Subscribing and checkout

Summary#

Starting a paid plan takes one checkout. You can begin from the public pricing page or from the Subscription card inside the app. Either way the payment itself happens on a Stripe-hosted checkout page, and your plan is applied to your account as soon as Stripe confirms the subscription. Metric Vault never sees or stores your card details.

Purpose#

Checkout exists to turn a plan choice into an entitlement without you having to tell anyone what you bought. The subscription you complete at Stripe is the record that decides your tier, so there is a single source of truth for what you are paying for and what the app lets you do. That is also why a plan change is always a checkout rather than a support request.

Requirements#

• A Metric Vault account. If you do not have one, checkout creates the account first and then opens payment. See Create your account.
• A payment method accepted by Stripe.
• The email address you want the subscription attached to. It should be the address you sign in with, because your plan is matched to your account by email.

Permissions#

Anyone signed in can start a checkout for their own account. In a shared workspace, the subscription belongs to the workspace owner, and invited members do not get a separate subscription. If a member checks out, they create a subscription on their own account rather than upgrading the workspace they were invited to. See Team and workspace billing.

Navigation Path#

From the public site:

Pricing → Monthly or Annual → Start free 14-day trial

From inside the app:

Dashboard → your avatar, top right → Account → Subscription → Upgrade to <plan>

Step-by-Step Guide#

Subscribing from the pricing page#

1. Open the pricing page and set the toggle at the top of the grid to Monthly or Annual. Annual is badged Save 20% and changes every price in the grid. This toggle is the only place the billing period is chosen.
2. On the plan you want, click Start free 14-day trial. On the Free card the button reads Start free and takes you into the app without a payment step.
3. If you are signed out, you land on the sign-in page with your plan choice carried with you. Sign in or create an account. The choice survives the sign-in round trip, including a Google sign-in.
4. Checkout opens automatically once you are authenticated. If you are already signed in when you click, the button changes to Opening checkout… and checkout opens directly.
5. Complete payment on the Stripe page.
6. Stripe returns you to your dashboard. Your plan appears as soon as the subscription is confirmed, normally within a few seconds.

Subscribing or upgrading from inside the app#

1. Click your avatar in the top right of the dashboard, then Account.
2. Find the Subscription card. It shows your current plan, its price and what it includes.
3. Click the upgrade button. It is labelled with the next tier up, for example Upgrade to Pro. On Enterprise it reads Talk to sales and opens an email to our sales team instead.
4. Read the confirmation dialog. It is headed with the plan and price, for example Upgrade to Pro — $79/mo, and lists what changes: the new credit allowance and seat count against your current ones, the billing terms, and the reminder that payment is handled by Stripe.
5. Click Continue to secure checkout, or Not now to stay where you are. Nothing is charged and nothing changes until you complete the Stripe page.
6. Complete payment. You are returned to the dashboard.

Subscribing to Starter#

Starter is a live $19 plan with 100 credits and one seat, but it has no card on the pricing page. To subscribe, open this link and complete checkout in the normal way:

https://metricvaultai.com/login.html?plan=starter&billing=monthly

Everything else about the flow is identical. See Plans and pricing for what Starter includes.

What happens behind the scenes#

When you confirm a plan, we ask Stripe to create a checkout session for that plan and billing period, then send you to it. Before creating it we check whether your email address has ever had a subscription with us; first-time customers get a 14-day trial added to the session. See The 14-day free trial.

When you finish paying, Stripe tells us the subscription exists and which price it is on, and your account is moved to the matching plan. A reconciliation runs regularly as a safety net, so even if that notification is delayed your plan still arrives on its own.

Stripe returns you to metricvaultai.com/dashboard. There is no separate confirmation screen or receipt page in the app. Your receipt comes from Stripe, and your invoice history is in the billing portal. See Invoices and receipts.

Screenshots#

Tips#

• Set the billing period before you click. The annual saving is 20 percent, and the period cannot be changed on the Stripe page.
• Check out with the address you sign in with. A subscription paid on a different address will not attach to the account you are using.
• If you plan to invite people, buy the tier whose seat count you need. Seats are set by the plan and cannot be added individually. See Seats and plan limits.

Limitations#

• The billing period can only be chosen on the pricing page. In-app upgrades are monthly.
• Promotion codes and coupons cannot be entered at checkout. If you have been given a discount, contact us before subscribing.
• There is no in-app receipt or order confirmation screen. Receipts and invoices come from Stripe.
• Checkout does not cancel any subscription you already have. See Upgrading and downgrading before buying a second plan.

Troubleshooting#

FAQs#

Do I need a card to try a paid plan? Follow the checkout page as presented. You are not charged during a 14-day trial, and you are billed at the end only if payment information is on file and you have not cancelled. See The 14-day free trial.

Where do I enter a coupon or promotion code? Checkout does not accept codes. Contact us before subscribing if a discount has been agreed.

Can I pay by invoice or bank transfer? Not through self-serve checkout. Annual invoicing is available under a custom agreement. See Enterprise and custom agreements.

Can I change from monthly to annual later? There is no in-place switch. It is a new checkout from the pricing page with the toggle set to Annual. Cancel the monthly subscription so you are not billed for both. See Upgrading and downgrading.

Which email address should the subscription use? The one you sign in to Metric Vault with. That is how a subscription is matched to an account.

Does anyone get notified when I subscribe? Stripe sends the payment confirmation to the address on the subscription. The checkout appears in your own activity history in the app. Team members are not notified.