Heptabase pricing

About

Heptabase is a visual knowledge-management app: instead of a linear document tree, you write atomic “cards” and arrange them on an infinite whiteboard, connecting ideas spatially to learn complex topics, research, and write. On top of that canvas it layers AI — an AI chat, an “AI Tutor,” PDF/OCR ingestion, YouTube transcript capture, insight generation, and voice notes.

The company is Hepta Platforms, Inc., founded in 2021 by Yu-An (Alan) Chan with co-founders, run by a small team based in Taipei, Taiwan. It went through Y Combinator’s W22 batch and raised a $1.7M seed from HOF Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Moving Capital, Tonic Fund, and others. The notable twist: Heptabase has reported being profitable on subscription revenue alone (~$200K/month at one point) and not spending the venture money — a rare posture for an AI-era startup. That profitability shapes the pricing: there’s no land-grab free tier, just a paid product with a short trial.

For the current rate card, see Heptabase pricing.

Pricing summary : How Heptabase’s pricing model works

Heptabase sells one product across three tiers, and the tiers are differentiated almost entirely by how much AI you get. The core note-taking and whiteboard experience — unlimited notes, whiteboards, tags, image uploads, and collaborator invites — is identical on every plan. What you actually pay more for is a bigger monthly AI-credit allowance plus a few AI-adjacent unlocks (the AI Tutor, premium models, unlimited OCR).

Billed yearly (the default toggle, marked “Save 25%”): Pro $8.99/mo ($107.88/yr), Premium $17.99/mo ($215.88/yr), Premium+ $53.99/mo ($647.88/yr). Billed monthly the same tiers cost $11.99, $23.99, and $71.99 — exactly 25% more. AI credits are 100, 1,800, and 8,100 per month respectively.

There is no permanent free tier. New users get a 7-day trial that grants Premium-level credits (1,800) regardless of the tier they pick, then must subscribe.

What makes this different: the subscription is a flat per-seat price, but the value lever is a usage meter (AI credits) bundled into each tier — a hybrid of classic seat pricing and consumption pricing. Heptabase resists pure usage billing (you can’t yet buy extra credits) and instead nudges you up a tier when you run out.

Pricing by product

Sales motions across products: fully self-serve / product-led across all three tiers. Every price is public on the pricing page; there is no enterprise “contact us” tier and no sales-quoted pricing. Early-bird subscribers from before the August 31, 2023 v1.0 launch keep a grandfathered $9.99/mo (monthly) / $83.88/yr rate permanently.

Hidden costs : What Heptabase users actually pay

Heptabase is unusually clean — there are no per-seat add-ons, no overage invoices, and no enterprise upsell. The real “hidden cost” is the credit ceiling. Credits do not roll over and reset each billing cycle, so a heavy AI month on Pro (100 credits) can leave you stranded mid-task. Your only remedy is to jump a whole tier, because you cannot buy à-la-carte credits (Heptabase says add-on purchases are “on our roadmap”).

The mitigation: once Premium / Premium+ users exhaust credits, they can keep using basic models (Gemini 3 Flash, GPT-5 mini) in chat for free — so the hard wall mostly affects Pro users and anyone who wants the premium models.

Want to estimate your own Heptabase bill? Use the Heptabase pricing calculator to model your costs based on usage patterns.

Pricing evolution : Heptabase pricing history and changes

Cadence

Tracked range: 2023–present. Heptabase has been notably price-stable on its base plan — the $8.99/$11.99 Pro rate has held since the August 2023 v1.0 launch.

Notable changes

• 2023-08-31 — Early-bird period ends with v1.0. Standard pricing locked at $8.99/mo yearly ($107.88/yr) and $11.99/mo monthly. Early-bird subscribers grandfathered at $9.99/$83.88 forever.
• 2025-12 — Heptabase splits its single plan into three. The original becomes Pro (100 credits); Premium ($17.99 yearly, 1,800 credits, AI Tutor + premium models) and Premium+ ($53.99 yearly, 8,100 credits) launch to monetize heavier AI use.
• 2026-06 — Three-tier credit-metered structure confirmed live; credits do not roll over and add-on purchases are still unreleased.

What’s unique : Heptabase’s distinctive pricing mechanics

1. The product is free; the AI is the meter. Every tier ships the full note-and-whiteboard app with unlimited everything (notes, whiteboards, image uploads, collaborators). The only thing that scales with price is AI credits. Heptabase has essentially turned its base software into a fixed-cost commodity and made AI consumption the price ladder.

2. Tier-jump instead of usage billing. Most usage-priced AI tools let you top up or overage past your allowance. Heptabase deliberately doesn’t — there are no add-on credits. To get more, you upgrade an entire tier. That keeps billing predictable (no bill-shock) at the cost of granularity.

3. A “soft floor” of free basic models. Rather than cutting you off when credits run out, Premium/Premium+ users fall back to free unlimited basic models (Gemini 3 Flash, GPT-5 mini). Credits effectively gate premium model access, not all AI — an elegant way to cap cost exposure while keeping the app usable.

Strengths & weaknesses

Billing UX : Heptabase billing controls and transparency

• Billing controls — Self-serve monthly or yearly toggle directly on the pricing page; 25% yearly discount applied automatically. Upgrades/downgrades are tier swaps with no credit carryover when changing plans mid-cycle.
• Usage visibility — Each plan’s credit allowance is stated up front, but the pricing page does not explain credit-to-action conversion (a documented source of buyer confusion); credit consumption tracking lives inside the app.
• Payment options — Standard card-based subscription in USD; prices may carry additional VAT/local tax depending on region. No invoicing/PO or enterprise procurement path advertised.

