---
stage: Fulfillment
group: Subscription Management
description: Seat usage, compute minutes, storage limits, renewal info.
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# GitLab.com subscription

DETAILS:
**Tier:** Premium, Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com

NOTE:
The GitLab SaaS subscription is being renamed to GitLab.com. During this transition, you might see references to GitLab SaaS and GitLab.com in the UI and documentation.

GitLab.com is the GitLab multi-tenant software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering.
You don't need to install anything to use GitLab.com, you only need to
[sign up](https://gitlab.com/users/sign_up). When you sign up, you choose:

- [A subscription](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/).
- [The number of seats you want](#how-seat-usage-is-determined).

The subscription determines which features are available for your private projects. Organizations with public open source projects can actively apply to our [GitLab for Open Source Program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/open-source/join/).

Qualifying open source projects also get 50,000 compute minutes and free access to the **Ultimate** tier
through the [GitLab for Open Source program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/open-source/).

## Obtain a GitLab.com subscription

A GitLab.com subscription applies to a top-level group.
Members of every subgroup and project in the group:

- Can use the features of the subscription.
- Consume seats in the subscription.

To subscribe to GitLab.com:

1. View the [GitLab.com feature comparison](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/feature-comparison/)
   and decide which tier you want.
1. Create a user account for yourself by using the
   [sign up page](https://gitlab.com/users/sign_up).
1. Create a [group](../../user/group/index.md#create-a-group). Your subscription tier applies to the top-level group, its subgroups, and projects.
1. Create additional users and
   [add them to the group](../../user/group/index.md#add-users-to-a-group). The users in this group, its subgroups, and projects can use
   the features of your subscription tier, and they consume a seat in your subscription.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > Billing** and choose a tier. You are taken to the Customers Portal.
1. Fill out the form to complete your purchase.

## View GitLab.com subscription

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for the group.

To see the status of your GitLab.com subscription:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Billing**.

The following information is displayed:

| Field                       | Description |
|:----------------------------|:------------|
| **Seats in subscription**   | If this is a paid plan, represents the number of seats you've bought for this group. |
| **Seats currently in use**  | Number of seats in use. Select **See usage** to see a list of the users using these seats. |
| **Maximum seats used**          | Highest number of seats you've used. |
| **Seats owed**              | **Max seats used** minus **Seats in subscription**. |
| **Subscription start date** | Date your subscription started. |
| **Subscription end date**   | Date your current subscription ends. |

## Renew GitLab.com subscription

15 days before a subscription expires, a banner with the subscription expiry date displays for group owners in the GitLab user interface.

Before you renew your GitLab.com subscription, you should [review your account](../self_managed/index.md#review-your-account).

You can renew your subscription [manually](../self_managed/index.md#renew-subscription-manually) or automatically.
Your updated subscription is applied to your namespace.
The renewal period start date is displayed on the group Billing page under **Next subscription term start date**.

You can view and [manage renewal invoice](../self_managed/index.md#manage-renewal-invoice) at any time.

### Renew for fewer seats

Subscription renewals with fewer seats must have or exceed the current number of billable users.
Before you renew your subscription, [reduce the number of billable users](#remove-users-from-subscription)
if it exceeds the number of seats you want to renew for.

To manually renew your subscription for fewer seats, you can either:

- [Manually renew](../self_managed/index.md#renew-subscription-manually) within 15 days of the
subscription renewal date. Ensure that you specify the seat quantity when you renew.
- [Disable automatic renewal of your subscription](../self_managed/index.md#enable-or-disable-automatic-subscription-renewal),
and contact the GitLab Sales team to renew it for the number of seats you want.

### Automatic subscription renewal

When a subscription is set to auto-renew, it renews automatically at midnight UTC on the expiration date without a gap in available service.
You receive [email notifications](../self_managed/index.md#email-notifications) before a subscription automatically renews.
Subscriptions purchased through the Customers Portal or GitLab.com are set to auto-renew by default,
but you can [disable automatic subscription renewal](../self_managed/index.md#enable-or-disable-automatic-subscription-renewal).

The number of seats is adjusted to fit the [number of billable users in your group](#view-seat-usage) at the time of renewal,
if that number is higher than the current subscription quantity.

## Expired subscriptions

When your subscription expires, you can continue to use paid features of GitLab for 14 days.
On the 15th day, paid features are no longer available. You can
continue to use free features.

