Systeme.io free vs paid plans: what Free really covers, and when to pay

Systeme.io is unusual in having a Free plan that you can actually sell from: your own checkout, sales funnels, email, a course and a blog, with no card needed to start. That makes the honest question less “is Free any good?” and more “at what point does Free stop being enough, and what’s the cheapest step up?”

This guide lays out every main limit on each plan, the rules that aren’t in the comparison table (the lifetime sales cap and the badge), who Free is still fine for, and which paid plan to pick when you outgrow it. It uses the same limits as our Systeme.io plan checker, so the two always give the same answer.

How this was checked: we re-read systeme.io/pricing (plan cards and the full comparison table, on both monthly and annual billing) and the help-centre articles behind the Free plan’s extra rules on 29 October 2026. Nothing had changed since our previous check on 23 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars, as systeme.io lists them.

The four plans at a glance

From systeme.io/pricing and help articles 1509 and 286, re-checked 29 October 2026. Yearly billing is advertised as “2 months free”, so it costs ten times the monthly price.

On every plan, including Free, you get unlimited email sends, unlimited file storage, unlimited blog posts and bookings, and a 0% transaction fee. Your payment processor (Stripe, PayPal and the others systeme.io lists) still charges its own fee on each sale.

One oddity: the comparison table says 500 students on Free, while a marketing block on the same page says “Unlimited students”. We go by the table.

The rules that aren’t in the table

Three Free-plan rules matter as much as the limits above:

• A US$10,000 lifetime sales cap. Help article 1509 says Free accounts have a lifetime sales limit of US$10,000. A warning banner appears at US$8,000, and at US$10,000 your payment pages stop accepting new sales until you upgrade. Affiliate commissions you earn don’t count toward it.
• The badge stays. Free can’t remove the Systeme.io badge from your pages or the “Sent with systeme.io” footer from your emails. Startup and above can.
• Inactive Free accounts are closed. The pricing FAQ says Free accounts with no login or activity for 6 months are deactivated.

What happens if you go over a limit differs by plan. On a paid plan, you get a warning email each day for 3 days, and if nothing changes by day 4 you’re moved up to the next plan automatically. On Free, the account is restricted instead: opt-ins and payments stop, you can’t add contacts or students, emails and new automations pause, and students lose course access until you upgrade or remove the extra items.

Who Free is still fine for

Free isn’t a trial; there’s no time limit as long as you log in. It’s a sensible home for a business if all of these are true:

• One offer, one follow-up. You sell one product with a single delivery or welcome sequence. One automation rule (“when someone buys, tag them and send the course”) and one email campaign cover it.
• Under 2,000 contacts. That’s subscribers and customers together.
• Up to 3 funnels and 15 pages. For example a lead-magnet funnel, a sales funnel and a thank-you page or two.
• One custom domain, one course with up to 500 students, one blog.
• Sales well under US$10,000 in total. If you sell US$300 a month, you’d reach the cap in about 34 months; at US$1,000 a month, in 10.
• The badge doesn’t bother you while you’re testing.

If that describes you, stay on Free. There’s no price advantage in upgrading early, and every paid plan’s extra limits are there whenever you need them.

When you’ll outgrow the free plan

Most people leave Free for one of four reasons: their list passes 2,000 contacts, they want a second automation (a follow-up for a second product, or a sequence for people who didn’t buy), they need a fourth funnel or a second domain, or their lifetime sales get close to US$10,000. Here’s the comparison with the cheapest paid plan, Startup.

Which paid plan: Startup, Webinar or Unlimited?

Pick the cheapest plan whose limits cover what you’ll run in the next few months. In practice:

• Startup (US$17/month): the right step up from Free for almost everyone. It lifts contacts to 5,000, funnels to 10, custom domains to 3, automation rules to 10 and email campaigns to 10, lifts Free’s US$10,000 lifetime sales cap, so you can keep selling, and lets you remove the badge.
• Webinar (US$47/month): only if you sell through an automated (evergreen) webinar, which isn’t available on Free or Startup, or you have 5,001 to 10,000 contacts, or need more than 10 automation rules, 5 workflows or 10 funnels. Systeme.io doesn’t run live webinars on any plan.
• Unlimited (US$97/month): past 10,000 contacts or 100 automation rules, or if you want the highest limits on every feature.
• For teams (Custom): no public price; systeme.io asks you to book a call.

Contact limits are usually what pushes people up a plan later on. Systeme.io’s help centre suggests deleting inactive contacts to stay under a limit, which can keep you on a cheaper plan for longer.

If you’re not sure which limit applies to you, the plan checker asks for your numbers and tells you which plan fits and which limit decides it.

Monthly or yearly billing?

Yearly billing costs ten months’ price: US$170 a year for Startup instead of US$204, US$470 for Webinar instead of US$564. On Startup and Webinar, paying yearly also adds free migration (systeme.io moves your existing setup for you) and a free 1-hour kickstart coaching session. Unlimited includes both on monthly billing too.

Pay monthly while you’re still finding out whether the business works; switch to yearly once you know you’ll be on the plan for a year. Two details from the help centre: if you pay by PayPal, upgrading charges the full price of the new plan (PayPal doesn’t support prorated payments), and to move down a plan you first remove anything above the lower plan’s limits, then contact support.

What you keep from each sale

Because every plan has a 0% transaction fee, the only per-sale cost on systeme.io is your payment processor’s fee. A paid plan doesn’t change what you keep from each sale; it changes the limits. If you’re comparing against a platform that takes a percentage of every sale, our fee calculator shows what you’d keep per sale and per month on each type of platform. To add up every tool you pay for, use the software cost calculator.

Quick answers

Is the Systeme.io free plan really free? Yes. It costs US$0 with no card needed and no time limit, as long as you log in at least once every 6 months. It has a 0% transaction fee, but your payment processor’s fee still applies, and lifetime sales are capped at US$10,000.

What happens when I reach US$10,000 in sales on Free? A warning appears at US$8,000. At US$10,000, help article 1509 says your payment pages stop accepting new sales until you upgrade to a paid plan.

What is the cheapest Systeme.io paid plan? Startup, at US$17 a month or US$170 a year. It allows 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 3 custom domains and 10 automation rules, with no lifetime sales cap.

Do I need the Webinar plan? Only if you sell through an automated (evergreen) webinar, or you have more than 5,000 contacts or need more than 10 automation rules. Otherwise Startup fits.

Can I remove the Systeme.io badge on the free plan? No. Removing the badge from pages and the “Sent with systeme.io” email footer needs Startup or above.

Before you upgrade: systeme.io changes its plans from time to time. Everything here was re-checked on systeme.io/pricing and the help centre on 29 October 2026. Confirm the limits on the pricing page before you choose a plan.

Sources (systeme.io’s own pages, re-checked 29 October 2026): systeme.io pricing (plan cards, comparison table on monthly and annual billing, FAQ), help 1509: how subscription plans are moderated, help 1086: restricted accounts, help 286: removing the badge, help 2008: email footer, help 2010: free migration, help 265: evergreen webinars, help 139: deleting inactive contacts.