name: Outline FinOps
description: Financial operations guidance for managing Outline API and subscription costs.
url: https://www.getoutline.com/pricing

cost_drivers:
  - name: Team Size (Seat Count)
    description: Pricing is tiered by number of members. Plans auto-upgrade if team size exceeds current tier.
    tiers:
      - range: 1-10 members
        price: 10/month
        plan: Starter
      - range: 11-100 members
        price: 79/month
        plan: Team
      - range: 101-200 members
        price: 249/month
        plan: Business
      - range: 200+ members
        price: custom
        plan: Enterprise

  - name: API Access Requirement
    description: API and webhook access is only available on the Business plan ($249/month) or higher. Teams requiring programmatic integration must budget for the Business tier minimum.
    minimum_plan: Business
    minimum_cost: 249/month

optimization:
  - strategy: Right-Size Team Tier
    description: Monitor active member count and downgrade tier if team shrinks below a threshold boundary to avoid overpaying.

  - strategy: Self-Host for API Access
    description: The open-source self-hosted version of Outline provides full API access at no per-seat cost. Infrastructure costs (server, storage, bandwidth) apply but can be significantly lower than $249/month for smaller teams needing API access.
    url: https://github.com/outline/outline

  - strategy: Non-Profit / Education Discount
    description: Eligible organizations receive a 30% discount across all paid plans, reducing Business plan cost to approximately $174/month.
    discount: 30%

  - strategy: Annual Billing
    description: Check if annual billing options are available directly with Outline sales for multi-year commitments to reduce per-month effective cost.

  - strategy: API Key Scoping
    description: Scope API keys to minimum required endpoints to reduce attack surface and simplify cost attribution across teams or projects.

self_hosted_costs:
  description: Estimated monthly infrastructure costs for a self-hosted Outline deployment.
  components:
    - name: Application Server
      estimate: $20-100/month
      notes: Depends on team size and usage; small VPS sufficient for teams under 100 users.
    - name: PostgreSQL Database
      estimate: $15-50/month
      notes: Managed database service recommended for reliability.
    - name: Object Storage (S3-compatible)
      estimate: $1-20/month
      notes: For attachments and file operations; cost scales with stored content volume.
    - name: Redis Cache
      estimate: $10-25/month
      notes: Required for session management and background jobs.
  total_estimate: $46-195/month
  break_even: Self-hosting becomes cost-effective vs Business plan for teams needing API access but below the 101-200 member tier.