Absolutely no idea what is going on. I need help re: new subscriptions.

[Gothic Admin]

Trying to parse out what things mean, all the different levels of subscription and different levels of users is a real nightmare and I can't believe what a headache this is. We have been happily using trello for a couple of years now so obviously (like everyone) it's disappointing that for so many of us it's becoming yet another monthly subscription in a world now full of monthly subscriptions but I digress... this is a useful service for us so we are willing to pay for it. What isn't expected is how difficult it's been made to understand what is going on. Members, Guests, Collaborators - what is the difference here? Is everyone a Collaborator? Below I will explain our situation and maybe someone can help.

If what I think is happening is indeed happening then our use of trello went from $0 a month to over $1,000 which is completely unacceptable and absolutely wild. There will come a point where we simply cannot use it anymore. I'm hoping someone can correct me on that.

Currently we have 10 workspaces with up to 10 boards and no more than 10 "members" - these are the core team. Each workspace however has up to 200 guests - people who have their own trello account that we invited to view our boards/cards and make comments.

Am I right in thinking that in order for them to stay, we need to pay (at least) $5 per month for every guest we have in our workspace?

Is there a way for these people to view our workspaces without being a 'guest'?

Do we need to condense our workspaces to just 1 and 10 boards if we stay on the free plan?

If we pay for the core team on a standard plan it would be $50 a month - not the end of the world but not great. If we need to pay the same price for people to simply look at the boards then it throws our use of trello into jeopardy. It simply won't work.

Why is this so needlessly complicated? I have looked at this stuff for hours and I can't comprehend it and looking at this forum, I am not alone.

Finally, why can't I find a number to call someone and work through this instead of being sent to a form that doesn't have anything to do with pricing or accounts? I dare say this could all be clarified in a quick phone call but instead I'm typing out essays on here in the hope that someone responds. This is a pain.

Any like everyone else we're in a rush because this has been thrust upon us with only a month to sort out. I can't pretend I'm happy about any of this but we are hoping we can work it out and keep using trello. If every month we have to keep removing guests to continually free up spaces for new guests then the extra work also throws our use of it into jeopardy. What should be simple and cost effective will become troublesome, time consuming and expensive.

[Caity]

Hi there! First, I want to clarify the timing. You can continue using Trello normally with all of your existing collaborators until May 20, after which you’ll still be able to view all of your boards. The change in April will only affect inviting new collaborators.

We’ll also be offering a 30-day free trial of Trello Premium, starting on April 8 and available through the end of May, to help with this transition. So, you can start the trial in April if you need to add someone new, or you can wait until May 20 to start the trial if you don't need to add anyone before then. The trial does not require a credit card, and you can switch to Standard when it's over.

As for who counts as a collaborator, all members and guests of the Workspace are collaborators. Guests are people who are members of a board within the Workspace but not members of the Workspace itself.

Whether or not you will have to pay for all of your guests depends on how many boards they're on. Any guest who is only a member of a single board within the Workspace is free.

If you'd like to see in advance how much it would cost to upgrade your Workspace, you can find that by going to the Workspace billing page. To navigate there, click on the down arrow next to "Workspace settings" in the sidebar, as shown in the screenshot below, and then click on "Upgrade workspace." You'll be able to switch between monthly and annual billing on that page to see how much each option would cost for either Trello Premium or Trello Standard.