Skip to content
English
Go to Toggl 2.0
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Understanding licenses in Toggl 2.0 

A license is what you’re actually billed for — not a user. Here’s how the two relate, and how to avoid paying for seats you're not using.

Understanding licenses in Toggl 2.0

A license is what you’re actually billed for — not a user. Here’s how the two relate, and how to avoid paying for seats nobody’s using.
Toggl 2.0's paid plans work on a per-license billing model rather than a per-user one. Knowing the difference matters most when someone leaves your team, since removing them and removing what you’re paying for are two separate actions.


License, defined

Think of a license as a paid seat. Every member of a paid organization takes up one, and your org can never hold more members than it has licenses — though the reverse is fine. A license with nobody in it is called a vacant license, and it’s still counted (and billed) as part of your subscription.


Where new licenses come from

Adding or inviting someone to your organization automatically creates a license for them, billed pro-rata for the rest of your cycle.

What happens when a member leaves

Deactivating or deleting a member removes them from your active headcount, but their license stays on the subscription — it just becomes vacant rather than disappearing.

Note: Removing a person doesn’t reduce your bill by itself. The license has to be removed separately.

The upside: a vacant license is a free slot. Assign it to someone new before your cycle ends and you won’t pay extra.


Clearing out a vacant license

To stop paying for a seat you don’t plan to refill:

  1. Go to the Subscription page in the web app.
  2. Click the three-dot menu on the Toggl 2.0 row.
  3. Select Manage Licenses.
  4. Adjust the license count in the dialog.
  5. Confirm.

The change applies right away and lowers your license count immediately. Need to add someone back down the line? A fresh license gets created and billed at that point.


Why this matters most at renewal

On annual plans, you’re locked into your license count for the full term. Any licenses left vacant through the year renew right along with the active ones — unless you clear them out first.

Example: An organization on an annual Premium plan buys 20 licenses. Three people leave over the year and are removed as users, but nobody removes their licenses. Renewal time comes: even with only 17 active people, the bill reflects 20 licenses — because the 3 vacant ones were never cleared.

Monthly plans carry the same rule, but with less room for vacant licenses to pile up since each renewal comes around so much sooner.


Tips and suggestions

  • Glance at the Licenses section of your Subscription page every so often — do this especially in the weeks before an annual renewal.
  • Know someone’s not being replaced soon? Remove their license immediately instead of leaving them deactivated.
  • Deactivating (versus deleting) preserves a departed member’s data, but it’s a separate step from freeing up their license — don’t assume one does the other.