Free plan features and limits

When to use this

The Free plan suits individuals exploring GDPRChecker or auditing third-party sites without installing code. You keep an account, run public scans at /scanner, and review compliance scores and findings. Free does not include managed sites (maxActiveSites is zero), runtime protection, consent banner publish, tracker blocking, runtime heartbeat, or billing dashboard access.

Refer to this article when the dashboard shows upgrade prompts on Setup, Consent, or Protection areas, or when API responses include PLAN_REQUIRED. Those gates are intentional—operational GDPR tooling for your own domain starts at Pro.

Free is not a trial of Pro; it is a permanent tier for scanner-only use. Upgrade when you need to verify ownership, install the script, and go live.

Marketing and procurement teams sometimes standardize on Free for unlimited reconnaissance while engineering owns a single Pro subscription for production. That split is valid—just avoid expecting Free login to publish banner changes on a live domain.

Compliance reports generated from Free scans can still be attached to vendor security reviews; note in the cover letter that findings are non-invasive external observation without runtime enforcement proof.

Product-led growth teams use Free scans in sales demos; upgrade CTAs in dashboard mirror help articles linked from scan results.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Sign up and confirm your plan badge reads FREE on Account or Billing preview.
2. Use /scanner to scan URLs you care about; save report links for documentation.
3. Explore read-only or locked dashboard previews to see what Pro unlocks—do not expect publish to work.
4. Compare Pro and Growth features on /pricing focusing on site count and blocking depth.
5. When ready, start checkout for Pro or Growth with Stripe.
6. After payment webhook sync, refresh dashboard—Setup and Sites should unlock.
7. Add your first site per create-first-site help and continue the wizard.
8. Retain Free on a separate account only if your org wants scanner-only interns—otherwise one paid account per team is simpler.
9. Document which URLs you scan repeatedly so rate limits are not mistaken for product bugs.
10. Read Pro plan help before purchase to confirm one site is enough for year one.
11. Export scan PDFs before upgrade if you want before/after evidence in compliance folders.

Expected result

Clear expectations: scanner works; managed protection does not until upgrade. No surprise charges on Free because billing dashboard itself is unavailable until Pro.

Upgrade path is understood before purchase—Pro for one site, Growth for multi-site and advanced rules.

Educate stakeholders that Free findings are valuable reconnaissance but cannot prove ongoing enforcement—you still need Pro for heartbeat and blocking evidence during regulator inquiries about operational controls.

Troubleshooting