blackbear Device Ceiling Rule

blackbear's paid tiers are gated by device count, not seats: Cloud sync covers up to 10 devices, Cloud Pro up to 25. That ceiling is the real unit of agency margin. A five-person delivery pod with laptop, phone, and tablet each burns 15 devices, so Cloud at $2 monthly (or $1.58 billed annually) breaks before the team is fully synced, while Cloud Pro absorbs the same pod with room for two client-owned machines. Before quoting any blackbear retainer, count devices per client, not headcount. A solo practitioner setup at $1,150 with 10h of configuration fits Cloud cleanly. A 12-person client team does not. Map device inventory first, then choose the tier, then price the engagement. Agencies that skip this step absorb upgrade costs inside a fixed retainer and watch the margin disappear.