Canny's pricing is expensive and it lacks clarity because it charges based on tracked users, a vague metric that's easy to outgrow and hard to predict. While it starts at $0/month, which only includes 25 tracked users. Once you cross that, here's what the real costs look like:

• Core Plan – $19/month billed yearly → $228/year for 100+ tracked users
• Pro Plan – $79/month billed yearly → $948/year for the same 100+ users, with added features
• Business Plan – Custom pricing once you hit 5,000+ tracked users, often $10K+/year

The issue? You're not paying based on actual value or usage, you're paying just because more people give real-time feedback. This penalises growth and makes budgeting unpredictable.

Let's unpack why this model creates problems for growing product teams and how FeatureOS helps differently.

Canny's Pricing: Starts Free, Gets Pricey

At a glance, Canny's $0 starting point seems generous. But behind the scenes, they charge based on a metric that quickly snowballs as you grow: tracked users.

What's a "tracked user" in Canny.io?

A tracked user in Canny is anyone who engages with your feedback system, whether they submit a post, vote on a request, leave a comment, or are simply associated with a piece of feedback.

Even if a user interacts once, they're counted. You get 25 tracked users for free, and after that, every additional user contributes to your usage total , whether or not they bring meaningful insights.

For example, if 100 customers vote on a feature, that's 100 tracked users and you're immediately pushed into the paid plans.

It's not based on active usage or team seats. It's based on how many external users give feedback, which grows naturally with product adoption and so does your bill.

Price of tracked users in Canny

Tracked Users	Annual Cost
100+	$948
400+	$2,748+
2,250+	$9,348+
5,000+	Custom ($10K+ est)

Basically, it's not based on active usage or team seats rather on how many external users give feedback, which grows naturally with product adoption and so does your bill. Rather than helping your product scale and improve with feedback, it becomes a brutal tax for user engagement.

Related : Predictable pricing in FeatureOS

Where Canny's Pricing Model Falls Short?

1. Value Misalignment

More feedback doesn't always mean more value. But Canny charges you more just for collecting it, regardless of its impact. Even if an account is fake, inactive, or created just to leave one comment, it still counts toward your usage. You're paying for volume, not value.

This means spam accounts, bots, or one-time visitors can silently inflate your bill, without adding any real insight or improvement to your product decisions. A strong pricing model should reward progress, not penalise engagement. Your cost should reflect the outcomes you drive, not the noise you collect.

2. Complexity Hiding Behind Simplicity

Tracked-user pricing may look simple at first. But the moment your product gains traction, the model becomes unpredictable. Like, a feature launch or a new user onboarding campaign can suddenly trigger a spike in user interactions.

That spike could double or triple your monthly or annual cost. This makes financial planning difficult for growing SaaS teams. What seemed like a flat rate becomes a moving target, driven by engagement outside your control. True simplicity comes from pricing that stays stable and clear, even as your product scales.

3. No Real Collaboration Flexibility

Your internal team should always be the pricing focus, not users outside your control. But when pricing is tied to user interactions, canny's model leaves your product team growth in the shadows. You're not held back by feature limits but rather you're held back by pricing that grows for the wrong reasons.

Seat-based pricing keeps things simple. Add the people you need and also when you need them, so your focus stays on collaboration and building a great product, not managing cost calculations.

FeatureOS Pricing: Clear, Scalable, and Team-Friendly

FeatureOS was built with one principle in mind, pricing should scale with your team, not your audience size.

Use Case	Canny	FeatureOS	Who Wins
Free Plan	Yes, available till 25 tracked users	Not available	Canny
Trial Experience	Limited Free Tier (25 tracked users)	Full-featured free trial without any limits on boards, integrations or seats	FeatureOS
Starter Plan	Jumps to $1,188+ for real usage	$600/year, includes all modules	FeatureOS
Growth Phase (~400 users)	$1,188 (Core) or $2,748+ (Pro)	$1,200/year (Growth Plan)	FeatureOS
Scaling to 2,000+ users	$4.5K–$10K+ depending on usage	$2.5K Business Plan + $15/seat	FeatureOS
Modules Included	Feedback, Changelog, Roadmap	Feedback, Survey forms, Changelog, Roadmap, Knowledge Base	FeatureOS
Feedback Boards	Comes with basic feedback board	Keyword and sentiment insights for each individual board	FeatureOS
AI Automation	Autopilot feature offers automated feedback capture, deduplication, and discovery from multiple integrations	No cross-channel automation yet	Canny
Hidden Costs	User-count-based price hikes	Flat pricing + optional seats being $15/seats	FeatureOS

1. No Tracked User Penalties

Unlike other customer feedback tools, FeatureOS doesn't charge you for the number of users who leave feedback. Need more internal teammates involved? Just add a seat.

Whether it's 200 or 20,000 users engaging with your product, your pricing stays the same. The result? You scale your feedback process, not your costs.

2. Scalable Seat-Based Pricing

FeatureOS uses a simple, seat-based pricing model designed for modern SaaS teams. All plans come fully loaded with Feedback Boards, Survey forms, Changelog and Roadmap. No module gating, even during the trial.

3. Built with Empathy

We price based on your team's structure, not your users' behaviour. Feedback shouldn't feel like a financial risk.

We don't believe growth should come with a price tag. You're building fast, talking to users, learning what works. The last thing you need is a feedback tool that charges you more every time someone engages.

Real Example: Enjoy scaling your product without stress

Say you're a SaaS company with:

• 2,000 active users giving feedback
• A 10-person product team

Canny: You're likely paying $4,500–$10K+ annually depending on user activity.

FeatureOS: You pay $2,500/year (Business Plan) + seats as needed.

Final Thoughts: Feedback Shouldn't Be a Growth Penalty

FeatureOS makes it easy and affordable to listen, act, and grow. We believe a growing product team should never have to think twice about collecting feedback. It should drive your product forward, not slow down your momentum or stretch your budget.

With Canny, feedback becomes a cost. With FeatureOS, it becomes a growth driver. Start your free trial, explore the full platform and upgrade only when it makes sense for you.

Further help

If you are not able to get faster responses from Canny about their pricing, please reach out to us to, and we will help you understand it without bias. Our Customer Experience is simply the best in the industry.