Plans, Limits & Features
Last updated: April 2026
Overview
Herald has one self-hosted tier (free, MIT) and three cloud tiers: Solo, Team, and Studio. All cloud pricing is flat, with no MAU metering or surprise bill increases as your product grows. Team can also expand before you ever need Studio.
Every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial (no credit card required) and during the trial you get full Team-tier features so you can evaluate the upgrade gates before committing. Founding Member launch pricing lock is available during our launch window.
Self-Hosted (Free, MIT)
Run Herald on your own infrastructure. MIT-licensed, always free, always your choice. Source at github.com/ThinkOodle/herald.
What works: GitHub repo sync, AI changelog drafts (bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic key), embeddable widget, email subscribers (bring your own SMTP), hosted changelog page. You own the data; you control the auth.
Differences from cloud: The managed analytics dashboard is a cloud-only feature. A "Powered by Herald" attribution is required on the widget and hosted page unless you're on a paid cloud plan. Otherwise there are no software-imposed project, seat, or repo limits — your infrastructure is your only ceiling.
Solo — $19/month ($228/year $190/year)
For indie hackers and solo founders shipping one SaaS product. Annual billing saves two months, shown here as the full 12-month price crossed out.
- 1 project, 1 GitHub repo, 1 seat
- Managed AI changelog drafts (no API key required)
- Hosted public changelog page
- Embeddable widget (script tag, <50ms load, unread badge)
- Email subscriber notifications (managed sending)
- Basic view counts per release
- "Powered by Herald" badge removed
Best fit: one indie product, one repo, one public changelog. Move to Team when you outgrow the 1-project cap or need private repos.
Team — $79/month ($948/year $790/year)
For small product teams shipping regularly. This is where the upgrade gates unlock.
- 5 projects, 5 seats, multiple repos per project
- Expansion Packs available: +5 projects and +5 seats for $50/month or $500/year, up to 2 packs
- Private repos & gated changelogs (share link, JWT, or admin access)
- User groups & audience segmentation
- Custom domain (changelog.yourapp.com, full HTTPS)
- Custom email sender domain
- Widget theming & customization
- Full analytics dashboard (subscriber growth, view counts, read rates)
- Outgoing webhooks on publish
- In-product comments (coming soon)
- Everything in Solo
Best fit: teams with multiple products, a private repo to connect, or an audience worth segmenting. If you outgrow 5 projects or 5 seats, stay on Team and add Expansion Packs before stepping up to Studio.
Studio — $249/month ($2,988/year $2,490/year)
For agencies and larger product teams managing many changelogs.
- Unlimited projects & seats
- Full white-label (strip Herald branding completely)
- Priority support
- Everything in Team
Best fit: agencies running many client products, teams that need true unlimited scale, or orgs where white-label and priority support matter, not just a few extra slots.
Founding Member — launch pricing lock (launch only)
During our first 30 days, lock in launch pricing. Limited to 100 customers per tier — when they're gone, they're gone.
- Solo Founder — $190/year locked
- Team Founder — $790/year locked
- Studio Founder — $2,490/year locked
Includes: everything in the matching tier · your launch rate stays locked while subscribed · direct founder access · early feature access.
14-day free trial
Every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial. No credit card required. During the trial you get full Team-tier features, so you can evaluate segmentation, analytics, custom domain, and the rest of the Team upgrades before committing.
When the trial ends, you choose a plan or your account pauses — your data isn't deleted and any changelog you've already published stays live for your users. If you'd rather self-host, export your data and move to the MIT build any time.
Feature availability by tier
Every feature and which tiers include it. "Self-managed" means the feature is a function of how you run your own Herald install.
| Feature | Self-hosted | Solo | Team | Studio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public GitHub repos | ||||
| Private GitHub repos | self-managed | — | ||
| AI changelog drafts | BYO key | Managed | Managed | Managed |
| Hosted changelog page | ||||
| Embeddable widget | ||||
| Email subscribers | BYO SMTP | Managed | Managed | Managed |
| Projects | Unlimited | 1 | 5 included, up to 15 | Unlimited |
| Seats | Unlimited | 1 | 5 included, up to 15 | Unlimited |
| Repos per project | Unlimited | 1 | Multiple | Unlimited |
| Basic view counts | — | |||
| Full analytics dashboard | — | — | ||
| User groups & segmentation | — | — | ||
| Private / gated changelog views (JWT, share link) | self-managed | — | ||
| Custom domain | — | — | ||
| Custom email sender domain | — | — | ||
| Widget theming | — | — | ||
| Outgoing webhooks on publish | — | — | ||
| Full white-label | — | — | — | |
| "Powered by Herald" badge | Required | Removed | Removed | Removed |
| Priority support | — | — | — |
Next article Self-Hosting Overview