Pricing and billing
ProteinIQ uses a credit-based model. Pick a plan, spend credits on compute tools, and see the cost before every run.
ProteinIQ offers a free plan and several paid plans for individual researchers, labs, and commercial teams. Every plan includes a monthly credit allowance that you spend on compute tools. See Pricing for rates and a full feature comparison.
Plans
ProteinIQ offers two plan tracks: Academic and Commercial.
- Academic plans are for researchers and labs doing non-commercial work. They include an academic license and are priced for individual contributors and research teams.
- Commercial plans are for startups, biotech companies, and organizations whose results will be used commercially. They include full commercial IP rights and are required for any work with commercial intent.
Academic plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Credits/month | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 100 | 1 |
| Starter | $29 | $23 | 2,000 | 1 |
| Researcher | $99 | $79 | 8,000 | 1 |
| Lab | $39/seat | $31/seat | 2,000 per seat (pooled) | 2–50 |
Commercial plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Credits/month | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $199 | $159 | 5,000 | 1 |
| Teams | $249/seat | $199/seat | 5,000 per seat (pooled) | 3–50 |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom | Custom |
For procurement requirements, custom invoicing, or enterprise terms, contact us at /contact.
How billing works
Monthly billing
Your account is billed at the start of each monthly cycle for the current plan and seat count.
Adding seats mid-cycle does not change your charge until the next billing date. Reducing seats also takes effect at the next renewal; it does not generate a credit for the current cycle.
Annual billing
Annual billing reduces the effective monthly rate by approximately 20%. When you subscribe annually, you are charged upfront for 12 months at the discounted rate.
You can switch from monthly to annual billing at any time. The prorated difference is settled immediately and future renewals use the annual rate.
Per-seat plans
Lab and Teams plans bill per seat. The minimum seat count is 2 for Lab and 3 for Teams. Adding seats increases the monthly charge proportionally and expands the shared credit pool for the workspace.
A seat is occupied by either an active member or a pending invitation. Pending invites count against your seat limit until accepted or canceled.
Credits
Credits are your monthly compute budget. Each tool shows its exact cost before you submit, with no usage surprises mid-cycle.
- Free tools (format converters and simple utilities) cost 0 credits.
- Compute tools cost 3–250 credits depending on tool type and input size.
- Credits reset at the start of each billing cycle. Unused credits do not roll over.
- If a job fails due to a platform error, credits are refunded automatically.
On per-seat plans, credits pool across all members in the workspace. The total monthly allowance scales with seat count. A Lab workspace with 4 seats gets 8,000 credits per month, shared across all members.
For a complete breakdown of credit costs by tool category, see Credits.
Manage your billing
Go to Settings > Billing to manage your subscription. From there you can:
- View your current plan and billing interval
- See credit usage for the current cycle
- Update your payment method
- View invoice history
- Cancel or resume your subscription
Billing access is scoped per workspace. Only admins can run billing actions. For more detail, see Billing and invoices.
Changing your plan
Plan changes take effect immediately. When you change your plan, billing interval, or seat count on an existing subscription, ProteinIQ calculates a prorated adjustment for the remaining time in your current cycle and settles the difference that day.
- Upgrading generates a charge for the prorated cost of the new plan for the remainder of the cycle.
- Downgrading generates a credit for the unused portion of the current plan, applied toward future invoices.
The amount shown as due today reflects the net prorated difference: positive means a charge, negative means a credit.
Seat changes
For per-seat plans, seat reductions are validated against occupied seats. Occupied seats include both active members and pending invitations. If the requested seat count is lower than the current occupancy, the reduction is blocked until you remove members or cancel pending invites first.
Adding seats increases the monthly charge proportionally and expands the workspace credit pool for the current cycle.
After a plan change
The prorated difference is settled immediately and future renewals automatically use the new plan and seat configuration. The upgrade confirmation screen shows the next renewal amount and renewal date so you can verify what takes effect at the next cycle.
Note
If the selected plan and interval match your current subscription, the confirmation action is disabled and shown as Current plan. No change is required.
Canceling your subscription
Cancellation is end-of-period. Canceling a subscription does not remove access immediately; it schedules the subscription to end at the current billing period boundary.
From Settings > Billing, choose Cancel plan and confirm. Your workspace keeps full access and credit limits through the end of the cycle.
We do not refund the current cycle when you cancel. If you want to evaluate a plan before committing to a full year, start on monthly billing and switch to annual when you are ready.
If you cancel by mistake or change your mind before the period ends, use Resume plan in Settings > Billing to restore normal auto-renew behavior.
Academic and non-profit pricing
Academic plans are available to everyone by default with no application required. If your work is non-commercial, you qualify for the Academic track.
Non-profit organizations doing non-commercial research may also use Academic plans. If your work will be used for commercial purposes, you must use a Commercial plan.
FAQ
What does "no daily job limit" mean if I have a credit limit?
These are two independent limits. "No daily limit" removes the cap on how many tool runs you can submit in a day — on the free plan, that cap is 3. Credits are your monthly compute budget: each compute job costs credits, and your plan's monthly allowance controls total compute.
Free tools (format converters, simple utilities) cost 0 credits, so you can run them without restriction. Compute tools — folding models, docking engines, design tools — cost credits.
Can I switch between monthly and annual billing?
Yes. You can change your billing interval at any time from the upgrade flow. The prorated difference is settled immediately.
Why can the amount due today be negative when changing plans?
If you move to a lower-cost configuration mid-cycle, the unused portion of your current plan can exceed the cost of the new configuration for the remaining period, producing a net credit. Credits are applied toward future invoices.
Why can a seat reduction fail even when some members are inactive?
Seat validation uses active members plus pending invitations. Pending invites reserve seats until they are accepted or canceled. Cancel any stale invites first, then retry the seat reduction.
Are credits shared across workspaces?
No. Credits are scoped to each workspace. If you belong to two paid workspaces, each has its own separate credit pool.
What happens if I run out of credits mid-month?
Jobs will not start if your balance is insufficient. You can upgrade to a higher plan to increase your monthly allowance.
Can I run commercial work on an Academic plan?
No. Any work intended for commercial purposes — including drug discovery, biotech product development, or any result used in a for-profit context — requires a Commercial plan.
Related docs
- Credits: How credits work, what tools cost, and how refunds are handled
- Workspaces and seats: How workspace membership and seat limits work
- Billing and invoices: Managing payment methods and viewing invoice history
- Cancellation and renewals: How to cancel and what happens at the end of a billing period