---
title: "Who counts towards the user limit on plans?"
description: "All users that sign in to HelpDocs with a username/password or Single Sign On, regardless of their role, are counted towards the plan limits. Public viewers to unrestricted knowledge bases aren't."
url: "https://support.helpdocs.io/article/5GsbZs20Dv-who-counts-towards-the-user-limit-on-plans"
category: "FAQs"
updated_at: "2025-09-29T12:41:09Z"
---

# Who counts towards the user limit on plans?

All users that have an account or active invitation in HelpDocs (visible in **Settings** > **Access**) with a username/password or Single Sign On—[regardless of their role](/article/CaKSeF9kSP-managing-users)—are counted towards the plan limits.

Public viewers to unrestricted knowledge bases are not counted as users, since they won't have their own HelpDocs account. In addition [Shared Password](/article/mNAoCKyr6T-shared-password-protection) and [JWT Auth](/article/g7iasnwau5-restricting-your-help-docs-with-custom-jwt-sso) users are *not counted* toward your user limits. [SAML](/article/i8fpdjc43n-setting-up-saml-single-sign-on)/[OIDC](/article/h961z8xb7r-using-open-id-connect-for-single-sign-on) SSO users are counted in most instances, but Read-only users with [Anonymous Mode enabled](/article/dknnr3dfae-sso-anonymous-mode) are excluded.

We'll send you an email when you hit the user limit on your plan

### Who Counts Toward User Limits

User Type

Counts Towards Limit

[HelpDocs Account](/article/CaKSeF9kSP-managing-users) (username & password, including [read-only users](/article/CaKSeF9kSP-managing-users))

Yes

Single Sign On (e.g. [Slack](/article/n647bk78sv-configuring-slack-single-sign-on), [SAML](/article/i8fpdjc43n-setting-up-saml-single-sign-on), [OIDC](/article/h961z8xb7r-using-open-id-connect-for-single-sign-on)):

All roles (with anonymous mode **disabled**)

All roles except read-only users (with anonymous mode **enabled**)

Read-only users with anonymous mode **enabled**

\-

Yes

Yes

No

[Shared Password Protection](/article/mNAoCKyr6T-shared-password-protection) (or Shared Password as SSO)

No

A [JWT Auth](/article/g7iasnwau5-restricting-your-help-docs-with-custom-jwt-sso) token or cookie

No

Public Viewers that Don't Log In

No

Users that only view docs in Lighthouse

No

Extra users can be added to [some plans](https://www.helpdocs.io/pricing) for a fee. Head over to this article to [request extra](/article/508ch9bj6o-can-i-add-additional-users-to-my-account).