Zulip Cloud billing

This page answers some frequently asked questions about Zulip Cloud plans and pricing. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out at sales@zulip.com.

Differences between Zulip Cloud plans

How does having 10,000 messages of search history on Zulip Cloud Free work?

Only the most recent 10,000 messages can be viewed and searched on the Zulip Cloud Free plan. Older messages are still stored and will become available again if the organization is upgraded to Zulip Cloud Standard.

Will you switch to limiting Zulip Cloud Free history to messages sent in the last 90 days (like Slack has)?

No. As discussed in this blog post, a time-based limit to message history is simply a bad model for a collaboration tool.

Payment methods

Can I pay by credit card and/or invoice?

You can always use a credit card to pay. If you would like to pay by invoice, you will need to sign up for an annual plan.

What is the difference between automatic and manual billing?

With automatic billing, you automatically purchase a Zulip license for each user in your organization at the start of each billing period (month or year). Deactivating a user frees up their license for reuse. Additional licenses are purchased automatically as needed.

With manual billing, you choose and pay for a preset user limit. If he limit is reached, no more users can join until licenses are manually added.

In general, selecting automatic billing is highly recommended unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.

Temporary users and guests

How will I be charged for temporary users (e.g. limited-time clients)?

Users can be deactivated any time. Deactivating a user frees up their license for reuse.

How are guest accounts billed? Is there special pricing?

For an organization with N other users, 5*N guest users are included at no extra charge. After that, you will be charged at 1/5 of your regular per-user pricing for each additional guest.