BetterSuite sells across three licensing models, not one. Most operators land on Cloud SaaS; the others exist for teams who want self-hosting or full source code. Pricing is configured server-side in backend/config/plans.json and surfaced identically in the marketing pricing page, the registration wizard, and Owner Dashboard → Billing. If a number on this page disagrees with what your dashboard shows, the dashboard wins.
The three licensing models
| Model | How you pay | What you get | Who runs the infra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud SaaS | Monthly subscription | BetterSuite-hosted apps, automatic updates | BetterSuite |
| Binary License | One-time purchase + optional annual renewal | A compiled binary of the platform | You |
| Source License | One-time purchase + optional annual update subscription | Full source code | You |
The trial (14 days) is only available on Cloud SaaS plans — Binary and Source licenses are direct sales.
Cloud SaaS plans
| Plan | Price | Verticals | Locations | Orders/month | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starter (cloud_starter) | $119/mo | 1 | 1 city | 1,000 | Community |
Professional (cloud_pro) — Most popular | $399/mo | Up to 2 | Up to 2 cities | 25,000 | Priority email & chat, 24-hour SLA |
Enterprise (cloud_enterprise) | $2,499/mo | All | Up to 5 cities | 100,000 | Dedicated channel, 8-hour SLA |
Highlights worth knowing:
- Custom domains are a Pro+ feature.
- 99.9% uptime SLA with financial backing is an Enterprise feature.
- The default mobile-app distribution on Cloud plans is "available in our mobile apps via join code" — your own branded App Store / Play Store apps are an add-on (see below).
- Enterprise unlocks all verticals; Starter and Pro count toward the verticals limit explicitly.
You can upgrade Starter → Pro → Enterprise from Owner Dashboard → Billing → Change plan.
Binary License plans (self-hosted)
One-time purchase. The binary keeps running indefinitely; annual renewal keeps updates, security patches, and dependency compatibility flowing. You provide everything else — Postgres, Redis, ClickHouse, TLS certificates, load balancers, monitoring, deployments, incident response.
| Plan | One-time | Annual renewal | Verticals | Updates included | Support included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single Vertical License (binary_single) | $14,999 | $999/yr | 1 | 1 year | 90 days email, 48-hour SLA |
Multi-Vertical License (binary_multi) — Most popular | $29,999 | $2,999/yr | All | 1 year | 6 months priority, 24-hour SLA |
Enterprise Binary License (binary_enterprise) | $49,999 | $4,999/yr | All | 2 years | 1 year priority, 4-hour SLA |
Enterprise Binary adds custom branding removal and load-balancing configurations. Without renewal, the binary keeps running but gets no patches and no compatibility guarantees with newer payment gateways, OS versions, or third-party APIs.
Upgrade paths: binary_single → binary_multi → binary_enterprise.
Source License plans
Full source code. Optional annual update subscription at 20% of license price keeps you current. Same self-hosting requirements as Binary.
| Plan | One-time | Optional annual updates | Verticals | Updates included | Support included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single Vertical Source (source_single) | $99,999 | $19,999/yr | 1 | 6 months | 6 months implementation, 24-hour SLA |
Complete Platform Source (source_complete) — Most popular | $199,999 | $39,999/yr | All | 1 year | 6 months implementation + 24h architecture deep-dive, 12-hour SLA |
Direct Engineering Access (source_enterprise) | $349,999 | — | All | 3 years | 12 months architecture consultation, 4-hour SLA |
The Direct Engineering Access tier adds:
- Quarterly roadmap review — a 60-minute call with BetterSuite engineering leadership.
- 5-day issue triage SLA — customer-tagged issues are assigned, sized, and scheduled (or declined with reasoning) within 5 business days.
- Co-marketing opportunities.
Upgrade paths: source_single → source_complete → source_enterprise.
Cloud add-ons
These apply to Cloud SaaS plans only. They are stackable where noted.
| Add-on | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| App Store Publishing | $99/mo + $799 one-time setup, per vertical | Publish your branded apps to Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Includes initial submission, ongoing updates, and compliance maintenance. |
| Additional Location | $149/mo each | Stackable up to 10. Available on every Cloud plan. |
| Extra Vertical | $199/mo | One-shot toggle. Only available on Starter and Pro (Enterprise already has all verticals). |
| API Access (Dart SDK) | $199/mo | Adds the Dart SDK on top of the GraphQL API. Only available on Starter and Pro (Enterprise includes it). |
GraphQL API access via API keys is included on every Cloud plan — the "API Access" add-on is specifically for the Flutter / Dart SDK distribution.
Region exclusivity
Exclusive rights to operate in a city or country are a separate purchase. Pricing is tiered by population (city) or GDP (country). Configure exclusivity in Owner Dashboard → Billing → Region Exclusivity (or via the platform admin process for prospects).
City tiers (monthly, per city)
| Tier | Population range | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|
| Small Town | Under 50,000 | $49/mo |
| Small City | 50,000 – 199,999 | $149/mo |
| Medium City | 200,000 – 499,999 | $349/mo |
| Large City | 500,000 – 999,999 | $699/mo |
| Metropolis | 1,000,000+ | $1,499/mo |
City exclusivity prices are GDP-adjusted: the tier above is the reference price; the actual price uses (local_gdp_per_capita / reference_gdp) ^ 0.55, clamped to a [0.05, 1.25] multiplier, and capped at the country-level per-vertical price. So a Small City in a low-GDP-per-capita region pays less than $149/mo; a Metropolis in a very high-GDP region is capped at the country price.
Country tiers (monthly, per vertical)
| Tier | GDP range | Monthly price per vertical |
|---|---|---|
| Emerging | Under $50B | $199/mo |
| Growing | $50B – $300B | $499/mo |
| Established | $300B – $1T | $999/mo |
| Major | $1T – $5T | $1,999/mo |
| Dominant | $5T+ | $4,999/mo |
How billing works (Cloud SaaS)
- Trial: 14 days starting from registration. Stripe Checkout collects a card up front; no charge runs until day 15.
- Charges: card on file is charged at the start of each billing cycle. Usage-based items (additional locations, exclusivity) accrue and bill alongside the base plan.
- Plan changes: upgrades take effect immediately and prorate the remainder of the cycle. Downgrades apply at the end of the cycle so you don't lose access mid-period.
- Invoices: PDF download in
Owner Dashboard → Billing → Invoices. Tax IDs and billing addresses live underBilling → Profileand apply to future invoices. - Cancellation: self-serve from
Billing → Cancel plan. Cancellation is scheduled for end of cycle.
The Cloud price is the platform fee. There is no per-transaction fee charged by BetterSuite — your payment service provider (Stripe, MercadoPago, etc.) charges its own card-processing fees directly. For payouts on Stripe Connect, BetterSuite's platform fee on transfers is set per plan and disclosed in your contract.
AI usage (BYOK)
BetterSuite's AI features run on your LLM provider credentials, not ours. You pay your provider (Anthropic / OpenAI / Google / self-hosted) directly. Set a monthly spend cap in Owner Dashboard → AI → Providers → Settings so the platform stops calling the LLM gracefully when the cap is hit. There is no separate AI add-on line item on your BetterSuite invoice — the only cost is what your provider bills you.
What's next
- Branding — independent of plan, customizable on every tier.
- Custom Domains — Pro+ feature.
- AI Providers — set spend caps and pick which features can call the LLM.
