Billing

SmartGate offers Free, Pro, Teams, and Enterprise plans. Paid subscriptions are processed by Paddle as Merchant of Record (tax, invoicing, and payment collection where applicable).

Compare marketing details on Pricing. This page covers what you do inside the Dashboard.

Where to manage billing

Open Dashboard → Settings and scroll to Billing (#billing).

You'll see:

1. Current plan & usage — token meter for the billing period
2. Change plan — compact tiles for each tier
3. What changes — diff vs your current plan before checkout

Upgrading (Pro / Teams)

Only the team OWNER can start checkout.

1. Go to Settings → Billing → Change plan.
2. Select Pro or Teams (and Monthly or Annual if shown).
3. Complete payment in the Paddle checkout overlay (you stay on the Dashboard).
4. After success, your plan and token limit update within seconds via webhook sync.

If sync is delayed, refresh the page or use Manage Subscription.

Free plan

• 2M tokens / month
• Full MCP tool access
• Up to 2 API keys and 1 webhook
• 7-day activity log retention

No payment method required.

Paid plan limits (summary)

Teams adds member tool overrides and team governance controls. Enterprise includes custom contracts — contact support@smartgate.network.

Manage Subscription

For cancellation, payment method updates, or downgrades, use Manage Subscription on the Billing section. This opens the Paddle customer portal.

Downgrades typically take effect at the end of the current billing period. Your team keeps paid features until then.

Paddle Merchant of Record

Paddle handles checkout, receipts, and applicable taxes. By subscribing you also agree to Paddle's Terms and Paddle's Privacy Policy.

SmartGate provides the software service; Paddle processes payment.

Billing FAQ

Who can upgrade?
Only the team OWNER. Admins and members can view usage but cannot checkout.

Where are prices listed?
Public USD prices are on Pricing. Settings shows plan capabilities and token limits, not marketing copy.

I upgraded but still see Free.
Wait a few seconds and refresh. Open Manage Subscription to confirm Paddle shows an active subscription.

Enterprise?
Email support@smartgate.network for contract pricing.

See also Terms of Service §5 and Teams & Invitations.

What you pay for

You pay for platform access to the intelligence layer and for governed tool traffic—not for SmartGate to host your chat model. Host LLM invoices stay with your model provider. Dashboard Est. USD saved uses an internal gateway benchmark for tool modules so you can compare paths; it is not a substitute invoice.

Gainshare in plain language

Paid tiers that use savings share charge a platform fee first. A variable share applies only after a free savings allowance, with search-class estimates weighted differently from fetch/compress/dedup/pipe/budget-block estimates. Memory and Playground-only counterfactuals stay out of the share tax base. Published Pro and Teams ceilings are documented on /pricing; Enterprise is contract-based via sales.

Paddle as merchant of record

Checkout and subscription management go through Paddle. Use the billing portal flows in the dashboard for upgrades, invoices, and cancellation per Paddle customer experience. Tax and MoR responsibilities follow Paddle model; contact support if a receipt or seat question is unclear.

Entitlements tied to billing

Change management

Upgrade before a launch that needs higher RPM or retention—not after agents are already hitting 429 in production. Downgrades may shorten retention windows; export audit data you are required to keep (Logs, Security). For contractual pools beyond public tiers, email support@smartgate.network.

Practical adoption notes

Treat SmartGate as shared infrastructure: one gateway URL, team-scoped keys, and audit on by default. Prefer pipe templates for repeatable research paths so Activity Logs show a coherent chain instead of ad-hoc tool spam. Keep host-model prompts focused on decisions; let Research and Context primitives prepare evidence. When FinOps asks for savings, export Usage Reports alongside the gateway benchmark explanation—never present Est. USD saved as a vendor LLM invoice. When security asks for evidence, export an audit window and show retention tied to the current plan catalog.

If you are migrating from scripts, replace raw HTTP fetch helpers first, then add dedup and compression, then budget guard. If you are migrating from a model gateway mindset, stop expecting chat completions on /api/mcp and wire MCP hosts instead. If you are writing human-facing product copy, lead with Smart Research / Smart Decision outcomes; keep MCP JSON on builder paths. These habits keep the site and the product aligned with the Positioning Bible: intelligence layer between AI and the world, not an LLM proxy.

Related reading

• Overview for the capability map and plan table
• Connect Guide for host JSON and troubleshooting
• Tools Reference for when to search, fetch, compress, or pipe
• Activity Logs for audit, trace, and export
• Pricing for fair-use limits, Gainshare, and plan ceilings
• Token Control, Traffic Customs, and Audit and Compliance for pillar narratives aligned with this docs set

Keep English-first public docs consistent with the Positioning Bible: SmartGate is an MCP-native algorithmic gateway and intelligence layer—not a chatbot, ChatGPT alternative, AI search engine, LLM proxy, or model router. Humans research and decide through Web experiences; agents connect through MCP/API; both share the same runtime primitives and team-scoped governance.

One more operational reminder

Document your team naming scheme, key rotation cadence, and who owns Gainshare questions before you scale agent count. Prefer bounded Playground or single-tool MCP checks when validating Connect JSON. Prefer audited smart_pipe templates for recurring research once the handshake works. Prefer exporting Activity Logs before plan downgrades that shorten retention. These habits cost little and prevent the two failure modes we see most: empty tool lists from incomplete MCP initialize, and missing audit evidence when a reviewer asks what an agent fetched last week.