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A seat is one person with access to a workspace. The Free plan includes 3 seats. Pro has no limit.

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What counts as a seat

Seats count people with access, not only staff. An invitation counts only while it is genuinely open: still pending and not past its expiry date. An expired invite that nobody accepted does not hold a seat.
A person is never counted twice. When someone is added to the roster and also sent an invitation so they can claim a login, that is one person and one seat, not two.

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What does not count

  • Expired or revoked invitations
  • Deactivated members
  • Clients and projects – you can have as many as you like on any plan
  • Tasks, time entries, invoices – none of these affect the bill

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The seat meter

Where people are added, TimeTracker shows the count before you click, so a full workspace is never a surprise after you have filled in a form. The meter reads like this:
It itemises on purpose. Client-portal contacts bill like anyone else, and a workspace that discovers that on an invoice would rightly ask why. Pending invites are listed the same way:

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What happens when you hit the limit

On Free, at 3 seats, the next add is refused. That is the whole of the rule. Trying to invite, add or resend past the limit gives you a message naming the real numbers:
The Free plan includes 3 people, and this workspace already has 3 (2 people plus 1 pending invite). Upgrade to Pro to add more.
A dialog offers the same thing in the app: The Free plan includes 3 people, with a See plans button for anyone who holds billing.manage, and a “Ask an owner or admin to upgrade this workspace” note for anyone who does not.

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Three ways the limit applies

Accepting is deliberately never blocked. The seat was authorised when the invite was sent, and blocking someone at the door would leave them holding a valid link with no screen to fix it on.

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Being over the limit is fine

This is the part worth reading twice. A workspace that is over the cap keeps every person working. The rule bounds adding, never holding. If Northwind Studio has 5 people and its Pro subscription lapses to Free:
  • All 5 people keep signing in.
  • All 5 keep tracking time and doing their work.
  • Nothing is deleted and nobody is removed.
  • Northwind cannot add a 6th person.
  • If someone leaves and the count drops to 2, Northwind can add one back.
There is no penalty, no lockout and no forced downgrade of your roster.

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Example

Northwind Studio drops to Free with 5 staff and 2 client-portal contacts – 7 seats against a limit of 3.

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Permissions

Seeing the seat count needs no special permission – any member can see how full the workspace is.
Running out of seats is not a permission problem. member.invite works on every plan – the room has run out. That is why the message says “the Free plan includes 3 people” rather than “invitations need Pro”.

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What happens next

  • On Pro, adding a person raises the billed quantity, prorated immediately.
  • Removing a person lowers it at your next renewal.
  • On Free, freeing a seat – by removing someone or revoking an invite – lets you add someone else straight away.

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Common questions

Yes. A portal contact signs in, so it counts and it bills. The seat meter names them separately so you can see why your count is what it is.
Yes, while it is still open. Revoke it and the seat frees up immediately.
No. One person, one seat.
Not by adding. But a workspace that is already over 3 – because it came down from Pro – keeps everyone it has.
No. Only active memberships count.
No. Pro has no cap. You are billed for the people you have.
Remove a member, revoke a pending invitation, or remove a client-portal contact.

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Troubleshooting

Seats and billing

Adding people and what it costs.

Free vs Pro

What the paid plan unlocks.

Pending invitations

Find and revoke open invites.

Invite a client contact

Portal contacts, and why they bill.

Start a subscription

Lift the limit by upgrading.

Roles and capabilities

Who can add or remove people.