Billing & Plans
Gäld has a complete self-hosted Community Edition and three hosted offers. The hosted plans share the core accounting workflow; paid plans add capacity and hosted conveniences rather than removing the accounting foundation.
Plans overview
| Community Edition | Cloud Free | Solo | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | CHF 0 forever | CHF 0 forever | CHF 15/mo | CHF 39/mo |
| Hosting | Your infrastructure | Gäld hosted | Gäld hosted | Gäld hosted |
| Organisations | Installation policy | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Users | Installation policy | 1 | Up to 3 | Up to 5 |
| Invoices / month | CE policy | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Receipt OCR | CE scope | 5/month | 10/day | Unlimited, fair use |
| Document storage | Your infrastructure | 250 MB | Published service limit | Published service limit |
| Double-entry accounting | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Invoicing, expenses, VAT, reports | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| CAMT import and manual reconciliation | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Live bank synchronization | CE configuration | — | Included, provider dependent | Included, provider dependent |
| Automation and API | CE configuration | — | — | Included |
| Multi-currency and advanced permissions | CE configuration | — | — | Included |
| Payroll | CE configuration | — | — | Included where supported |
| Support | Community channels | Community channels | Email support | Priority email support |
Cloud Free is permanent while the organisation stays within its visible limits. It includes double-entry accounting, invoicing, expenses, Swiss VAT, reports, manual reconciliation, CAMT import, and export. It does not include live bank synchronization, advanced automation, multi-currency, API access, advanced permissions, or payroll processing in SaaS mode.
The Community Edition is complete and open source. It is not a crippled trial and does not require a hosted subscription. See Self-Hosting for installation guidance.
Hosted trials
New customers can start a 14-day Solo or Team trial without entering a payment method. The trial does not create a paid subscription or charge a card. Before it ends, choose Solo or Team from Settings → Billing to continue on a paid plan. If no paid choice is made, the organisation returns to Cloud Free; its data remains available and exportable, while Cloud Free limits apply.
Cloud Free signup does not expire and does not require a trial.
Payment details are requested only after the owner explicitly converts the trial to a paid plan. There is no automatic charge at the end of the trial.
Choosing or upgrading a plan
- Open Settings → Billing in the app.
- Review the current plan, limits, and usage period.
- Select Solo or Team when you want hosted capacity or features beyond Cloud Free.
- Enter payment details through Stripe and wait for server-side confirmation.
Solo and Team are separate paid plans, and selecting one never silently changes the other. Paid-plan conversion is always an explicit choice.
Downgrading and limits
Downgrades preserve accounting data and take effect according to the current subscription lifecycle shown in Billing. If existing usage is above the lower plan's limit, existing records remain readable and exportable; new operations that would exceed the limit are blocked until usage is reduced or the plan is upgraded. The application shows the affected limit before the change where possible.
Payment methods and invoices
Paid subscriptions use Stripe for payment processing. Prices are monthly and in CHF; the applicable tax treatment is shown during checkout. Stripe invoices are available from Settings → Billing → Invoice history.
Self-hosted vs. hosted
| Aspect | Community Edition | Cloud Free, Solo, Team |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | You operate the installation | Gäld operates the hosted service |
| Updates | You choose when to update | Managed by Gäld |
| Core accounting | Complete | Complete |
| Paid hosted conveniences | Controlled by your CE configuration | Plan-dependent |
| Support | Documentation and community | Depends on the plan |
| Export | Available | Available |
Hosting, backup, retention, availability, and response targets are governed by the operational policies published for the hosted service. Do not infer a backup or uptime guarantee from the plan table alone.
Existing subscriptions
Starter and Business are legacy plan records. They are no longer offered to new customers, but an existing customer keeps the agreed price, Stripe history, and access until choosing a current plan explicitly. Legacy plans are not deleted as part of the offer alignment.
Cancellation
Cancel from Settings → Billing or through the Stripe customer portal when available. Export your data before cancellation. Data retention and deletion follow the current privacy and hosted-service policy; Gäld does not make a fixed retention promise here until the operational policy is verified.