How should a mobile app price teams and companies?
A work app usually has three buyers: the professional on their own phone, a team lead with a small budget and a company that wants an agreement. This guide shows how to price each and where each plan should be billed under current store rules.
How should a work app price teams and companies?
Offer three steps. An individual plan billed through the app store, priced so a professional can buy it without approval. A team plan priced per seat, bought by a lead or owner, often on your website. A company plan with an annual agreement, admin controls and an invoice, priced per seat or per site with volume terms.
Each step should add what that buyer cares about: personal productivity for the individual, shared work for the team, and control, security and reporting for the company. CrewBoard, a fictional crew scheduling app, is the example on this page.
What goes in individual, team and company plans?
- Personal schedule and job board
- Unlimited jobs
- Export to PDF
- Shared boards for up to 10 crews
- Crew members view free
- Shift change alerts
- All crews and sites
- Single sign-on and admin roles
- Resource reports and audit history
- Invoice and purchase order
Two design choices matter. First, crew members who only view their schedule are free, so the price follows the people who plan the work. Second, the company price per seat is lower but the agreement is annual and covers every site, which suits an operations manager's budget. The usage vs seat pricing guide covers the general trade-off.
Where should each plan be billed?
Billing location affects fees, conversion and what your app may show. As of October 6, 2026, Apple's App Review Guidelines allow apps to include buttons and links to external purchases in the US storefront, a change made May 1, 2025 after a US court decision; outside the US, reader-app and entitlement rules apply. Google's US changes page says Play Billing has not been required for US users since October 29, 2025, describes external links programs and adds fee reporting from October 1, 2026. In the EU, Apple's new terms took effect October 1, 2026, with rates of 26% or a reduced 15% for in-app purchases and 15% or 10% for purchases made through links out.
What that means in practice: you can usually sell individual plans in the app through store billing everywhere, and whether you can link to a web checkout from inside the app depends on the storefront. Company plans sold through a sales conversation and invoiced are typically handled outside the app entirely. Store terms change often and differ by storefront: check current terms for your storefront before you set prices.
| Plan | Usual billing route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Store in-app purchase | One tap, the user's own payment method, store handles renewals |
| Team | Web checkout, or store where linking is not allowed | Lead pays for several seats, wants one receipt |
| Company | Agreement and invoice | Procurement, purchase orders, annual budgets |
How do you build team and company plans step by step?
- Pick the seat unit. Paid seats for people who create or approve work; free or low-cost seats for people who only view.
- Set the team price so three to ten seats cost less than the hassle of expensing individual plans.
- List company-only features from real deal requests: admin roles, single sign-on, audit history, data export, invoicing.
- Write the upgrade path in the app. An individual sees "Bring your crew"; a team owner sees "Talk to us about every site".
- Move existing subscribers cleanly. When a company account starts, show each individual how to cancel their store plan.
- Publish prices for individual and team plans, and a starting point for company plans. See company purchasing for the procurement side.
Charge companies for control, not for basics.
Admin, single sign-on, audit history and central billing are what a company pays for. Do not hold back the core task from team members to force an upgrade.
What do the three billing routes look like in the app?
The same CrewBoard user might see each of these screens over a year: the individual store paywall, a team purchase handled on the web (shown here for a storefront where linking out is allowed), and a company request routed to a person.
CrewBoard Individual
- Your schedule and job board
- Unlimited jobs
- PDF exports
Bring your crew
Team plans are billed on crewboard.example with one receipt for your business.
Every site, one account
A person from CrewBoard replies within one business day.
What team pricing mistakes slow company deals?
- Charging every viewer. If each labourer needs a paid seat to see a schedule, the owner will keep using the group chat.
- Company features in every plan. Then there is nothing for the company to buy.
- Core features only in the company plan. Then individuals never get enough value to recommend you.
- No path from individual to company. Users who paid personally should carry their work into the company account.
- Linking to web checkout where it is not allowed. Check the rules for each storefront before release.
Trade-off: a free viewer seat lowers revenue per company but raises adoption, which usually makes the company plan easier to sell. The individual to company guide shows that path.
What should you measure for team and company pricing?
| Metric | Question it answers | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Individual to team upgrades | Do individuals bring colleagues? | Billing events by account |
| Seats per team at 90 days | Does a team grow after purchase? | Seat counts in your billing system |
| Team to company conversions | Do teams turn into agreements? | CRM opportunities |
| Paid to free seat ratio | Is the seat unit priced fairly? | Workspace member roles |
| Revenue by billing route | How much flows through stores, web and invoices? | Store reports, payment processor, accounting |
Watch the seat count in the months after a team buys. A team plan that stays at three seats is a personal tool shared with two friends; one that climbs past ten is a company deal waiting for a conversation. That is when a person should offer help, as the enterprise sales guide describes. For the individual step, read subscriptions and store fees; for the screen that sells each plan, read upgrade triggers and paywalls.
Frequently asked questions
Should team plans be billed through the app store?
Not necessarily. Teams often prefer one web receipt for several seats. Whether you can link to a web checkout from the app depends on the storefront, so check current terms.
Can a US iOS app link to an external purchase page?
As of October 6, 2026, Apple's guidelines allow buttons and links to external purchases in the US storefront, following a change on May 1, 2025. Check current terms.
Is Google Play Billing required in the US?
Google says Play Billing has not been required for US users since October 29, 2025, and it runs external links programs with fee reporting from October 1, 2026.
What changed for apps in the EU?
Apple's new EU terms took effect October 1, 2026, with different rates for in-app purchases and for purchases made through links out. Check the current terms.
Should viewers pay for seats?
Often no. Charging for people who create or approve work, and letting viewers in free, helps adoption across a company.
What features belong in a company plan?
Admin roles, single sign-on, audit history, data export, central billing and invoices: the controls a company needs, not the core task.
How do I move individual subscribers into a company account?
Keep their work, switch their access to the company entitlement and show them how to cancel their store subscription.
Sources & further reading
Regulator rules, platform policies and local data change. These sources let you check the facts on this page, last checked October 6, 2026.