---
title: "Plan"
description: "The fifth setup step: what a first Project chooses here, which kinds of additional Project pay before setup instead, and what completes the step."
updated: "2026-08-29"
verifiedAgainst:
  - apps/web/lib/server/onboarding-status.ts
  - apps/web/app/app/onboarding/plan/page.tsx
  - packages/shared/src/project-plan-selection.ts
  - apps/web/app/api/sites/create-project/route.ts
  - apps/web/app/api/bootstrap/route.ts
  - apps/web/lib/server/project-setup-contract.ts
  - packages/shared/src/trial.ts
  - packages/shared/src/free-grant.ts
  - apps/web/lib/pricing-plans.ts
---

For a first Project the plan step sits in the middle of setup rather than at the
beginning. Up to here nothing has been generated at volume; from here the Project
needs an allowance to work inside.

That ordering is not universal. Some additional Projects reverse it, and which
ones do depends on what the workspace already runs. This page covers each case.

## If this is your first Project

The step is a real choice rather than a formality. It shows the plans, and, if
your account was marked eligible for it, the Free opt-in alongside them. Which
of those your account holds was decided once at first signup. See
[the trial](/billing/trial) and [the Free grant](/billing/free-grant).

Payment comes after the website scan and the Strategy, not before them, so
nothing is charged for a Project you have not yet seen produce anything.

<Callout variant="note" title="Nothing forces the choice on you here">
  If your account is eligible for Free, taking it asks for a public post on X
  first. That prompt is dismissible and the plan cards stay behind it. Leaving
  the step without choosing anything leaves the Project unfinished and unpriced
  rather than charged, and you can come back to it or discard it.
</Callout>

## If this is an additional Project

A Project that carries no signup benefit never receives a second Free grant and
never receives a trial. Beyond that, where payment sits in the order depends on
what the workspace is already running. The second row below is a first Project
rather than an additional one, and it is here because it behaves like these.

| Your workspace | Where the plan step sits |
| --- | --- |
| Still running its Free Project, adding a paid one beside it | Before setup. The plan step is the only step reachable until a billable plan is on the Project, so payment precedes the website scan. |
| A new workspace, opened after your account already spent its one Free grant | Before setup, for the same reason. The Project also starts with its blog unpublished. |
| Already on a paid subscription, adding another Project | After the Strategy, in the same position a first Project uses. The scan and Strategy run first. |
| Invoiced directly rather than through self-serve checkout | Nowhere to choose. The step shows an "invoiced directly" panel, because what the Project costs lives on a negotiated invoice. |

<Callout variant="warning" title="These Projects have their blog held back">
  In every case above except the directly invoiced one, the Project's blog is
  not public from the moment it is created. It is held until setup completes,
  and publishing it by hand before then is refused with a message asking you to
  finish setup first. A first Project carrying a signup benefit is the case that
  is live immediately. See [creating a Project](/workspaces/projects).
</Callout>

## Choosing

Plans differ in how many posts, topics and images a Project may produce in a
billing period, how many revisions a post may have, and how many competitors it
may track. Current numbers are on the
[pricing page](https://blogged.dev/pricing).

**The plan belongs to this Project.** If your workspace already runs another
Project, this choice does not change what that one pays. Each priced Project is
its own line, and the multi Project discount is worked out per Project from its
position rather than applied to the subscription as a whole.

## If your account holds the trial

Accounts assigned the trial check out here and start a three day trial on the
plan they chose. The plan is real from the first moment: it is what you will be
charged for, and it is what the billing page and the price quote show. During
the trial a smaller allowance applies over the top of it. Exact numbers are in
[the trial](/billing/trial).

Starting it is also what ends the Free option, if your account had one. The two
are alternative answers to this step, not a sequence.

## What completes the step

A plan delivered for this Project, or a Free grant active on it. On an upgrade
the plan counts once the charge is confirmed rather than the moment you
confirm it, which is set out in [changing a plan](/billing/change-plan).

## Next

[Topics](/onboarding/topics), which is the first step that consumes the
allowance you just set up.