Billing in cloud detailed explanation
Asked by Alex Kiselev _Itransition_:

As I see on FAQ page

<https://www.atlassian.com/licensing/cloud>

" How are users counted towards billing?

|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Once users are created they are automatically counted towards billing even if they don't accept the invite or log in. A user must be explicitly deactivated, deleted, or removed from a synced user directory (if you have Google sync) to not count towards billing. [Learn how to add or remove users](https://confluence.atlassian.com/cloud/invite-and-remove-users-744721624.html). You may also see users stemming from Marketplace Apps, however, these users are not counted toward your total user count or your bill. |

"

Let's see my example:

I have both Jira and Confluence.

let's say I'm on Standard subscriptions with monthly payments.

In jira I need 500 users, but in Confluence I need only 25 (from these 500 users).

So I will pay for 500 users both for Jira subscription and for Confluence subscription?

Seems like I will pay for 500 users in Jira and 25 in Confluence. And Atlassian makes this counting by access groups.

But if I need 25 active Confluence users and 200 users who will need access to Confluence twice a month. So I will manage access to confluence adding and removing users to the access group for a couple of days in a month.

How Atlassian will count billing? As 25 users in billing days? Or as a maximum during the month? Where I can read about it?

Thanks in advance,

Alex.


Answers:
author: Kris G _Alacriz_
body: Hi [@Alex Kiselev _Itransition_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/591562) ,

Cloud subscriptions are billed based on per user per month or a year.

Adding and removing users twice a month just to avoid costs is impractical and not advisable as they have to be added/removed one at a time.

Read more here about how Cloud Licensing works:

<https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/pricing#> - How are users counted towards billing?

<https://www.atlassian.com/licensing/cloud> - How do I remove users from my cloud site?

I hope the above links that in turn link to other areas of Licensing give you required insights.

Thanks,  
Kris

comments: author: Alex Kiselev _Itransition_
body: Hello, [@Kris G _Alacriz_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1361914)

Thanks for your answer.

I read the links provided but didn't find the answers to my situation.

I just want to clarify:

1) If I have both jira\&confluence on my Atlassian cloud site, I can manage access groups to the products (500 for Jira and 25 for Confluence). Should I pay my bills on the 'user count in access groups' basis? Or I will pay for 500 users ('users are created') both for Confluence and Jira?

2) If bills are based on 'user count in access groups', then I can add\|remove users to the Confluence access group but not add-remove users on the site level. Am I wrong?


author: Kris G _Alacriz_
body: Hi [@Alex Kiselev _Itransition_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/591562) ,

On #1, Assuming that Jira and Confluence have their respective access groups (which is typically the case), billing is made on the basis of number of active users in an access group at the time of billing. So, you have to pay for 500 Jira users PLUS 25 Confluence users. And then, I am not so sure if you can increase the number of Confluence users to above 25 after billing in a month.

On #2, it implies that you can add or remove users to/from access groups in general.

However, in the case of Atlassian Access, you would only pay for 500 users if 25 users of Confluence are also Jira users.

I hope that helps.

best,  
Kris


author: Alex Kiselev _Itransition_
body: Hello, [@Kris G _Alacriz_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1361914)

Thanks for your answer.

#1 I agree. I will pay on fact. And for monthly payments, I will be able to add Confluence users above 25 (For the year subscription I will not be able to go over the user tier - it's a kind of pre-payment).

#2 If I can add-remove users to the Confluence access group (it's quite easy) and billing is only on exact dates, It looks unfair. And Atlassian probably has some legal restrictions for this. But I didn't find any.

Is it ok if I have

a. 25 users in the Confluence access group on the billing date, but 225 as a maximum during the month?

b. 25 users in the Confluence access group on the billing date, but 30 as a maximum during the month?

Billing based on 'Maximum users in the access groups' during the month looks more suitable.

Alex.


author: Kris G _Alacriz_
body: Yes, [@Alex Kiselev _Itransition_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/591562) .

For #a and #b, that is fine to have it that way. That's what I infer from Atlassian's response that I received for a query asked yesterday through a support ticket. This is what they said:
> * We look at your usage at the end of your billing period, and **will charge according to the user count on your renewal date.**
> * The primary billing contact listed on the account will be emailed a preview of your bill 3 days before the end of your billing cycle should any changes occur. Your Site Administrator(s) can always [Disable Users](https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiracloud/creating-editing-and-deleting-users-794198944.html), [Disable Managed Users](https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiracloud/deactivate-or-delete-managed-accounts-962965079.html) or view [Application Access](https://confluence.atlassian.com/cloud/update-product-access-settings-744721629.html) prior to the renewal date to maintain your current user tier.

I highly recommend reviewing our [Managing Users and Groups](https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/manage-users-groups-permissions-and-roles-in-jira-cloud/) page for further information as well.

I hope that helps.

best,  
Kris


Tags: billing

cloud

confluence-cloud

jira