For example, if a subscription has a start date of January 1, 2024 and an end date of January 1, 2025:

- It expires at 11:59:59 PM UTC December 31, 2024.
- It is considered expired from 12:00:00 AM UTC January 1, 2025.
- The grace period of 14 days starts at 12:00:00 AM UTC January 1, 2025 and ends at 11:59:59 PM UTC January 14, 2025.
- Paid features are no longer available as of 12:00:00 AM UTC January 15, 2025.

To resume paid feature functionality, purchase a new subscription.

## Upgrade subscription tier

To upgrade your [GitLab tier](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/):

1. Sign in to the [Customers Portal](https://customers.gitlab.com/customers/sign_in).
1. Select **Upgrade** on the relevant subscription card.
1. Select the desired upgrade.
1. Confirm the active form of payment, or add a new form of payment.
1. Check the **I accept the Privacy Statement and Terms of Service** checkbox.
1. Select **Confirm purchase**.

When the purchase has been processed, you receive confirmation of your new subscription tier.

## Add or change subscription contacts

Contacts can renew a subscription, cancel a subscription, or transfer the subscription to a different namespace.

You can [change profile owner information](../customers_portal.md#change-profile-owner-information)
and [add a secondary contact for your subscription](../customers_portal.md#add-a-secondary-contact).

## How seat usage is determined

A GitLab.com subscription uses a concurrent (_seat_) model.
You pay for a subscription according to the maximum number of users assigned to the top-level group
or its children during the billing period.
You can add and remove users during the subscription period without incurring additional charges,
as long as the total users at any given time doesn't exceed the subscription count.
If the total users exceeds your subscription count, you will incur an overage,
which must be paid at your next [reconciliation](../quarterly_reconciliation.md).

A top-level group can be [changed](../../user/group/manage.md#change-a-groups-path) like any other group.

### Billable users

Billable users count toward the number of subscription seats purchased in your subscription.

A user is not counted as a billable user if:

- They are pending approval.
- They have only the [Guest role on an Ultimate subscription](#free-guest-users).
- They have only the [Minimal Access role](../../user/permissions.md#users-with-minimal-access) for any GitLab.com subscriptions.
- They are a [banned member](../../user/group/moderate_users.md#ban-a-user).
- They are a [blocked user](../../administration/moderate_users.md#block-a-user).
- The account is a GitLab-created service account:
  - [Ghost User](../../user/profile/account/delete_account.md#associated-records).
  - Bots:
    - [Support Bot](../../user/project/service_desk/configure.md#support-bot-user).
    - [Bot users for projects](../../user/project/settings/project_access_tokens.md#bot-users-for-projects).
    - [Bot users for groups](../../user/group/settings/group_access_tokens.md#bot-users-for-groups).

Seat usage is reviewed [quarterly or annually](../quarterly_reconciliation.md).

If a user views or selects a different top-level group (one they have created themselves, for example)
and that group does not have a paid subscription, the user does not see any of the paid features.

A user can belong to two different top-level groups with different subscriptions.
In this case, the user sees only the features available to that subscription.

### Free Guest users

DETAILS:
**Tier:** Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

In the **Ultimate** tier, users who are assigned the Guest role do not consume a seat.
The user must not be assigned any other role, anywhere in the instance or in the namespace for GitLab.com.

- If your project is:
  - Private or internal, a user with the Guest role has [a set of permissions](../../user/permissions.md#project-members-permissions).
  - Public, all users, including those with the Guest role, can access your project.
- For GitLab.com, if a user with the Guest role creates a project in their personal namespace, the user does not consume a seat.
The project is under the user's personal namespace and does not relate to the group with the Ultimate subscription.

### Seats owed

If the number of billable users exceeds the number of **seats in subscription**, known
as the number of **seats owed**, you must pay for the excess number of users.

For example, if you purchase a subscription for 10 users:

| Event                                              | Billable members | Maximum users |
|:---------------------------------------------------|:-----------------|:--------------|
| Ten users occupy all 10 seats.                     | 10               | 10            |
| Two new users join.                                | 12               | 12            |
| Three users leave and their accounts are removed.  | 9                | 12            |

Seats owed = 12 - 10 (Maximum users - users in subscription)

To prevent charges from seats owed, you can
[turn on restricted access](../../administration/settings/sign_up_restrictions.md#turn-on-restricted-access).
This setting restricts groups from adding new billable users when there are no seats left in the subscription.

### Seat usage alerts

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/348481) in GitLab 15.2 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `seat_flag_alerts`.
> - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/362041) in GitLab 15.4. Feature flag `seat_flag_alerts` removed.

