Connecteam’s pricing structure trips people up because it’s not one flat monthly fee, it’s three separate hubs, each with its own tiers, plus a genuinely free plan for small teams. I get asked about this a lot from people running Ecommerce Paradise operations who are hiring their first warehouse or fulfillment staff and trying to figure out what a workforce app is actually going to cost them month to month, especially once headcount starts climbing past a handful of people.
This guide breaks down every tier, what’s actually included, and how the math changes once you need more than one hub. If you’re building out the operations side of a high-ticket dropshipping business, knowing the real cost before you commit saves you from an unpleasant surprise on your first invoice once your team grows beyond the free tier’s limits.
| Plan | Price | Users Included | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business (Free) | $0/month | Up to 10 users | Very small teams testing the platform |
| Basic | $35/month per hub | Up to 30 users | Small businesses needing core features |
| Advanced | $59/month per hub | Up to 30 users | Growing teams needing deeper reporting |
| Expert | $119/month per hub | Up to 30 users | Larger operations needing full feature access |
How Connecteam’s Pricing Actually Works
Connecteam splits its product into three hubs: Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills. Each hub is priced and billed separately, so your total cost depends on how many hubs you actually subscribe to, not just your user count. Most ecommerce operators only need the Operations hub for scheduling and time tracking, which keeps the cost down considerably compared to running all three.
Within each hub, you choose between the Basic, Advanced, or Expert tier. Higher tiers unlock more advanced features like custom reporting, more granular permission settings, and expanded automation, but the base scheduling and time tracking functionality is available even on Basic.
The Free Small Business Plan
Connecteam offers a genuinely free plan for teams up to 10 users, and it’s not a stripped-down trial version. You get full access to every hub and feature at the free tier, which is unusual for this category of software. If you’re running a small warehouse crew or a handful of remote VAs, this is worth testing before you ever consider a paid plan.
The catch is simple: once you cross 10 users, you need to upgrade to a paid tier. For businesses hovering right around that headcount, it’s worth planning your next hire carefully since adding an 11th person triggers the jump to Basic pricing.
Basic Tier: $35/Month Per Hub
The Basic tier covers up to 30 users for $35/month per hub. This is where most small to mid-sized ecommerce operations land if they only need the Operations hub for scheduling, time tracking, and basic task management. At this tier you get GPS time clock, shift scheduling, and the core communication tools without the more advanced reporting and automation found in higher tiers.
Advanced Tier: $59/Month Per Hub
Stepping up to Advanced adds deeper reporting, more scheduling automation, and expanded permission controls, still covering up to 30 users per hub. Businesses that outgrow the Basic tier’s reporting usually move here once they need to track labor costs more precisely or manage a more complex shift structure across multiple locations.
Expert Tier: $119/Month Per Hub
The Expert tier unlocks the full feature set, including advanced automation, deeper integrations, and priority support, for up to 30 users per hub. This tier makes the most sense for larger operations running multiple locations or needing the full HR & Skills hub alongside Operations for onboarding and training.
What Happens Beyond 30 Users
Once your team grows past 30 users on a given hub, you pay an additional per-user fee on top of the base hub price. That additional cost ranges from roughly $0.6 to $1.0 per user per month depending on your tier, with monthly billing at the higher end and annual billing bringing it down. For a 50-person warehouse team on the Basic tier, that’s an extra $12 to $20 a month on top of the $35 base, which stays manageable even as you scale.
Annual Billing Savings
Paying annually instead of monthly saves about 18% across every tier. On the Advanced tier, that turns a $59/month hub into roughly $48/month when billed annually, which adds up fast if you’re running two or three hubs at once. If you’re confident you’ll stick with the platform past a few months, annual billing is the obvious move.
What If You Need All Three Hubs?
This is where Connecteam’s pricing can catch people off guard. If you need Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills all running at the Advanced tier, you’re paying $59 three times over, not one bundled $59 fee. That’s roughly $177/month before annual discounts for a business that wants the full platform. Most ecommerce operators don’t need all three from day one, so start with Operations and add hubs as your actual needs grow rather than paying for tools you won’t touch yet.
