription States

State	Description	Actions Available
Trial	14-day free trial	Upgrade to paid, cancel
Active	Subscription in good standing	Upgrade, downgrade, cancel
Past Due	Payment failed, grace period	Update payment method
Suspended	Payment failed, service paused	Update payment, reactivate
Canceled	User canceled, free tier	Reactivate, export data
Expired	90 days after cancellation	Re-register as new customer

One-Time Purchases (Post-MVP)

[!NOTE] Status: TBD (Q3 2026)

One-time purchases are planned for post-MVP. Potential use cases:

Custom integration setup fees

Consulting and training packages

One-time email credit top-ups

Data migration services

Billing & Payments

Account Lifecycle - Renewal, suspension, and decommission flows
Stripe Integration - Payment processing details
Billing Dashboard - Invoice and usage management
Payments Overview - All payment features

Account Management

User Management - Team member management
Workspace Management - Workspace configuration

Support

Billing FAQ - Common billing questions
Contact Sales - Enterprise inquiries

Last Updated: November 24, 2025 Payment Processor: Stripe Billing Cycle: Monthly or Annual

Subscriptions can be modified or canceled at any time with no penalties or hidden fees.

Subscription Management

Overview

Subscription Model

Level 1: Subscription Plans

Available Plans

🌱 Starter Plan

Perfect for small teams getting started

Pricing

Includes

Best For

🚀 Professional Plan

Most Popular - For growing businesses

Pricing

Includes

Best For

💼 Business Plan

For established businesses with high volume

Pricing

Includes

Best For

🏢 Enterprise Plan

Custom solutions for large organizations

Pricing

Includes

Usage-Based Add-Ons

Level 2: Managing Your Subscription

Viewing Current Plan

Upgrading Your Plan

How to Upgrade

Proration Calculation

Downgrading Your Plan

How to Downgrade

Important Downgrade Considerations

Canceling Your Subscription

How to Cancel

What Happens After Cancellation

Reactivating a Canceled Subscription

Level 3: Advanced Subscription Features

Annual vs Monthly Billing

Switching to Annual Billing

Switching to Monthly Billing

Usage Monitoring & Overages

Usage Dashboard

Overage Handling

Subscription API

Get Current Subscription

Update Subscription

Multi-Currency Support (Future)

Subscription Lifecycle

Typical Subscription Journey

Subscription States

One-Time Purchases (Post-MVP)

Related Documentation

Billing & Payments

Account Management

Support