Billing & the free trial
Everything you need to know about paying for STING Tools and Planscape: how the trial works, choosing between the two products, switching plans, mobile money, how we handle exchange rates, invoices and tax compliance, the soft block at cap, and how to cancel.
Two products, one trial
We sell two products:
- STING Tools — the Revit plugin standalone. 763+ commands, runs entirely on your workstation. Tiers from Solo ($25/mo, 1 seat) to Firm ($400/mo, 40 seats), with Enterprise above.
- Planscape — the plugin bundled with a cloud CDE, mobile app, GPS site capture, BCF round-trip, and team collaboration. Tiers from Solo ($60/mo, 1–3 coordinators) to Large ($1,000/mo, 51–100 coordinators), with Enterprise above.
The 14-day free trial gives you full access to both so you can decide.
The 14-day free trial
Every new tenant starts on a 14-day free trial with full access to both STING Tools and the Planscape bundle. No credit card needed at signup.
What you get during the trial
- The full STING Tools Revit plugin (all 763+ commands, every pack, every drawing template).
- The full Planscape cloud bundle (CDE + mobile app + GPS site map + photo capture + BCF + ACC sync + clash + carbon + 4D/5D).
- Up to 10 trial users.
- Email + WhatsApp support (24-hour response).
What happens as the trial ends
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| −7 | Push notification + email reminder to tenant Owner |
| −3 | Second reminder; in-app banner appears |
| −1 | Final reminder; banner turns orange |
| 0 (expiry) | If a plan has been chosen + paid → seamless transition. If not → tenant moves to read-only mode |
| +1 to +60 | Read-only grace period: full data access, but no new projects, no new issues, no Revit plugin sync |
| +60 | Data archived; export available on request for 12 months |
Choosing your product & plan
Plans are documented on the pricing page. Quick decision matrix:
If you only need the Revit plugin
- 1 seat → STING Tools Solo ($25/mo)
- Up to 5 seats → STING Tools Studio ($90/mo)
- Up to 15 seats → STING Tools Practice ($200/mo)
- Up to 40 seats → STING Tools Firm ($400/mo)
- 40+ seats, whitelabel, on-prem licence server → STING Tools Enterprise
If you need the cloud, mobile app, and team collaboration
- 1–3 coordinators → Planscape Solo ($60/mo)
- 4–10 coordinators → Planscape Studio ($130/mo)
- 11–25 coordinators → Planscape Practice ($280/mo)
- 26–50 coordinators → Planscape Firm ($560/mo)
- 51–100 coordinators → Planscape Large ($1,000/mo)
- 100+ coordinators, self-host, SSO, custom integrations → Planscape Enterprise
Soft block at cap
If your team grows past the coordinator or seat cap of your current plan, nothing breaks and we never auto-charge you for overages. Instead:
- You can keep inviting users past the cap.
- Every admin sees an upgrade prompt explaining you're over.
- You have 14 days to either upgrade to the next tier or remove inactive members.
- After 14 days, new sign-ins are paused (existing sessions keep working) until you upgrade.
This means a surge in headcount mid-month never costs you anything you didn't agree to.
Paying — supported methods
Mobile money (recommended for East & West Africa)
- 🇺🇬 Uganda — MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money
- 🇰🇪 Kenya — M-Pesa, Airtel Money
- 🇹🇿 Tanzania — M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money
- 🇷🇼 Rwanda — MTN MoMo
- 🇳🇬 Nigeria — Bank transfer, USSD
- 🇿🇦 South Africa — EFT, card
All routed through Flutterwave. Setup once, auto-debit monthly. Confirmation comes via SMS and email.
Card
Visa / Mastercard via Stripe. Standard 3D Secure if your card requires it.
Bank transfer (annual only)
Pay annually, get an invoice, transfer to our bank. Setup time: about 24 hours after we receive your transfer confirmation.
Crypto (Enterprise only)
USDC, USDT, or BTC for donor-funded international work. Contact us for the wallet address and exchange-rate fix policy.
How currency & FX work
You pick your billing currency at signup. Once chosen, prices are fixed in that currency. We don't pass on day-to-day FX volatility — you pay the same UGX figure each month regardless of what the dollar is doing.
We do, however, review FX rates quarterly and may adjust local-currency prices to track the underlying USD plan price. Any adjustment is announced 30 days in advance and never applies to your current billing cycle.
To change your billing currency: Tenant Dashboard → Billing → Currency. Change takes effect at the next billing cycle.
Invoices & tax
Every payment generates a tax-compliant invoice in your billing currency. Invoices include:
- Your firm's legal name and billing address.
- Your tax ID (e.g. Uganda TIN, Kenya KRA PIN, Nigerian TIN) — set in Settings → Billing.
- Planscape's tax ID for your jurisdiction.
- VAT / GST line items where applicable.
Download from Tenant Dashboard → Billing → Invoices. We retain invoices for 7 years.
VAT registration status by country:
- Uganda — VAT-registered, 18% added to local invoices.
- Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa — currently invoiced without local VAT under the digital-services exemption; you may need to self-account via reverse charge depending on your KRA / TRA / RRA / FIRS / SARS guidance.
- EU/UK — VAT MOSS registered, local VAT added.
- US — no sales tax (we're not US-resident).
Upgrading mid-cycle
Upgrades take effect immediately. We pro-rate the new plan from the upgrade date:
- Calculate days remaining in the current cycle.
- Refund proportional credit of the old plan.
- Charge proportional cost of the new plan for the same period.
- Apply the credit to that charge; you pay the difference.
Example: 15 days into a Planscape Solo ($60/mo) cycle, upgrade to Planscape Studio ($130/mo). Old plan credit: $30. New plan pro-rated: $65. You're charged $35. Next month onwards, you pay $130 in full.
Cross-product upgrades work the same way — moving from STING Tools Studio ($90/mo) to Planscape Studio ($130/mo) pro-rates between the two.
Downgrading mid-cycle
Downgrades take effect at the next billing cycle. You keep the higher plan until then; you don't get a refund for the unused portion. This protects you from losing access mid-month.
Cancelling
Tenant Dashboard → Billing → Cancel subscription. You're asked to confirm + give a reason (optional but appreciated).
Effects of cancellation:
- You keep full access until the end of your current billing cycle.
- No auto-renew at the next cycle.
- After cycle end, tenant moves to read-only mode for 60 days.
- After 60 days, data is archived. Export available on request for 12 months.
- After 12 months, data is permanently deleted (we keep cryptographic hashes for audit chain integrity but no readable data).
Refunds
If you cancel within 30 days of your first paid invoice (i.e. within day 60 of your account), we refund 100% — no questions. Email hello@planscape.build.
After 30 days we don't pro-rate refunds for the current cycle. You can cancel any time and you'll keep access until end-of-cycle.
Annual plans: if you cancel partway through an annual cycle, we refund the unused months minus a 10% admin fee. So month 4 cancellation on a 12-month plan = refund of (8 months × monthly equivalent × 90%).
Failed payments
If a payment fails (insufficient funds, expired card, mobile money limit hit):
- We retry on day +3 and day +7.
- You get an email after each failed attempt with instructions to fix.
- After the second failed retry the tenant moves to read-only on day +14.
- Update your payment method and trigger a manual retry from Billing → Pay now.
Educational & non-profit discount
Accredited universities, vocational training institutes, and registered non-profits get 50% off any Planscape or STING Tools tier (excluding Enterprise — that's quoted directly). Email hello@planscape.build with your accreditation documents (or non-profit certificate). Verification takes 1–3 business days.
Anything else
If your question isn't covered here, contact us or check the pricing FAQ.