The 14-Day Free Trial
Every paid tier comes with a 14-day free trial that includes full feature access, not a limited demo. Use that window to actually run a real schedule and a real pay period through the system before committing, since the difference between tiers often only becomes obvious once you’re using the reporting and automation features in a live workflow.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Monthly subscriptions can be canceled anytime, though Connecteam doesn’t refund prepaid amounts for the current billing period. Annual subscriptions include a prorated refund if you cancel within the first 30 days, which gives you a reasonable safety net if you commit to annual billing and it turns out not to be the right fit.
Connecteam Pricing vs. What You’re Replacing
Before comparing Connecteam’s cost to a competitor, compare it to what you’re currently spending in manager hours on manual scheduling and timesheet reconciliation. According to Costbench’s Connecteam pricing breakdown, most small businesses land in the $35 to $59/month range for a single hub, which is often less than the cost of even a few hours of a manager’s time spent untangling a scheduling conflict or a disputed timesheet each month.
How Connecteam’s Pricing Compares in the Market
Independent pricing breakdowns, including the one from People Managing People’s Connecteam pricing analysis, consistently note that Connecteam sits in the mid-range for workforce management software, more expensive than bare-bones scheduling apps but noticeably cheaper than enterprise HR platforms once you account for the free tier and reasonable per-hub pricing. The Capterra pricing page also confirms the same tier structure with user reviews rating the value for money favorably compared to competitors in the same category.
How to Choose the Right Tier
Start with Basic if you just need scheduling, time tracking, and basic team communication. Move to Advanced once you need better labor cost reporting or you’re managing multiple locations with different managers. Only go to Expert if you need the deepest automation and priority support, most small to mid-sized ecommerce operations never need to go past Advanced on the Operations hub alone.
If you’re still deciding whether Connecteam is the right fit at all before worrying about which tier, my full Connecteam review covers the complete feature breakdown and who it’s actually built for.
Want to see the free plan in action before committing to anything? Try Connecteam free for up to 10 users →
Real-World Pricing Examples by Business Size
Numbers land differently depending on your actual headcount, so here’s how the math plays out for three common ecommerce team sizes on the Operations hub alone.
A lean operation with 8 warehouse or fulfillment staff stays on the free Small Business Plan indefinitely, paying nothing as long as headcount stays under 10. A mid-sized team of 25 lands on the Basic tier at a flat $35/month since they’re still under the 30-user cap, working out to about $1.40 per employee monthly, which is hard to beat for GPS time tracking and scheduling. A larger operation with 60 employees on the Advanced tier pays the $59 base plus roughly $18 to $30 for the 30 users beyond the cap, landing between $77 and $89/month total before the annual discount.
Hidden Costs to Watch For
The per-hub structure is the single biggest source of pricing surprises. Businesses often start on Operations, then realize a few months in that they also want the Communications hub for company-wide announcements, effectively doubling their monthly bill. Before you commit, map out whether you’ll eventually want all three hubs so you can budget for that instead of being caught off guard later.
The other cost people miss is the per-user overage once you cross the 30-user threshold on a hub. It’s a small per-user fee, but if you’re planning to scale headcount quickly, run the math on where you’ll land in six months, not just where you are today.
Payroll Integration and Additional Costs
Connecteam’s payroll integrations, including connections to Gusto and QuickBooks, are included in your subscription cost at no extra charge, but you’ll still be paying for your actual payroll software separately. If you haven’t set up payroll yet for a growing team, it’s worth reading through what payroll actually costs before you assume Connecteam’s price is your only new expense. Getting your business entity and payroll compliance set up correctly matters just as much as picking the right scheduling tool, since misclassifying employees as contractors gets expensive fast if you’re audited.
Does Pricing Change Based on Industry?
Connecteam’s pricing is the same regardless of your industry, whether you’re running a warehouse, a retail storefront, or a field service crew. That’s different from some competitors that charge premium rates for industry-specific features like route optimization or inventory tied directly to your supplier and fulfillment workflow. If your team’s needs are fairly standard scheduling and time tracking, you won’t pay more just because you’re in ecommerce fulfillment versus retail.