If you have the Owner role for the top-level group, an alert notifies you
of your total seat usage.

The alert displays on group, subgroup, and project
pages, and only for top-level groups linked to subscriptions enrolled
in [quarterly subscription reconciliations](../quarterly_reconciliation.md).
After you dismiss the alert, it doesn't display until another seat is used.

The alert displays based on the following seat usage. You cannot configure the
amounts at which the alert displays.

| Seats in subscription | Alert displays when |
|-----------------------|---------------------|
| 0-15                  | One seat remains.   |
| 16-25                 | Two seats remain.   |
| 26-99                 | 10% of seats remain.|
| 100-999               | 8% of seats remain. |
| 1000+                 | 5% of seats remain. |

## View seat usage

To view a list of seats being used:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. Select the **Seats** tab.

For each user, a list shows groups and projects where the user is a direct member.

- **Group invite** indicates the user is a member of a [group invited to a group](../../user/project/members/sharing_projects_groups.md#invite-a-group-to-a-group).
- **Project invite** indicates the user is a member of a [group invited to a project](../../user/project/members/sharing_projects_groups.md#invite-a-group-to-a-project).

The data in seat usage listing, **Seats in use**, and **Seats in subscription** are updated live.
The counts for **Max seats used** and **Seats owed** are updated once per day.

### View billing information

To view your subscription information and a summary of seat counts:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Billing**.

- The usage statistics are updated once per day, which may cause a difference between the information
  in the **Usage Quotas** page and the **Billing page**.
- The **Last login** field is updated when a user signs in after they have signed out. If there is an active session
  when a user re-authenticates (for example, after a 24 hour SAML session timeout), this field is not updated.

## Search seat usage

To search seat usage:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. On the **Seats tab**, enter a string in the search field. A minimum of 3 characters are required.

The search returns users whose first name, last name, or username contain the search string.

For example:

| First name | Search string | Match ? |
|:-----------|:--------------|:--------|
| Amir       | `ami`         | Yes     |
| Amir       | `amr`         | No      |

## Export seat usage

To export seat usage data as a CSV file:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. In the **Seats** tab, select **Export list**.

## Export seat usage history

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for the group.

To export seat usage history as a CSV file:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. In the **Seats** tab, select **Export seat usage history**.

The generated list contains all seats being used,
and is not affected by the current search.

## Add seats to subscription

Your subscription cost is based on the maximum number of seats you use during the billing period.

- If [restricted access](../../administration/settings/sign_up_restrictions.md#turn-on-restricted-access)
  is turned on, when there are no seats left in your subscription you must purchase more seats for groups to add new billable users.
- If restricted access is turned off, when there are no seats left in your subscription groups can continue to add billable
  users. GitLab [bills you for the overage](../quarterly_reconciliation.md).

To add seats to a subscription:

1. Sign in to the [Customers Portal](https://customers.gitlab.com/).
1. Go to the **Subscriptions & purchases** page.
1. Select **Add seats** on the relevant subscription card.
1. Enter the number of additional users.
1. Review the **Purchase summary** section. The system lists the total price for all users on the system and a credit for what you've already paid. You are only charged for the net change.
1. Enter your payment information.
1. Check the **I accept the Privacy Statement and Terms of Service** checkbox.
1. Select **Purchase seats**.

You receive the payment receipt by email. You can also access the receipt in the Customers Portal under [**Invoices**](https://customers.gitlab.com/invoices).

## Remove users from subscription

To remove a billable user from your GitLab.com subscription:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Billing**.
1. In the **Seats currently in use** section, select **See usage**.
1. In the row for the user you want to remove, on the right side, select **Remove user**.
1. Re-type the username and select **Remove user**.

If you add a member to a group by using the [share a group with another group](../../user/project/members/sharing_projects_groups.md#invite-a-group-to-a-group) feature, you can't remove the member by using this method. Instead, you can either:

- [Remove the member from the shared group](../../user/group/index.md#remove-a-member-from-the-group).
- [Remove the invited group](../../user/project/members/sharing_projects_groups.md#remove-an-invited-group).

To remove a user from your self-managed instance, see [Deactivate a user](../../administration/moderate_users.md#deactivate-a-user).

