When Free is enough

Most workspaces that open Inkpacket this week should stay on Free. Free allows 5 packets a month. Free at 5 packets a month is the live cap desk send, bulk rows, Web Form fills, and API send share. Free includes 1 published Web Form. The desk is the same on every published lane — upload, template, bulk send, sequential or parallel routing, access codes, embed, reminders, expiry, void, correct, resend, API, webhooks. Checkout is not open, so this workspace stays on Free whether you “pick” Starter or not. That is stay-on-free honesty: enough is a ceiling you already have, not a paid brand you do not run.

The published ladder is choosing a plan: Free vs paid lanes. The subtraction is Free vs Starter envelope math. The live number is the Free plan 5-packet cap. What a send is is what counts as an envelope. Desk help is Docs. This guide is the stay decision — when you do not need a paid lane at all.

Pricing lists the same 5. The FAQ says paid does not always mean more envelopes. Ask Inkpacket for when Free is enough to open this article. Ask which plan should we pick to open Pricing. Those phrases stay on the product screens. This article is the public version of why “upgrade” is the wrong verb while charging is off.

Enough means the desk, not a lane name

• You send fewer than 5 created-and-sent envelopes this UTC month.
• You need at most one live Web Form slug.
• You can copy a signing link when mail skips. You do not need a card to place a field.
• Seat counts are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full.

Free is not a demo mode. Templates, bulk send, routing, access codes, embed, reminders, expiry, void, correct, resend, API, and webhooks all run. You are waiting on the next UTC month when the 5 is gone — not on Starter to stamp a PDF. Features lists the same set without the essay.

Starter lists more envelopes

Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. A month that outgrows Free still fits Starter. You pick Starter, once checkout is real, when a second and third public form matter and twenty sends is enough. You do not pick it because a CSV felt professional. Starter grants extra published forms and more monthly envelopes than Free. Web Form Free published-form cap is that other 402.

Growth is 100 envelopes and 10 published forms. Agency is 500 and 25. Those are planning numbers on a page that does not charge. Do not treat the ladder as a promise that this workspace will move tomorrow. Billing is published, not charging.

When paid lanes wait

• You already send close to 5 and the next UTC month is not soon enough — Starter’s 20 is the next published step, and Growth lists 100.
• You need a second live Web Form this week. Free’s publish gate returns HTTP 402 and names the plan limit.
• You want three operators on the roster as a plan story. Invite still accepts a fourth on Free today.

Even those three do not unlock charging. Opening Billing shows checkout not open. A card field does not turn on email, text-message (SMS), Drive, or payments. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live. Those flags are install keys, not plan gates. Payments honesty is the charge that does not happen.

Do not shop by other brands

This article does not name other signing products. Inkpacket is original software at inkpacket.com. Evaluate the desk you will operate: a PDF, fields, a tokenized link, an audit, a download. If that loop matches how you work, stay. If you need notary, knowledge-based authentication, or a qualified electronic signature, those stay out of this pass — the FAQ says so in the same words.

The click-path

1. Send a real envelope on Free. Copy the signing link if mail skips.
2. Count created-and-sent envelopes, not drafts, not publishes, not reminders.
3. If you are under 5 and on one slug, stay. Do not open checkout to “unlock” the desk.
4. If you need a second slug, disable the first or wait — do not expect Starter to charge today.
5. If you hit HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT, wait for the next UTC month. Do not clone the envelope.

List math still applies on Free. A 60-row bulk job is not a Free-plan plan — bulk send Free envelope math. Split the cohort. The row that would exceed the cap 402s. The rows that went out already counted.

Caps and what is not open yet

Free allows 5 packets a month. Free at 5 packets a month is the live cap desk send, bulk rows, Web Form fills, and API send share. Hitting it returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT. Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. Seat counts are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full.

Billing is published, not charging. Checkout is not open. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live. Those flags do not turn Free into a lesser desk. The FAQ and published pricing use monthly envelope cap in the same words.

Stay when the month fits. File what you sent. Do not buy a story checkout cannot charge. Open a workspace on Free and send one envelope so the 5 is a number you have watched, not a brochure guess.