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On February On February 15, Dimagi notified CommCareHQ users about its new pricing plans for CommCare, CommTrack, and CommConnect. This page is meant to answer some FAQs that you may have about these new plans (which are summarized in Question 1). Note that these went into effect on March 1, 2014. 

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QA

What Pricing Plans does Dimagi Offer?

  • Software Plans: Software plans give you access to CommCare on Dimagi's managed cloud servers. This includes cloud server support, advanced features and SMS capabilities, automatic software updates, bug fixes and maintenance support, security updates,  HIPAA compliance, and much more. For specific plan details please see (http://www.commcarehq.org/software-plans/)
  • Implementation Service Packages: If your project requires support from Dimagi staff, you can purchase an implementation service package. Experienced Dimagi staff members will work with your team in-country to help develop mobile applications, provide implementation support, and build your staff's capacity.  Packages may also include custom reports and feature development. Our implementation service packages will remain largely unchanged. ALL implementation service packages include 12 months of software plans. See more here (http://www.commcarehq.org/service-packages/)
How are the Dimagi's new software plans different than before?
Our new software plans are based on a monthly subscription fee. We still offer a completely free version of CommCare. The "Community" edition of CommCare supports up to 50 mobile users and provides access to all the basic CommCare features. To add more mobile users or to access more advanced features, you can upgrade to a higher level software plan. Please see a list of our five software plans here, and refer to the CommCare Plan Details for additional details about each software plan's associated features. 
Dimagi now offers five software plans tailored to meet different partner and project needs.
  • Community: For projects in a pilot phase with a small group (up to 50) of mobile users that require very basic CommCare features. 
  • Standard: For projects with a medium set (up to 100) of mobile users that want to build in limited SMS workflows and have increased data security needs.
  • Pro: For projects with a large group (up to 500) of mobile users that want to build in comprehensive SMS workflows and have increased reporting needs.
  • Advanced: For projects scaling to an even larger group (up to 1,000) of mobile users that want the full CommCare feature set and dedicated support from Dimagi staff. 
  • Enterprise: For projects scaling regionally or country wide that require the full CommCare feature set. Your organization will receive discounted pricing and dedicated enterprise-level support from Dimagi.
What is the difference between a software plan and an implementation service?
  • An implementation service package (e.g. CommCare PLUS package) gets you direct support from Dimagi staff members. Dimagi staff will help with the development of new application features or custom reports, technical support, application building, project management, trainings, and provide implementation support. 
  • A software plan (e.g. the Pro software plan) is paying a subscription to use CommCare on Dimagi's cloud servers. This includes cloud server support, access to advanced features and SMS capabilities, automated software updates, bug fixes and maintenance support, security updates, HIPAA compliance, and much more.
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How do I subscribe to a plan?
How do I subscribe to a plan?
How do I subscribe to a plan?
Log into CommCareHQ and go to the project space you want to subscribe to a plan. Navigate to the Settings page by clicking the orange button at the top right of the page that says the name of your project. Choose "Current Subscription" from the menu on the left, and select and confirm your plan. Your project will be subscribed to that plan immediately, and you will receive an invoice at the end of the month.
What if I need a feature that is in a pay-only software plan? 
If your project is currently using a feature that is in a pay-only software plan, you need to sign up for that software plan to continue using the feature. We do offer pro bono access to pay-only features for organizations that can demonstrate need. Pro bono applications are usually granted to small organizations who want to do a small or pilot project and who have really thought through their feature needs.

You can apply for a pro-bono plan by filling out this application.
How does this impact existing partners? How will the software plans impact my ongoing contract or project with Dimagi?
If user fees were included in your existing contract with Dimagi, you will not be charged for a software plan until the completion of your existing contract. This is typically ~12 months from the contract's start date. If you have specific questions about this, please email your contact person at Dimagi or accounts@dimagi.com
What if my organization can't afford a software plan?Our "Community" software plan is completely free, supports up to 50 mobile users, and gives you access to all the basic CommCare features. If you would like to add more mobile users or to access more advanced features, Dimagi offers pro-bono software plans on a need-only basis. Pro bono plans are usually granted to small organizations who can demonstrate need. You can apply for a pro bono plan by filling out this application.
Are the software plans flexible? Can I pick and choose certain software features from different software plans?
No. The software plans cannot be adjusted and are not customizable. Please see the previous question for more information about what to do if you can't afford the current software plans.
Where can I find more information about the individual features?
Please see feature descriptions on the CommCare Plans page, or under the "Learn More" button on the Software Plans page.
What are the custom reports that are offered in the Pro, Advanced, and Enterprise software plans?
If your organization has a Pro, Advanced, or Enterprise software plan, you have the option to access custom reports in your project space. You must contract with Dimagi to have custom reports built on CommCareHQ. There is an additional one-time cost for the development of each custom report. If you subscribe to the "Community" or "Standard" software plans, custom reports are not available to your organization. In the future, we hope that other software developers and organizations will be able to build their own custom reports on CommCareHQ, but at this time Dimagi needs to be contracted to build out any custom reports and these can only be added under the Pro, Advanced, and Enterprise software plans.
What is the ballpark estimate for the per-message fee noted at the bottom of the table?
  • Dimagi's Gateway (Excluding Enterprise Level): Any additional messages beyond the monthly limit will be charged a per-message fee by the local telecommunications provider. The SMS gateway fee will vary depending on the country and the telecommunication network, although it typically falls between .01 USD and .10 USD.
  • Your Gateway (+Enterprise Level on Dimagi Gateway): Software plans that have their own gateway have an unlimited amount of incoming and outgoing messages. While these plans are not subject to telecommunications' fees, Dimagi charges an additional $.01 (US) per message on all incoming and outgoing messages.
What happens when I have more mobile users than the plan I'm in (e.g. what if I have 101 mobile users in my project space)? Do I have to jump to the next software plan? How are mobile users counted?
Each plan comes with a number of mobile user free of charge. This number represents all mobile user that are not currently deactivated. Both active and inactive mobile workers are counted. To reduce your number of mobile users, you can deactivate inactive users. Read more about archiving users on Create and Manage CommCare Mobile Workers.
If you exceed the number of mobile users included for free in your plan, you will be charged $1/month for each additional mobile user
Are there any limits to the number of "Web Users" my project can have with any of these software plans?
No. The software plans only limit the number of "mobile users" in each software plan. There is no limit to the number of "web users" you can have. For the difference between a web user and a mobile user, please see this page (CommCare Fundamentals - Web and Mobile Users) on our CommCare Help site.
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How are payments made?
How are payments made?
How are payments made?

