Billing Policy
Last updated: 4 September 2026
This page is a plain-English summary. The binding terms are in the Customer Agreement your organisation accepted at sign-up (fees and refunds are in clause 7, ending your plan in clauses 20 and 21). If anything here differs from the agreement, the agreement applies.
1. Our approach
We believe you should stay with Alder because it works for your charity — not because leaving is difficult. Everything in this policy is designed around that principle. No lock-in, no hidden fees, no barriers to leaving.
2. Plans and pricing
Alder CRM offers four tiers: Free, Grow, Pro, and Scale. All features are available at every tier — the only difference between plans is the number of contacts, users, and included emails. Current pricing is published on our pricing page.
We reserve the right to change pricing, but any changes will only apply to new billing periods. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any price change, and you may cancel before it takes effect.
3. Billing cycle
Paid plans are billed either monthly or annually, depending on your choice at sign-up. Your billing date is the anniversary of the day you started your paid plan.
You can switch between monthly and annual billing at any time. If you switch mid-cycle, we will apply a prorated credit to your account.
4. Payment methods
We accept payment by:
- Credit and debit cards — all major cards accepted, processed securely by Stripe
- Direct debit — via Stripe, using the UK Direct Debit Guarantee
- Invoice — available on request for any plan. Payment terms are 7 days from invoice date
We do not store card details. All payment information is held securely by Stripe, who are PCI DSS Level 1 certified.
5. Emails, messages, and communications
Each plan includes a monthly allowance of emails. These are passed on at cost price — we do not mark up the delivery cost.
Text messages and WhatsApp work differently. They are not bundled into any plan. Instead you connect your own provider account and pay that provider directly — typically around 2p to 5p per message, depending on the channel and the destination network. We take no margin on it, and because the account is yours, you keep the sending relationship if you ever leave us.
If you need more than your plan includes, you can purchase additional capacity at any time, on any tier. Additional capacity is charged at the same cost-price rate and does not require a plan upgrade.
Unused email allowances do not roll over between billing periods.
6. Upgrading and downgrading
You can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time from within your account.
- Upgrades take effect immediately. You will be charged a prorated amount for the remainder of your current billing period
- Downgrades take effect at the start of your next billing period. You retain access to your current plan until then
If you downgrade to a plan with a lower contact or user limit and you exceed that limit, we will not delete any data. You will be asked to reduce your usage or return to a higher tier before your next billing date.
7. Cancellation
You can cancel any paid plan with one month's notice, ending at the close of your current billing period. There is no minimum commitment and no early termination fee.
When you cancel:
- Your plan continues until the end of your current billing period, with full access to all features
- You can choose to move to the Free tier instead, so you keep access to your data within the Free tier's limits
- If you leave altogether, you have 30 days after your plan ends to export your data, after which we delete it
8. Refunds
If you are on an annual plan and want to leave before the end of the year, we refund every full calendar month that remains once you have finished with the service. In practice that means: you tell us you want to leave, you export your data and confirm to us that you have everything you need, we delete your data and confirm that to you, and we refund the full months remaining after that confirmation date. We pay refunds within 30 days by the method you originally paid with.
The month in which you leave is not refunded, and neither is any period in which you still had access to the service or your data.
Monthly plans are not refundable for the current month, but you will not be charged for any subsequent months after your cancellation takes effect.
If you believe you have been charged in error, please contact us at hello@aldercrm.com and we will resolve it promptly.
9. Data export
Your data belongs to you. You can export your data at any time from within your account, in standard formats including CSV and Excel.
If you cancel your plan, you can keep exporting until the end of your billing period and for 30 days afterwards. If you need assistance with a more complex export (for example, migrating to another CRM), we're happy to help — we'll do everything we reasonably can to make the transition smooth.
10. Free tier
The Free tier is genuinely free — no credit card required, no time limit, no trial period. It includes up to 500 contacts, 3 users, and every feature Alder offers.
We reserve the right to modify the limits of the Free tier, but any changes will only apply prospectively and we will give reasonable notice.
Free workspaces that nobody has signed in to for three months are treated as dormant. We email the workspace administrator and give at least 30 days' notice before a dormant workspace is deleted.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this billing policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by email and by posting a notice on our website. Changes to billing terms will only take effect at the start of your next billing period.
Contact us
If you have questions about billing, payments, or this policy, please get in touch:
Alder CRM Limited
Email: hello@aldercrm.com
Registered office: The Brew, 1st Floor, Eagle House, 163 City Road, London, EC1V 1NR
Company registration: England and Wales, No. 17116559