Free Tier User Seat Limits

Overview

Some organizations on the Free Plan may notice new user-based credit charges or an unexpected increase in credit consumption. This article explains why this is happening, what changed, and what steps your organization can take to continue running pipelines without interruption.

Changes to Free Plan User Limit

Previously, some organizations were able to have more than 5 active users on the Free Plan without incurring charges. This was due to a temporary allowance prior to the 2024 Free Plan updates.

Officially, the Free Tier includes only 5 free active users. Organizations with additional users beyond this will now see user-based credit charges, which explains any sudden increase in credit consumption.

What Changed?

Starting December 1, 2025, each unregistered user will be counted individually toward your monthly active user total. This effectively updates the Free Tier back to 5 free active users, and any additional users beyond this will now consume credits.

This is an expected update and not a bug. As a result, you may see:

• Increased credit usage starting in December

• Credit charges for users beyond the 5 included in the Free Tier

• Higher monthly credit consumption than before

For full details, see the discussion post: Changes to Unregistered User Billing

How User Credits Work on the Free Plan

• First 5 active users: Free

• Each additional user beyond 5: 25,000 credits per month

These charges are deducted directly from your Free Plan’s 30,000 monthly credits pool.

Example:
If your organization has 7 active users where you can see this on your CircleCI Plan page:

• First 5 users → Free

• 2 additional users → 2 × 25,000 = 50,000 credits

• These 50,000 credits will be taken from your available monthly credits (or billed if exceeding your plan limit).

Please note, if you exhaust your free credits during the billing cycle, you will need to wait until the next billing cycle for them to reset.

Next Step: Upgrade to the Performance Plan

To continue running pipelines without interruption, organizations with more than 5 users will need to upgrade to the Performance Plan. This plan provides:

• Support for more users

• Expanded compute options

• Higher or customizable credit limits

• Additional platform features

For more information see: How to Upgrade from the Free Plan to the Performance Plan