Pricing that scales with your practice, not against it.
Free for solo architects. Straightforward per-seat pricing for teams. Enterprise features when you need them.
Free
- ✓1 architect seat
- ✓Unlimited reader access
- ✓All core modules (Landscape, Standards, Deliverables)
- ✓Basic reviews
- ✓Plumbline readiness scans (view only)
- ✓EU data residency
No credit card required
Team
10% off yearly- ✓Unlimited architects
- ✓Unlimited reader access
- ✓Decision Matrix + review routing
- ✓Full review cycles + comments
- ✓Plumbline Author (LLM suggestions)
- ✓Git Tech Discovery (up to 3 sources)
- ✓Email digests + filtered subscriptions
Upgrade from Free anytime
Business
10% off yearly- ✓Everything in Team
- ✓Git Tech Discovery (up to 20 sources)
- ✓SSO / SAML
- ✓Audit-log export (CSV)
- ✓Custom subdomain
- ✓Custom DPA + contracts
- ✓99.5% uptime SLA
14-day trial — no credit card
Enterprise
- ✓Everything in Business
- ✓Unlimited Git sources
- ✓Dedicated Success Manager
- ✓White-label option
- ✓Per-region data residency
- ✓Dedicated database (optional)
- ✓99.9% uptime SLA · 1h support
Trial on request
Reader access is free and unlimited on every tier. No per-viewer fees.
Full feature comparison
Every feature, every tier. No footnotes hiding the catches.
| Free | Team | Business | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core modules — same across all tiers | ||||
| Landscape (ArchiMate elements, viewpoints) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Standards (principles, tech catalogue) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deliverables (15 TOGAF types) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Requirements management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Findings tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Initiatives (work contexts) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dashboard | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Governance & automation | ||||
| Basic reviews (submit / approve) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Decision Matrix + routing | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full review cycles + comments | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Plumbline Assess (readiness scan) | View only | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Plumbline Author (LLM suggestions) | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Git Tech Discovery | — | Up to 3 sources | Up to 20 sources | Unlimited |
| Bring-your-own Anthropic key | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ||||
| In-app notifications | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email digests | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Filtered subscriptions | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Architecture Responsibilities | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enterprise features | ||||
| SSO / SAML | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit-log export (CSV) | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom subdomain | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom DPA + contracts | — | On request | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated Success Manager | — | — | — | ✓ |
| White-label option | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Data residency choice | EU only | EU only | EU only | EU + regional |
| Dedicated database | — | — | — | On request |
| Support & SLA | ||||
| Support channel | Community forum | Email, 48h | Priority email, 24h | 1h + dedicated Slack |
| Uptime SLA | Best-effort | Best-effort | 99.5% | 99.9% |
| Limits | ||||
| Architects | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Contributors | — | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Readers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Data storage | 5 GB | 100 GB | 500 GB | Custom |
| API calls | 100 / hour | 1 000 / hour | 5 000 / hour | Negotiated |
| Plumbline assessments | View only | 20 / month | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Why we price the way we do
Architects do the work — they're the seat you pay for. Contributors (team leads, BAs, security officers) participate at a fraction. Readers are free because architecture isn't worth governing if nobody can read the output. We don't charge per viewer because that's the model that kills adoption. If the whole organisation can see what architecture decides, architecture has a chance to actually influence delivery.
Pricing FAQ
What counts as an Architect vs a Contributor?+
Architects author canonical content — principles, requirements, deliverables, elements, viewpoints. Contributors participate in reviews and raise findings but can't edit canonical content: think team leads, BAs, security officers, delivery managers. Readers browse read-only and are always free.
Can I switch tiers anytime?+
Yes. Upgrading is instant. Downgrading takes effect at your next billing cycle, prorated. You won't lose data when downgrading — features just become read-only.
What about the LLM cost for Plumbline?+
Plumbline Author uses your own Anthropic API key, configured at the tenant level. You pay Anthropic directly at their published rates. Northwise takes no cut and adds no markup on your AI spend.
Do I need a credit card for the Free tier?+
No. Just an email address. The Free tier is free forever — no trial expiry, no gotchas.
Free trial for paid tiers?+
Business gets a 14-day trial, no credit card required. Team you can trial by starting on Free — it has a meaningful feature set, and you can upgrade the moment you need Team features.
Where is my data stored?+
EU only — Hetzner (Falkenstein / Nuremberg) or Scaleway (Paris / Amsterdam). We don't use US-based infrastructure for any customer data. Enterprise tier can choose specific regional deployment.
Do you offer nonprofit or educational discounts?+
Yes — 50% off Team and Business tiers on request. Send us a note at /contact and we'll sort it out.
How Northwise compares with LeanIX, Ardoq, BizzDesign
EU-native, transparent on price, free reader access from day one.
| Northwise | Enterprise EA tools | Confluence + diagrams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-user pricing | €100–120 / architect | €200–400 / seat | Varies by licence |
| EU sovereignty | Hetzner / Scaleway | Varies (often US) | Tenant-dependent |
| Reader access free | ✓ | — | Confluence seat required |
| Decision routing built-in | ✓ | Enterprise tier only | — |
| Code-to-catalogue automation | Git scanning | Partial (some tools) | — |
| AI-authored governance | Bring your LLM key | Proprietary AI add-on | — |
Pricing estimates for Enterprise EA tools based on publicly available data and direct conversations — most publish ranges rather than list prices.