Getting Started
Plans and limits
What the Free, Pro, and Studio plans include, how the 14-day trial works, and what happens when you hit a limit.
Updated 2026-07-10
FirstSlate has three plans: Free, Pro, and Studio. Every new account starts with a 14-day Pro trial, no credit card required. When the trial ends you keep everything you made and drop to the Free plan until you upgrade. Current prices are on the pricing page.
What each plan includes
| Free | Pro | Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active projects | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Archived projects | 20 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Clients | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Online payments (card + ACH) | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI assistant | No | Yes | Yes |
| Crew deal memos | No | Yes | Yes |
| Team seats | 1 | 1 | 3 included, up to 10 more |
Everything else (proposals, e-signatures, invoices, call sheets, crew management, the client portal, the teleprompter) works on every plan.
How project limits work on Free
The Free plan counts active projects and archived projects separately:
- You can have up to 5 active projects at a time.
- Archiving a finished project frees up an active slot, so you can keep taking new work.
- You can keep up to 20 archived projects. Past that, upgrade or permanently delete an archived project you no longer need.
That gives a Free account room for 25 projects in total before anything has to go.
Tip: Archive from the project's page in Dashboard → Projects. Archived projects keep their documents and history; they stop counting against your active slots.
What happens when you hit a limit
FirstSlate never deletes your work. If you're over a limit after a downgrade (say, 8 active projects when the trial ends), everything stays visible and readable. You can't create new projects or clients until you're back under the cap or you upgrade.
The 14-day trial
Signing up starts a full Pro trial automatically. There is nothing to activate and no card on file, so there is no surprise charge at the end. You'll see the days remaining in your dashboard. When it expires, the account becomes a Free account with the limits above.
Upgrading, downgrading, and billing
Manage your plan from Settings, on the Subscription tab. Pro and Studio are available monthly or annually (annual is discounted). Upgrades take effect immediately; plan changes are handled by Stripe and prorated automatically.
Studio includes 3 team seats (you plus 2 teammates). The workspace owner can add up to 10 extra seats from the Team tab in Settings. See Team workspaces for how seats and roles work.
Common questions
Do my clients need a plan or an account?
No. Clients open proposals, invoices, call sheets, and the portal through links you send. They never log in or pay for anything.
Is e-signing paid?
No. Proposal acceptance with e-signature works on every plan, including Free. The paid e-sign feature is crew deal memos (Pro and Studio), which adds a signed rate confirmation for each shoot.
Can my crew see their rates on the Free plan?
Yes. When you send a call sheet, each crew member's confirmation page can show their rate regardless of your plan. The Pro feature is the deal memo itself: a formal, e-signed record of the rate and terms.