Subscription philosophy

Syndik8’s pricing is limit-based, not feature-based. Every syndicate — free or paid — gets the same software. The calendar, the usage log, the maintenance record, the squawks, the member rates, auto-finalisation, notifications, the ICS feed, offline mode: all of it is available on the free tier. What the paid tier buys is room to grow.

Who the free tier is for

Very small groups. Family-run syndicates of two or three people, sharing a single asset, with a usage pattern gentle enough that we would struggle to spend money hosting them. The free-tier limits are deliberately tight: 1 asset, 3 members, and 1 free syndicate per user (that last one applies across everything you personally own, not per-syndicate).

Those limits are not a trial that expires. There is no time limit on the free tier — you can run on it indefinitely within the three caps. If your syndicate fits inside them, Syndik8 is free for you, and it stays free.

Why free also works as a trial

Most larger syndicates don’t come to Syndik8 as a committee. They come as one or two admins who want to see whether the thing works before they move the whole group off a spreadsheet. The free tier is good for that too: a couple of admins on a free-tier syndicate can build bookings, record usage, try finalisation, and see the app running on their own asset — not a demo — before inviting the rest of the members. Because nothing is gated, what you evaluate on the free tier is exactly what you get on the paid tier. If the workflow works with two admins and one asset, it will work with eight members and three.

When the group is ready to commit, the syndicate moves to paid and the member and asset limits lift immediately.

Why limits, not feature gating

Feature gating punishes a free user for trying the thing they came to evaluate. If finalisation were locked behind a paywall, a prospective treasurer couldn’t tell whether the finalisation model fits their group until they were already paying. If the maintenance tracker were a paid add-on, a syndicate investigating Syndik8 as an airworthiness record couldn’t test what it actually does.

A limit-based model avoids that. Everyone — free and paid — experiences the same app. What you pay for, when you pay, is capacity. By the time a syndicate has outgrown three members or is ready to add a second asset, it is no longer casually evaluating the software; it is relying on it. That is the moment to charge, and not before.

Paid pricing is £20+VAT per asset per month, or annual billing at ten months for two months free. See pricing for the full rates.

Why mobile upgrades hand off to email and the web

Apple’s App Store and Google Play rules require a 30% commission on in-app digital purchases — and forbid in-app calls-to-action that route payment outside their stores. Syndik8 is a subscription, not a one-off app, and a 30% markup on a recurring bill is significant money we would rather not pass on to you.

So when you hit a free-tier limit on iOS or Android, the upgrade prompt does not offer a button to tap. It shows a snackbar explaining the limit, and in the background the app automatically sends an email to the address on your account with a link to complete the upgrade in a web browser. On the web version, there is no need for the hand-off — the same prompt there shows an Upgrade Now button that opens checkout directly.

This is the same pattern Amazon uses for Kindle ebooks on an iPhone: you cannot buy a book in the Kindle app; you receive an email or open the Kindle website and buy it there. The rule is external to Syndik8 — we follow it to keep the app in the stores, and to keep the price you pay as close to the sticker price as we can.

Who this page is for

Prospects wondering “is the free tier a trap?” (it isn’t — the app is the same, the limits are the point), and members who hit the mobile upgrade snackbar and want to understand why there isn’t an Upgrade button to tap on their phone.