Strategic wins : Why Heptabase’s pricing decisions worked

1. Monetizing AI without re-pricing the base product

By keeping Pro at the long-standing $8.99 and bolting AI onto Premium/Premium+, Heptabase added an upsell ladder in December 2025 without alienating existing users or triggering a “they raised prices” backlash. The base plan stayed stable; new value got new SKUs. See how AI companies are shifting from per-user licenses.

2. Predictable pricing as a feature

In a category drowning in token-meter anxiety, Heptabase’s refusal to do per-token overage is a deliberate positioning choice: you always know your bill. That trades revenue upside for trust — a sane move for a profitable, retention-driven solo-/team-user product. Related: bill shock and cost unpredictability.

3. Self-funded pricing discipline

Because the company runs on revenue rather than venture burn, pricing is set to be sustainable, not to grab market share with a perpetual free tier. The 7-day trial converts intent without subsidizing freeloaders. See choosing the right usage metric.

Areas to improve : Gaps in Heptabase’s pricing approach

1. Explain what a credit buys

The single most-cited complaint is that the pricing page shows credit counts (100 / 1,800 / 8,100) but never says what a credit gets you — how many chats, how long a transcript, how many insights. Buyers can’t self-select a tier, so the credit meter creates friction instead of clarity.

2. Ship credit top-ups

The “upgrade an entire tier to get more credits” model is blunt. A Pro user who needs 150 credits one month must pay double for Premium they don’t need. Add-on credit purchases (already promised “on the roadmap”) would smooth the cliff and capture revenue Heptabase currently leaves on the table. See bill shock and cost unpredictability.

3. Reconsider the missing free tier

For a discovery-driven productivity tool competing with Notion/Obsidian’s generous free plans, a 7-day trial is a narrow funnel. A capped permanent free tier (even read-only or low-credit) could widen top-of-funnel without threatening the profitable paid base.

Key takeaways

1. One product, three AI tanks. Heptabase’s tiers differ almost entirely by AI-credit allowance (100 / 1,800 / 8,100), not by core features.
2. Yearly = 25% off, cleanly. Pro $8.99 vs $11.99, Premium $17.99 vs $23.99, Premium+ $53.99 vs $71.99 — a transparent annual incentive.
3. No free tier, no overages, no add-ons. The on-ramp is a 7-day trial; the only way to get more AI is to climb a tier.
4. Credits are the meter, model access is the gate. Premium users fall back to free basic models when credits run out, capping cost exposure.
5. Profitability shapes the model. A self-funded, ~$200K/mo company prices for sustainable margin, not free-tier land grab.

UBP implications

1. Bundled-credit hybrid is a credible middle path. Heptabase shows you can attach a usage meter (AI credits) to a flat seat price without exposing customers to raw token billing — predictable for buyers, upsell-friendly for vendors.
2. Tier-jump vs top-up is a real design fork. Forcing whole-tier upgrades maximizes simplicity but leaves revenue and goodwill on the table; the missing add-on credits are the obvious next step. See choosing the right usage metric.
3. A meter you can’t explain is friction, not pricing. The “what is a credit?” confusion is a cautionary tale: any consumption unit must be legible to buyers at the point of purchase, not just inside the app.

Sources

• Heptabase pricing page (accessed 2026-06-15)
• Pro, Premium and Premium+ Plans: Pricing & FAQ — Heptabase Help Center (accessed 2026-06-15)
• What’s early-bird pricing, and how do I keep it? — Heptabase Help Center (accessed 2026-06-15)
• Heptabase — Y Combinator (W22) (accessed 2026-06-15)
• How This Founder Bootstrapped a Visual Note-Taking Tool to $200K/Month — Starter Story (accessed 2026-06-15)

Bottom line

Heptabase prices like the profitable, opinionated product it is: $8.99/mo (Pro), $17.99/mo (Premium), $53.99/mo (Premium+) billed yearly, 25% more billed monthly, with the tiers separated almost entirely by an AI-credit meter (100 / 1,800 / 8,100 per month). There’s no free tier and no token overage — just a 7-day trial and a tier ladder you climb when you run out of AI. It’s refreshingly transparent and predictable, with two obvious gaps: explain what a credit actually buys, and let people top up without jumping a whole tier.

Want to compare Heptabase against other knowledge and productivity tools? Browse the pricing blueprint.

Pricing timeline : Major events on a vertical axis

Each milestone below corresponds to a public pricing change, product launch, or material adjustment. Major events use a filled marker; minor adjustments use a faded one.

Three-tier credit-metered structure confirmed

Jun 2026

Pricing page shows Pro $8.99, Premium $17.99, Premium+ $53.99 (per month billed yearly, 25% off monthly). AI credits power chat, transcripts, insights, and voice notes; no credit rollover, no add-on purchases yet.

Premium and Premium+ tiers added

Dec 2025

Heptabase split its single plan into three. The original plan became 'Pro' (100 AI credits/mo), and two AI-heavy tiers launched: Premium ($17.99/mo yearly, 1,800 credits, AI Tutor + premium models) and Premium+ ($53.99/mo yearly, 8,100 credits, 33% credit discount).

Early-bird period ends at v1.0 launch

Aug 2023

Heptabase exited open beta with v1.0. Standard pricing became $8.99/mo billed yearly ($107.88/yr) and $11.99/mo billed monthly. Early-bird subscribers ($9.99 monthly / $83.88 yearly) keep their discounted rate permanently.