Most teams don't choose a knowledge base for its pricing model. They choose it for the editor, the search or the way it looks. The pricing model shows up later, usually when someone in finance asks why the documentation tool costs more every quarter even though nobody added any features.
Here at eniston we talk to many teams who are moving away from per-seat tools. The reasons they give are almost always the same. In this article we look at how per-user pricing works for knowledge bases, where it costs more than expected, which other pricing models exist, and what to check before you switch.
Per-user (or per-seat) pricing is the default for much of today's SaaS. It's easy to understand, and the vendor's revenue grows with the customer. That makes sense for tools where every user creates a lot of work for the vendor, such as a CRM with heavy automation or a helpdesk where every agent works tickets all day.
A knowledge base is different. Most people in a knowledge base read, look things up, or fix a typo now and then. A small core team writes most of the content. Pricing everyone as a full seat therefore charges you for access, not for usage.
The price per seat on a pricing page rarely looks alarming. The cost comes from what happens around it.
Say a tool charges €10 per user per month (an example figure, not any specific vendor). With 5 editors that's €50 a month, which is easy to approve. Then:
support gets 8 more people who should be able to update articles,
product managers and developers need to fix technical details,
sales wants to keep its battle cards in the same place,
and two freelancers help with translations.
You're now paying for 20 or more seats, but the knowledge base itself hasn't changed. Nothing new was built. You simply let more people in.
This is the most damaging effect, and it rarely appears in a budget. When every account costs money, teams start sharing logins, keeping "occasional" contributors out, or sending changes through one person who "has a seat".
The result is predictable: outdated articles stay online, because the people who notice mistakes can't fix them. A knowledge base only stays accurate if the people closest to the information can edit it. Per-seat pricing quietly discourages exactly that.
Many tools charge for private readers too, meaning anyone who has to log in to see internal documentation. If your knowledge base is used for employee onboarding, or as a password-protected portal for clients, every reader can become a paid seat.
Agencies that run documentation for several clients feel this most. They often pay per seat and per knowledge base, and every client who wants to edit their own articles adds another seat. Charging clients for documentation on top of that is hard when your own software costs grow with every new account.
Some vendors don't charge per user exactly. Instead they sell tiers such as "up to 30 users" and "up to 100 users". That looks more predictable, but in practice user 31 forces you onto the next tier, often together with features you didn't need.
When you compare knowledge base software, you'll usually find one of these models (or a mix):
Model | How it works | Works well when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
Per user / per seat | Every editor (sometimes also every private reader) costs a monthly fee | Very small teams that will stay small | Costs grow with headcount; access gets rationed |
Seat tiers | Fixed price up to a certain number of users | Team size is stable and well below the tier limit | Big price jumps at the tier boundary |
Per knowledge base / per project | Price per help center, users often unlimited | You need one or two knowledge bases | Agencies and multi-brand companies pay for every extra site |
Usage or credit based | Price depends on AI answers, page views or credits | High-volume AI support use cases | Hard to forecast; bills vary month to month |
Flat plan with included workspaces | One price per plan, users not counted, several knowledge bases included | Growing teams, agencies, multi-product companies | Check which features sit in add-ons |
There's no universally "best" model. But for the typical knowledge base, where a few people write and many people read or contribute now and then, a flat price that doesn't count users usually fits best.
Many tools describe themselves as "unlimited". Before you migrate, read the details:
Who counts as a user? Editors only, or also people who log in to read private content? Are clients and freelancers counted?
How many knowledge bases are included? And what does an extra one cost: monthly or one-time?
Are roles available without extra cost? You'll want read-only access for internal readers and limited editor rights for occasional contributors.
Which features are in add-ons? AI writing tools, removing the vendor's branding and custom domains are common upsells.
Can you restrict access properly? Password protection, IP restrictions or login-only access matter for internal and client documentation.
Where is your data hosted, and is there a data processing agreement? This is especially important for companies in the EU. See our checklist for a GDPR-compliant knowledge base.
Can you leave easily? Check export options and whether you can cancel monthly.
Switching knowledge base tools is less work than most teams expect, if you do it in stages:
Export a list of all articles with their views (if your current tool tracks them). Archive anything nobody has read in the last 12 months or that is plainly outdated. You'll often find that a third of your content doesn't need to move.
Use the move to fix your categories. Keep them shallow, name them after what readers want to do ("Billing", "Getting started", "Integrations"), not after your internal teams.
Start with the 20–30 articles that get the most traffic or prevent the most support requests. Your new knowledge base is useful from day one, and you can move the long tail later.
If you use a custom domain such as help.yourcompany.com, connect it to the new tool and set redirects for important old article URLs, so search engines and bookmarked links don't hit a 404.
This is the step per-seat pricing used to block. Invite the support team, product managers, the freelance translator, and give each the right role.
We don't charge per user. When we built eniston, we deliberately decided against it, because a knowledge base gets better when more of the right people can work on it.
Here is how our plans work today (prices in EUR, excluding VAT):
Plus: €8 per month or €80 per year, with 2 workspaces.
Business: €28 per month or €280 per year, with 10 workspaces and team collaboration.
Business dedicated: €98 per month or €980 per year, for companies that want a dedicated server location, database instance and CDN.
On the Business plan you can invite as many team members as you need. The price doesn't change. Our biggest customer currently has more than 50 team members and pays the regular €28 per month.
A few details that matter when you're coming from a per-seat tool:
Workspaces instead of seats. A workspace is one knowledge base for a product, website, app or client. Each can have its own team, its own custom domain and its own settings. If you need more than your plan includes, extra workspaces are a one-time payment of €9 each.
Roles without extra cost. You can assign Read-only, Editor, Extended Editor, Admin and Super-Admin roles, so occasional contributors can help without full access.
Private knowledge bases. You can restrict a workspace to logged-in team members, an IP allowlist or a password, including passwords for single categories.
Clear add-ons. AI writing tools come with the optional Enhanced add-on (€6 per month for all workspaces in an account). Removing the "Powered by eniston" link is a one-time €15.
Made and hosted in Germany. Our servers are in Germany with ISO 27001 certification, and we comply with the GDPR.
Our full and current plan details are on our pricing page.
Per-user pricing isn't bad in itself, but it suits knowledge bases poorly. It turns a shared resource into something people have to ration, and it makes costs grow even when nothing about the knowledge base changes. If your team has started asking "do they really need a seat?", that's a good sign to look at a different pricing model.
If you'd like to see how a knowledge base without per-user pricing works in practice, you can try eniston free for 30 days. No payment information is required, and you can invite your whole team from day one.
Our knowledge base software offers a great variety of features to manage your knowledge articles. Try eniston for free for 30 days. No credit card required.
