Your Pencil Spaces billing depends on which billing version your plan uses. Per-user-hour (V1) billing calculates Space usage based on participant-hours, while Group-session (V2) uses a group-session rate plus additional participant rates.
Which billing calculation applies to my plan?
Billing version | Plans | How Space usage is calculated |
Per-user-hour | Mini, Basic, Pro, Advanced | Per user, per hour |
Group-session | Pro (step-based), Expert, Master | Per session hours + additional participant usage |
Per-user-hour Billing
Per-user-hour uses participant-hour billing. Youâre only charged when at least two users are present in a Space.
How Per-user-hour billing works
Billing starts when 2 or more users are present.
Usage is calculated per user, per hour.
Each plan has a flat rate per user/hour.
Time when youâre alone in a Space is not billed.
If a user becomes inactive, theyâre removed after 5 minutes and inactive time isnât billed.
Joining from multiple devices under the same account does not increase usage.
Example
A teacher and student spend 30 minutes in a Space:
0.5 hours Ă 2 users = 1 billable Space hour
If the teacher spent 10 minutes preparing alone before the student joined, that time isnât billed.
Simple Math
Scenario | Billable Hours |
1 user for 1 hour | 0 hour |
2 users for 1 hour | 2 hours |
3 users for 30 minutes | 1.5 hours |
Group-session Billing
Group-session uses a group-session rate + additional participant pricing.
A fixed group-session rate covers participants up to a defined group size. Participants above that threshold are charged using the applicable additional participant rate.
How Group-session billing works
For example, if your plan has:
2 users as the billing threshold
4 users included in the group session rate
$0.40/hour group session rate
$0.20/user/hour for additional participants
Then:
Users | Cost per hour |
1 | $0.00 |
2-4 | $0.40 |
5 | $0.60 |
8 | $1.20 |
For 8 users:
$0.40 group rate + (4 additional users Ă $0.20) = $1.20/hour.
Group-session can also support multiple additional-participant rate bands for larger groups.
Group-session allowances
Group-session plans use a dollar-based allowance for Space usage. The allowance is deducted from your total Space usage before calculating any overage.
For example:
Space usage: $5.80
Included allowance: $4.00
Billable overage: $1.80
The allowance applies to Space usage only. Cloud Recording and Web Viewer usage are calculated separately.
Cloud Recording Usage
Cloud Recording charges are calculated separately from Space usage.
Recording usage is calculated only while recording is active.
Recording charges are calculated independently from the Group-session Space usage.
Web Viewer Usage
If your plan includes Web Viewers, Web Viewer usage is calculated separately from Space usage.
Usage is calculated per viewer per hour.
Any included allowance and overage are applied separately.
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Need More Support?
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