This FAQ covers how Cinapse subscriptions, pricing, and billing work. For the plan list and current prices, see How much does Cinapse cost? Plans & pricing (or cinapse.io/pricing).
Personal vs. production plans
Cinapse has two kinds of paid plans:
- Personal (Professional): a subscription you keep between projects, for development and early scheduling before a show is financed.
- Production (Independent, Studio, Enterprise): project-based plans paid by the production for a specific show; they end when the show wraps.
The free Starter plan lets you try Cinapse with no credit card and no time limit.
Can I start on a personal plan and upgrade a project later?
Yes. Build on Starter or Professional, then upgrade that project to Independent or Studio once financing is secured and the production takes over billing, without disrupting your existing schedules.
Why does Cinapse charge productions directly?
Scheduling is a production-wide operational system that cast, crew, studios, and financiers rely on, much like payroll or dailies software. Personal (Professional) subscriptions cover early development before financing; production plans cover active production, including billing, security, and administration.
How does the production plan get paid?
When a production takes over, you upgrade the project to Independent or Studio and assign a billing admin (you're prompted to invite them by email during the upgrade). The production pays for that project while you keep the same account, boards, and data. Your personal Professional subscription stays separate.
Seats
- Independent includes 4 configurable seats (Editors, Breakdown Editors, Viewers), with unlimited additional seats.
- Studio includes 10 configurable seats, fully customizable permissions, and unlimited additional seats.
See How do user roles and permissions work in Cinapse? for the roles, and How much does Cinapse cost? for add-on seat rates.
What is Picture Lock pricing?
Picture Lock is an introductory rate for the Professional plan: $29.99/month or $299.99/year, locked for 2 years, if you subscribe before December 1, 2026. After that date, standard Professional pricing is $49.99/month or $499.99/year. It applies only to Professional (not the production plans), and your rate holds for 2 years on either monthly or annual billing.
Pausing vs. cancelling (Professional)
- Pause: your locked schedules become view-only, your rate is preserved (including Picture Lock protection for up to 12 months), collaborators keep view-only access, and you can fully restore anytime.
- Cancel: your schedules lock completely (inaccessible until you resubscribe), you're removed from shared productions, and your Picture Lock rate is forfeited. You can resubscribe later and restore your work.
Can I switch back to Professional after a show wraps?
Yes. Your Professional subscription runs independently of any production-paid plan, so you can activate, pause, or reactivate it anytime.
Can I switch between monthly and annual billing?
Yes, in your account settings. Your Picture Lock rate stays locked for 2 years on either option.
Why did the plan names change?
Team is now Independent and Team Pro is now Studio, to better reflect real production workflows. The change is automatic, with no impact to your pricing, features, or projects.
How does Enterprise pricing work?
Enterprise is custom, based on a studio or company's slate and volume. Any production on any tier (Starter through Studio) can be transferred into an Enterprise account for organization-wide ownership, access control, and oversight. Contact us for a proposal.
Need more help? Email us at support@cinapse.io, or ask the help assistant using the chat button in this Help Center. It answers most questions instantly and can connect you with our team.