## Link subscription to a group

To change the group linked to a GitLab.com subscription:

1. Sign in to the [Customers Portal](https://customers.gitlab.com/customers/sign_in) with a
   [linked](../customers_portal.md#link-a-gitlabcom-account) GitLab.com account.
1. Do one of the following:
   - If the subscription is not linked to a group, select **Link subscription to a group**.
   - If the subscription is already linked to a group, select **Subscription actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**) > **Change linked group**.
1. Select the desired group from the **New Namespace** dropdown list. For a group to appear here, you must have the Owner role for that group.
1. If the [total number of users](#view-seat-usage) in your group exceeds the number of seats in your subscription,
   you are prompted to pay for the additional users. Subscription charges are calculated based on
   the total number of users in a group, including its subgroups and nested projects.

   If you purchased your subscription through an authorized reseller, you are unable to pay for additional users.
   You can either:

   - Remove additional users, so that no overage is detected.
   - Contact the partner to purchase additional seats now or at the end of your subscription term.

1. Select **Confirm changes**.

Only one namespace can be linked to a subscription.

<i class="fa fa-youtube-play youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i>
For a demo, see [Linking GitLab Subscription to the Namespace](https://youtu.be/8iOsN8ajBUw).

### Transfer restrictions

You can change the linked namespace, however this is not supported for all subscription types.

You cannot transfer:

- An expired or trial subscription.
- A subscription with compute minutes which is already linked to a namespace.
- A subscription with a Premium or Ultimate plan to a namespace which already has a Premium or Ultimate plan.
- A subscription with a GitLab Duo add-on to a namespace which already has a subscriptions with a GitLab Duo add-on.

## Compute minutes

[Compute minutes](../../ci/pipelines/compute_minutes.md) is the resource consumed when running
[CI/CD pipelines](../../ci/index.md) on GitLab instance runners. If you run out of compute minutes,
you can [purchase additional compute minutes](compute_minutes.md).

## Enterprise Agile Planning

GitLab Enterprise Agile Planning is an add-on that helps bring non-technical users into the same
DevSecOps platform where engineers build, test, secure, and deploy code.
The add-on enables cross-team collaboration between developers and non-developers without having to
purchase full GitLab licenses for non-engineering team members.
With Enterprise Agile Planning seats, non-engineering team members can participate in planning
workflows, measure software delivery velocity and impact with Value Stream Analytics, and use
executive dashboards to drive organizational visibility.

To purchase additional Enterprise Agile Planning seats, contact your
[GitLab sales representative](https://about.gitlab.com/sales/) for more information.

## Purchase more storage

To exceed the free 10 GiB storage quota, you can purchase more storage for your personal or group namespace.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role.

NOTE:
Storage subscriptions **renew automatically each year**.
You can [disable automatic subscription renewal](../self_managed/index.md#enable-or-disable-automatic-subscription-renewal).

### For your personal namespace

1. Sign in to GitLab.com.
1. From either your personal homepage or the group's page, go to **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. Select the **Storage** tab.
1. For each read-only project, total by how much its **Usage** exceeds the free quota and purchased
   storage. You must purchase the storage increment that exceeds this total.
1. Select **Buy storage**. You are taken to the Customers Portal.
1. In the **Subscription details** section, select the name of the user from the dropdown list.
1. Enter the desired quantity of storage packs.
1. In the **Customer information** section, verify your address.
1. In the **Billing information** section, select the payment method from the dropdown list.
1. Select the **Privacy Statement** and **Terms of Service** checkboxes.
1. Select **Buy storage**.

The **Purchased storage available** total is incremented by the amount purchased. The read-only
state for all projects is removed, and their excess usage is deducted from the additional storage.

### For your group namespace

If you're using GitLab.com, you can purchase additional storage so your
pipelines aren't blocked after you have used all your storage from your
main quota. You can find pricing for additional storage on the
[GitLab Pricing page](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/).

To purchase additional storage for your group on GitLab.com:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > Usage Quotas**.
1. Select the **Storage** tab.
1. Select **Buy storage**. You are taken to the Customers Portal.
1. In the **Subscription details** section, enter the desired quantity of storage packs.
1. In the **Customer information** section, verify your address.
1. In the **Billing information** section, select a payment method from the dropdown list.
1. Select the **Privacy Statement** and **Terms of Service** checkboxes.
1. Select **Buy storage**.

After your payment is processed, the extra storage is available for your group namespace.

To confirm the available storage, follow the first three steps listed above.

The **Purchased storage available** total is incremented by the amount purchased. All locked
projects are unlocked and their excess usage is deducted from the additional storage.