Hello, I have a proposition for Figma regarding the billing model. Currently, Figma charges per editor per team. This means that if additional editors are invited to a project or team, the team admin will be charged.
This is a problem for agencies and freelancers, as often times they collaborate closely with clients. Clients may want to make minor adjustments by hand to a project file that the freelancer or agency is working on for a number of reasons - be it to save time or reduce miscommunication. Thankfully, Figma makes real-time collaboration easy. However, with Figma’s current business model, the freelancer or agency in this case now has to bear the cost of the client’s account since the client has been invited as an editor.
This is counter-intuitive and quite frustrating for the freelancer or agency who now has to pay for two (or more) full Figma accounts as part of the team, even though the client may only be collaborating for a single project file. I believe Figma does this to prevent users from exploiting invites to allow others to freely utilise the benefits of the paid account. But I would like to propose an alternate solution that will serve as a compromise for such cases.
Figma could introduce temporary editing privileges that are time-limited. A freelancer or agency could send out an invite that grants an external party temporary editing privileges to a single project file for a set amount of time - for example, a week - without incurring additional charges. By the end of the time limit, the external party’s account reverts to view only privileges.
This allows freelancers and agency’s to temporarily collaborate with clients if needed and without comrpomising Figma’s business model. The single-file-basis privilege coupled with the limited time window should be sufficient in preventing users from exploiting a paid account’s benefits to other accounts.
I strongly believe this model would be a win-win for both Figma users and Figma. If anything, it may even drive Figma sales up in the long run. As a freelancer, many of my clients frequently request editing privileges to make minor adjustments. I myself am very interested in subscribing to a Professional account for an unlimited experience. But with the current Figma business model, I would rather stick with a Free account just to avoid being charged for additional accounts. If Figma would make changes to address this issue, I would certainly subscribe to a Professional account.