 

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At the end of each month, if you have incurred charges, you will receive an invoice. You can pay the invoice via credit card on CommCareHQ as follows:

  1. Go to Project Settings > Billing Statements
  2. Find the Statement you want to pay and under "Payment Status" select "Make Payment"
  3. Under Payment Amount, select to either pay the full balance or a portion of the balance
  4. Under Card Information enter your credit card details and click "Submit Payment"

You can also choose to prepay for a subscription in advance:

  1. On your subscription page, click the "Add Credits" button and pre-pay with a credit card. 
  2. Each credit = 1 USD. You can buy separate credits for SMS, Users, or your plan. 
  3. Credits will be automatically applied to your monthly invoice until you run out. At that point, you'll start receiving post-pay invoices again.

Dimagi can also accept ETF (wire or ACH payments). If you would like to pay via Wire Transfer or have any questions, please reach out to accounts@dimagi.com.

What are credits?
One credit = one USD. You can purchase plan credits, user credits, or SMS credits. Each time you send an SMS, the cost will be subtracted from your SMS credits. At the end of the month, your user and plan charges will be subtracted from your user and plan credits respectively.
Once you run out of credits in any of the above areas, you will start to receive invoices in that area.
Where does CommConnect fit into the CommCare software plans?
To learn about CommConnect pricing, please refer to the SMS (CommConnect) section in the software plans. CommConnect projects are available on all plans except for the "Community" software plan.
Where does CommTrack fit into the CommCare software plans?
CommTrack will be based on the same software plans but will be publicly available on its own website (www.commtrack.org) and customized to only include the relevant content.
Is the Commcare-Export tool considered use of API Access for the purposes of software plan/billing?
No, the Commcare-Export tool accesses all records via the API, but is intended to be available to all plans.  There are technical changes required to enable the export-tool to work without general API access that will be implemented before January 1st, 2014.
Will there be any support for developer accounts (for feasibility research, systems interoperability using a test data, etc.), or is it expected that these groups will have to sign up for the standard plan?
Developer accounts will be offered pro-bono to developers looking to write tools that integrate with CommCare. To make a developer account request, please email information@dimagi.com. 
 When did the new software plan go into effect?The new software plans went effect March 1, 2014. Dimagi shared the new software plans publicly on CommCareHQ.org as of August 1, 2013, in order to give advance notice of an upcoming change to our pricing.
My service agreement with Dimagi is about to end but I'd like to retain my CommCare HQ subscription. How do I do that?
We're happy to help make sure you can keep your existing functionality after your contract ends. The easiest way to do that is to manage your subscription yourself on CommCareHQ. You'll then receive monthly automated invoices from CommCareHQ, which you can pay via wire transfer or credit card. This is how all non-contracted users pay for their software use.

Here's how to set that up:
  1. One month before your contract end date, [end_date], you'll receive a reminder email from CommCareHQ that your contracted subscription is about to end. It will point you to the subscriptions page on CommCareHQ, where you can manage your subscription: https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[project name]/settings/project/subscription/
  2. When you receive that email, click the link provided to go to the subscription page, and hit the renew button. Choose the [Plan, in this case Standard] plan or higher, which you need to keep sending SMSs. Using the "renew" button ensures that your subscription will be renewed as soon as your current contract runs out. There will be no interruption in your use of [functionality]. 
  3. Once your new subscription begins, on the 1st of every month you'll receive an invoice with the charges you've incurred for that month. This includes the base fee for the software plan subscription, as well charges for any SMS or Users over the included limit. You can pay the invoice as per CommCare Pricing FAQs
  4. Optionally, you can choose to pre-pay some amount in advance as per CommCare Pricing FAQs 
How do I upgrade my plan?

The easiest way to do this is to go to Project Settings > Current Subscription and click "Change Plan"

Whats the difference between HIPPA security at the STANDARD and PRO plan level?Our standard and PRO offerings currently include the same security from a technology standpoint (although this may change in the future).  The key difference is whether Dimagi is willing to assume liability and sign a "Business Associates Agreement" (BAA), which we only do in the PRO and higher packages"
How often should I receive invoices if I'm on a paid subscription?
Our billing system is set up to send out invoices at the end of each month.
How I will be billed if I change subscription?The subscription will take effect as soon as you make the change in your project settings. If you change your subscription in the middle of the month, you will only be billed for the portion of the month when your subscription was active. Invoices are sent on the first day of the month for charges incurred over the previous month.