Today we will be combining two important frequently asked questions into one article to strike at the heart of a very important aspect of an LMS solution: Pricing!
The two topics to be covered:
1) There are two different kind of plans, based on registered and active users.
2) Pricing flexibility.
TalentLMS come with an initial FREE plan that is not limited by trial-periods or feature-blocks. You can try the platform and build content to your heart’s content before you commit to offering your service to a larger crowd.
What is the difference between Registered and Active users?
As you may notice when looking at our Plans page, there are two classifications of plans. Those based on Registered users have a limit on the users that can be registered on the platform at any point in time. This means, that if you have a plan that can cater to up to 100 users, the platform will allow you to have 100 people registered. Upon exceeding that limit, and if your clients no longer require your service, you can delete or deactivate old users to accept new ones.
Plans based on Active users are those with no limit on Registered users. They do, though, have a limit based on user activity.
Active user definition: A user which has logged into your system at least once in the past month.
How Active user plan costs are being calculated for the TalentLMS Administrator
Active user plans have a fixed monthly fee (as do all plans). Because those plans have no limit on registered users, thousands upon thousands of users may be registered on the platform without affecting your monthly fee. If you have a plan based on active users capped at 100 users, this means that your monthly fee covers you for 100 users to log-in your platform for that month. Should more users log-in to use your platform, the TalentLMS administrator incurs a $4 fee per extra user over the soft-cap.
Note: the monthly fee is being charged at the beginning of the month, whereas excess activity is calculated and charged at the end of the month.
Why have differences in plans? What are the merits of picking one over the other?
The reasons behind having two kinds of plans are simple:
- Ease-of-client-management
- Flexibility
Let’s assume a client scenario to pick between the two plan types
A new client X approaches us to inquire about acquiring an LMS solution. Client X wants to offer business training in the area of Sales Pitching. He is unsure of his clientele and therefore cannot accurately forecast the demand (traffic), but he knows at least 80 people are interested in his content. He is also interested in offering certifications and renewing those every 6 months. He is certain he will be doing it, so that’s the first step, we just have to decide whether or not he should take up a plan based on Registered or Active users.
Why I would suggest an Active users plan
Client X has about 80 interested learners, and the demand is far from determined yet. We can assume that Client X will bring anything from 30 to an optimistic 150 users in his first couple of months of offering classes. The two plans catering to an administrator who forecasts about 100 users on the platform are the Basic and Basic Unlimited (100 Registered/100 Active respectively).
Client X has expressed his desire to be able to offer certifications to his successful learners. Client X has also mentioned that he wishes to be renewing the certifications. This detail tells us that he doesn’t want to discard his clientele – as they will have to come back and re-enroll for a class in order to have their certificate renewed.
As mentioned above, plans based on registered users don’t allow the administrator to have an unlimited amount of users, unless marked as inactive.
Because of that fundamental detail in the client’s request, a plan based on active users is almost a no-brainer, as it allows him to offer content to an unlimited amount of users over time, while servicing those who demand it each month, all for an affordable fee.
Other instances in which plans based on active users are great to consider
- Start-up companies who are uncertain of the demand for their product.
- Companies who wish to retain their clientele and offer certification programs
- Clients who want to create long-lasting relationships without having to discard them after their class is done
Plans based on registered users
Those plans limit the system usage based on the total number of user that are registered and have their status set to “active”. These plans come with hard limits (cannot be exceeded), so in the case that more users need to register and use your platform you will either have to free-up spaces by deactivating other or old users, or deleting them.
Plans based on registered users are particularly useful when the instructor wishes to set hard limits to how many people can take a course per period, thus eliminating costs to retain unnecessary users and dictating the strategy with which his product is developed.
Worried that you made the wrong choice? Did the reality deviate from your estimations?
Upgrading your subscription or downgrading to reflect your users’ monthly needs is done FREE of charge, at any point.
Note: In the case of plans based on active users, because excess activity is charged at the end of the month, if you happen to exceed your limits and require an upgrade or otherwise, you will have to incur the costs of that month, but may change the next month’s plan freely.
Pricing Flexibility
Being user friendly is not just a User Interface trait, it’s something reflected on our attitude and the way we treat each customer as an individual with a unique vision and purpose. If your needs call for a solution not listed on our Plans page, you may Email us here or contact us using this form.
