Project Echo Rule: Charge for the Portal Only When the Client Workspace Is White-Labeled
Should an agency bill a client for a Project Echo feedback portal, and at what point does the $29/mo Pro upgrade become a billable line item rather than an internal cost? Run every client on the free plan until their portal needs their logo and domain, then move that single workspace to Pro at $29/mo and bill it inside the retainer instead of absorbing it.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
“Should an agency bill a client for a Project Echo feedback portal, and at what point does the $29/mo Pro upgrade become a billable line item rather than an internal cost?”
Run every client on the free plan until their portal needs their logo and domain, then move that single workspace to Pro at $29/mo and bill it inside the retainer instead of absorbing it.
Upgrading every client workspace to Pro on day one to look polished, which burns $29/mo per client against retainers that may never surface the portal publicly, and leaves no free tier in reserve for prospects who have not yet committed.
The free tier already covers unlimited workspaces, unlimited boards, unlimited team members, unlimited feedback, the feedback portal, and API and MCP Server access, so an agency can pilot the collect, prioritize, announce loop across its whole client roster at $0. The only capabilities that justify a client-facing charge sit on Pro at $29/mo: custom domain, branding removal, custom user properties, MRR attribution, and custom SMTP. Because white-labeling is per workspace, the cost scales with the number of clients whose portals are public, which is exactly the set of clients willing to pay for it.
- •The agency manages 5 or more SaaS clients, the threshold the vendor's own verdict names as the fit for reselling roadmap visibility as a retainer add-on
- •The client's product team already runs Linear, Notion, or Slack, so feedback and roadmap updates sync into tools they open daily instead of a portal they forget
- •The engagement includes a public-facing surface (changelog, roadmap, or feedback board) where the client's own logo and domain must appear
- •The client pays the agency a monthly retainer of $299 or more, which is the fee attached to the vendor's own Project Echo Starter Portal offer
More on Project Echo
- StrategyWhy Project Echo Turns Roadmap Visibility Into Retainer Margin
- ConceptProject Echo White-Label Margin Threshold
- Decision FrameworkProject Echo: Buy vs Skip (White-Label Client Feedback Portals)
- Failure PatternThe Project Echo White-Label Margin Trap
- Implementation BlueprintProject Echo White-Label Client Portal Rollout (5-7 days)
- Operating ProcedureProject Echo White-Label Client Workspace Handoff (Onboarding)