Subscription Plans and Limits
Agathos Books offers a free plan for getting started and paid plans for growing libraries that need more capacity and admin tools.
Plan Overview
Section titled “Plan Overview”Agathos Books has four self-serve library plans — Free, Growth, Plus, and Pro — plus a custom Enterprise option for larger organizations. For current prices, limits, and a side-by-side comparison, see the Pricing page.
Plans primarily affect library admin tools and capacity limits — the everyday member experience is the same across all tiers.
What’s Included on Every Plan
Section titled “What’s Included on Every Plan”No matter which plan you’re on, every member gets the full reading and lending experience:
- Borrow and lend books
- Scan books with your camera
- Track and share reading progress
- Join reading plans
- Get reminder notifications (push, in-app, email, SMS)
- Join libraries with invite links
- Activity feed and community engagement
- Direct messaging with lenders and borrowers on every loan
Choosing a Plan
Section titled “Choosing a Plan”- Free — Get started at no cost. A good fit for small churches, book clubs, and trying Agathos Books.
- Growth — More capacity and admin tools when your library outgrows Free.
- Plus — The full admin toolkit for larger communities with heavier lending and moderation needs.
- Pro — Higher member capacity for large churches and school districts, plus priority phone support and an onboarding consultation.
- Enterprise — Custom pricing for multi-campus organizations, networks, and districts. Contact us for a quote.
Limits, features, and prices for each tier are on the Pricing page. You can move between tiers anytime; your books, members, and history stay when you upgrade.
When You’ll See Upgrade Prompts
Section titled “When You’ll See Upgrade Prompts”You may see upgrade suggestions in two situations:
Approaching Capacity Limits
Section titled “Approaching Capacity Limits”When your library reaches 80% of its active-member limit, then again at 90% and at 100%, library admins see a notice on People, Promote, and Plan & billing, and get a notification. The notice stays on the page. It is not a temporary toast.
At 100%, new email invitations, the share link, the flyer and QR code, the announcement template, and the website badge are turned off. Promote explains why and links the owner to Plan & billing. People who already have a link are not turned away: they join a waiting list. Instant-join links are added automatically when the library has room. Email invitations and requests to join stay on that list until an admin approves them. The list is on People → Requests.
A bulk email list is sent in full or not at all. If more people on the list still need an invitation than the library can add, none of those invitations go out. Shorten the list or upgrade, then send it again. Addresses that are already members, or that already have a pending invitation, do not use a seat.
When a library is at its book limit
Section titled “When a library is at its book limit”Books members share with a full library aren’t turned away — they wait. The book stays in the member’s My Books, and the share is held until the library has room again, either because the plan was upgraded or because a book was removed. Held shares are counted on the Plan & billing page as books waiting for capacity.
This applies to any share that would add a book, including turning sharing back on for a book you had switched off earlier. Books already shared with the library are never affected.
What counts as an “active member”
Section titled “What counts as an “active member””Your plan is billed on active members: anyone in your library who has used Agathos Books in the last 90 days, or who currently has a loan open. This is the number shown on the Plan & billing page.
Your library’s engagement stats measure something different, so they never use the word “active”. Figures like Used · 7 days and 35 of 42 members used the library look at the last 7 or 30 days and only count activity in your library — browsing it, reading one of its books, or borrowing from it. It’s normal for that number to be lower than your active member count; the two answer different questions.
Using an Advanced Feature
Section titled “Using an Advanced Feature”Some admin tools are only available on paid plans. If you try to use one — like creating a second reading plan on the Free tier — you’ll see a prompt explaining which plan includes that feature.
These prompts are only shown to library admins, never to regular members. If you are an admin but not the library owner, you will still see these prompts so you know what the library needs — but only the owner can complete an upgrade or open billing. Ask the owner to use Plan & billing in Settings.
Managing Your Subscription
Section titled “Managing Your Subscription”Only the library owner can change the subscription (not other admins). Open Manage → Admin dashboard → Settings → Plan & billing (this section is owner-only).
On that page you can:
- View your current plan, usage bars, and renewal date
- Start or upgrade a plan — pick Growth, Plus, or Pro in the plan selector, then confirm. Upgrades take effect immediately with prorated billing.
- Change plan (paid libraries) — switch between paid tiers. Upgrades take effect immediately; switching to a lower paid plan applies at your next billing date.
- Manage subscription (paid libraries) — opens Paddle’s secure billing portal for payment method, invoices, and pause
- Cancel subscription (paid libraries) — opens the same billing portal to end your subscription at the next billing date. See Canceling your subscription for what happens next.
Billing is handled by Paddle — Agathos Books never stores your card details.
Downgrading
Section titled “Downgrading”Use Change plan to switch between paid tiers (for example, Plus → Growth). The change is scheduled for your next billing date and you keep your current plan’s features until then.
If your current usage is above the new plan’s limits when you confirm, the app shows a warning so you know what to expect. The downgrade still goes through. When it takes effect, you’ll have 14 days to bring usage under the new limits — after that, the library is frozen until you reduce usage or move to a plan that fits. No data is deleted.
To move to Free, use Cancel subscription instead — see Canceling your subscription.
- Members never see upgrade prompts — only library admins do
- You can start on Free and upgrade anytime — your data carries over seamlessly
Related Articles
Section titled “Related Articles”Still Need Help?
Section titled “Still Need Help?”If you have questions about plans or billing, contact support.