A lightweight checklist for choosing the right plan
4 min
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Choosing a plan shouldn't take longer than the work you're trying to do.
Most people overthink it. They compare every feature across every tier, build a spreadsheet, and still end up second-guessing the decision a week later. The truth is that the right plan is usually obvious once you ask a few simple questions.
Here's the checklist we'd actually use.
Start with how many people will use it
The single biggest factor isn't features. It's seats.
If it's just you, almost any starting plan will do, and you'll know quickly whether you need more. If it's a team, count the people who will genuinely use it week to week, not everyone who might log in once. Paying for seats that sit empty is the most common way teams overspend.
Match the plan to your stage, not your ambition
It's tempting to buy for the company you hope to be in a year. Resist it.
Just getting started? Take the smallest plan that covers your core needs. You can always upgrade in seconds.
Growing steadily? Look at the mid-tier, where most teams find the best balance of capability and cost.
Scaling fast or selling to enterprise? This is where advanced controls, security features, and support tiers start to matter.
The goal is to pay for what you need now, with a clear path to more when you actually need it. Upgrading is easy. Realizing you've paid for a year of features you never touched is the regret worth avoiding.
Buy for the team you have today, not the one on your roadmap.
Know which features are deal-breakers
Every plan has a long list of features, but only a few will actually decide it for you.
Before comparing tiers, write down your non-negotiables. For most teams, the list is short:
The integrations you already depend on
The level of access control your team requires
Whether you need advanced security or compliance support
The kind of support response time you can live with
Once you know your three or four real requirements, the right tier usually becomes obvious. Everything else is noise.
When in doubt, start smaller
If you're genuinely torn between two plans, start with the lower one.
Upgrading takes seconds and applies instantly. Downgrading, on the other hand, often means realizing months later that you've been paying for headroom you never used. The lower plan gives you real data about what you actually need, which beats guessing every time.
You're never locked in. The best decision is the one you can easily reverse, and plan changes are about as reversible as it gets.
Ready to choose?
Run through the four questions, pick the tier that matches where you are today, and adjust as you grow. It really is that simple.
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Head of Growth Adrian Costa leads and plans the growth at Slate, more interested in the unglamorous parts than the loud ones. He came up through B2B marketing.
