# Members and seats

Workover Essentials is billed per seat, per workspace. This page lists exactly who occupies a paid seat, who does not, and when a change to the seat count is charged. Use it to answer “why am I paying for this person?”

To see your current seats, open the workspace switcher, choose **Workspace settings**, then the **Plan & billing** tab. The **Billable members** list shows each person who occupies a seat once, with a pill that says how: their workspace role, or **Project access** if they are only on a project.

![The Plan & billing page with the Billable members list](https://workover.io/api/proxy-image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.wpdocsync.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F09%2Fthe-plan-billing-page-with-the-billable-members-list-scaled.png)

If you are unsure of the difference between a workspace and a project, read [Core concepts](/docs/core-concepts/) first.

## Who occupies a seat

A seat belongs to a distinct person. Someone who qualifies in more than one way is still billed once.

| Who | Occupies a seat |
| --- | --- |
| Workspace member with the Owner, Admin or Member role | Yes |
| Project collaborator: anyone added to any project in the workspace, whether or not they are a workspace member | Yes |
| Guest: someone given access to a single document by sharing it, without being added to its project | No |
| Link viewer: someone who opens a document through an “anyone with the link” link | No |
| Pending invitation that has not been accepted | No |

Things that surprise people:

- **Project access alone costs a seat.** Adding someone to a project occupies a seat whatever their role on that project. The boundary is project access, not workspace membership.
- **You cannot make someone a Guest by hand.** When you invite people to the workspace you choose **Member** or **Admin**. People become guests only by being shared a single document. If a guest is later added to that document’s project, or to the workspace, they occupy a seat from then on.
- **Removing someone from the workspace does not remove them from its projects.** If they are still on a project, they still occupy a seat. Remove them from each project too.
- **The count never drops below 1**, even in a workspace with nobody who qualifies.

## When seat changes are charged

| Change | What happens to the bill |
| --- | --- |
| Seat count goes up | The added seats are invoiced and charged straight away, prorated for the rest of the billing period. During a free trial nothing is charged. |
| Seat count goes down | The removed seats are credited against your next invoice. There is no immediate refund. |
| Count is unchanged | Nothing happens and no proration is created. |
| No plan started yet | Nothing is charged. When you start a plan, it begins with the seat count at that moment. |

Because each increase is charged when it happens, adding people mid-cycle produces its own small invoice, separate from your renewal invoice.

## How quickly the count updates

| What changed | When the seat count updates |
| --- | --- |
| Someone is added to or removed from a project | Immediately |
| Someone is removed from the workspace | Immediately |
| Someone accepts a workspace invitation, or a guest is given a workspace role | Within the hour |

Every workspace with a subscription, including one on a free trial or with a failed payment, is also re-checked once an hour. That hourly check catches anything an earlier update missed, and needs no action from you.

## Related

- [Plans and pricing](/docs/plans-and-pricing/)
- [Inviting your team](/docs/inviting-your-team/)
- [Roles and permissions](/docs/roles-and-permissions/)
- [How to download invoices and set your billing details](/docs/invoices-and-receipts/)