Comparing Costs to Alternatives
If Connecteam’s per-hub pricing doesn’t fit your budget once you factor in all three hubs, it’s worth checking my Connecteam alternatives guide for platforms with flat-rate pricing that might work out cheaper depending on your exact feature needs and team size.
Getting the Most Value Out of Your Plan
Most businesses overpay by defaulting to a higher tier than they actually need out of caution. Start on Basic, run it for a full pay period, and only upgrade once you hit an actual limitation, whether that’s a reporting gap or a permission structure that doesn’t fit how your managers work. It’s much easier to upgrade mid-cycle than it is to justify downgrading after you’ve built workflows around Advanced or Expert-only features.
The other lever worth pulling is timing your annual commitment. If you’re testing Connecteam during a slower season, run the 14-day trial and a full month on the monthly Basic plan first. Once you’re confident it’s staying in your stack, switch to annual billing to lock in the 18% discount rather than committing to a year upfront on day one.
What Happens When You Downgrade or Cancel
If you decide Connecteam isn’t the right fit, downgrading from a paid tier back to the free Small Business Plan is straightforward as long as your team is under 10 users. If you’re above that threshold, you’ll need to either trim your active user list or move to a different platform entirely. Data export options exist for schedules and time records, so you’re not locked into the platform if you switch, though it’s worth backing up your historical time and attendance records before making the switch in case you need them for a payroll audit down the line.
Budgeting for Your First Year
For a small ecommerce operation with a 15-person warehouse crew, a realistic first-year budget on the Basic tier with annual billing lands around $29/month for the base 30-user allotment, since you’re under the 30-user cap and paying the annual discounted rate. That’s a manageable line item even for a lean operating budget, and it’s the kind of cost that’s easy to justify once you factor in the hours saved on manual scheduling. As you scale toward your chosen niche’s growth targets and add headcount, revisit your tier every few months rather than over-committing to Expert before you actually need it.
Negotiating or Requesting a Custom Quote
For businesses with more than a few hundred employees or highly specific compliance needs, Connecteam offers custom enterprise pricing outside the standard published tiers. If you’re at that scale, it’s worth reaching out to their sales team directly rather than assuming the Expert tier’s published $119/month per hub rate applies, since enterprise deals often bundle in dedicated support and custom onboarding that isn’t reflected in the self-serve pricing page. For most ecommerce operations under a few hundred employees, though, the standard published tiers cover everything you need without any negotiation required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Connecteam’s free plan really free forever?
Yes, the Small Business Plan is free indefinitely for up to 10 users with full feature access across every hub, not a time-limited trial.
How much does Connecteam cost for 50 employees?
On the Basic tier, you’d pay the $35/month base for the first 30 users, then an additional $0.6 to $1.0 per user per month for the remaining 20, landing around $47 to $55/month total for one hub, which is still a reasonable number for a fast-growing operation.
Do I have to pay for all three hubs?
No. You can subscribe to just the Operations hub, which covers scheduling and time tracking, without paying for Communications or HR & Skills unless you need them.
Is annual billing worth it?
If you plan to use Connecteam for more than a few months, yes. Annual billing saves about 18% compared to paying monthly across every tier.
What’s the cheapest way to try Connecteam before paying?
Use the free Small Business Plan if you’re under 10 users, or the 14-day free trial on any paid tier, which includes full feature access so you can test it against your real workflow.
Does Connecteam charge setup or onboarding fees?
No. Standard self-serve plans don’t include any setup or onboarding fees. Those costs only come into play with custom enterprise deals at very large scale.
Can I switch between tiers mid-month?
Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time, and changes typically take effect immediately with prorated billing adjustments handled automatically.
Do I need a credit card to start the free trial?
Connecteam’s 14-day trial typically doesn’t require a credit card upfront, letting you test full features before deciding whether to enter payment details for a paid plan.
Will my pricing change if I add more hubs later?
Yes. Each additional hub you activate, whether Communications or HR & Skills, is billed as its own separate line item at whichever tier you select, stacking on top of your existing subscription cost.
Ready to get your team’s scheduling and time tracking off spreadsheets? Start your free Connecteam trial →
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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