Account & billing
Everything about your account: signing in, billing, support, and account deletion.
The whole story: you can use CRAYON-C4 anonymously to sketch local diagrams, or sign in with an identity provider (Google, Microsoft, or others) to unlock cloud storage, team collaboration, and Pro features. After signing in, you verify your email address once, then choose your plan — Free for device-based work, or Pro for cloud projects and team sharing. Your settings page is your hub for managing subscription and support requests.
Signing in and signing out
How to sign in
On the home page or any public screen, click Sign in in the top-right corner. You are redirected to Auth0's Universal Login, which presents the identity providers available to you (typically Google, Microsoft, and others, depending on your organisation's configuration).
Choose a provider and complete the sign-in flow with that provider. You'll be redirected back to CRAYON-C4 and land on the Projects page.
Important: provider identity
Each identity provider — Google, Microsoft, etc. — gives you a separate account in CRAYON-C4, even if you use the same email address across them. If you sign in with Google one day and Microsoft the next, those are two different accounts with separate projects and subscriptions. Choose one provider and stick with it, or keep careful track of which one you use for which diagrams.
Signing out
Click your avatar (initials or profile picture) in the top-right corner. A dropdown menu appears with Profile and Log out. Click Log out to sign out. You'll be returned to the home page.
Email verification
The first time you sign in, your account is created with the email address from your identity provider. Before you can access cloud projects and other authenticated features, you must verify your email address.
You'll be redirected to the verification screen, which shows your email and a Resend verification email button. Check your inbox (and spam folder) for an email from CRAYON-C4 containing a verification link. Click the link to confirm your email.
Once you've clicked the verification link, come back to the app — the verification screen notices your verified status by itself and lets you continue, no sign-out needed.
If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder first, then click Resend verification email — a fresh verification link is sent to your address. You can request a new email once per minute (the button shows a countdown between sends). If resend reports that email isn't configured for this deployment, or you still can't find the message, contact support at support@crayon-c4.com and we'll verify your account.
Plans and capabilities
CRAYON-C4 offers three levels:
| Plan | You have… | Storage | Collaboration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anonymous | No account | Device only (this browser) | No sharing |
| Free | Verified email | Device only, with JSON export/import | No cloud sync or sharing |
| Pro | Subscription | Cloud (any browser, any device) | Invite teammates by email, assign roles, audit log |
For organisations that want to run CRAYON-C4 on their own infrastructure under a license, an Enterprise (self-hosted) option is available on request — contact us.
Each plan has element and project limits (these are the current defaults — an administrator can adjust them, and the in-app pricing page always shows the live values):
| Limit | Anonymous | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model elements (nodes + relationships) per project | 10 | 40 | 2,000 |
| Named projects | 5 (on this device) | 5 (on this device) | 30 (in the cloud) |
| Team members per project | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Diagrams per project | 5 | 20 | No limit |
When you reach the element or diagram limit, the editor shows an upgrade prompt; your existing work stays fully editable.
What you can do at each tier
Device-based work (Anonymous and Free) : Sketch diagrams locally, edit as much as you want, export as images and JSON. No sign-in required for anonymous; Free requires email verification.
Backup and restore (every tier) : Export your project as JSON and re-import it on another machine, or store it in version control next to your code. Back up all and Restore in the projects hub do the same for every project at once. Your own data always round-trips, on any tier.
Cloud sync (Pro) : Projects live in the cloud. Open the same project from any browser on any device. Changes sync automatically; you click Save to cloud in the header to push to the server, or the app syncs at natural boundaries (blur, idle, tab hide, navigation).
Team collaboration (Pro) : Invite teammates by email with roles (Owner, Admin, Editor, Viewer). See an audit log of who changed what and when.
Full export (Pro) : Export as a beautiful Markdown or PDF document with custom branding and typography options. Anonymous and Free users can export as image or JSON only.
Generate from code (Pro)
: Bring a model generated from your codebase into a project ("From code" / "Update from code") and keep it in sync without losing manual edits. The crayon-c4 CLI and the VS Code extension themselves are free to install and run on every tier; importing a saved .c4 JSON model file also works on every tier — see Backup and restore above.
Version history (Pro) : Cloud projects keep recent snapshots so you can see how the model changed and step back to a recent state. Snapshots are kept for a limited time only — version history is a convenience, not a backup. Export your project regularly to keep your own backups.
Upgrading to Pro
To upgrade, open Settings (click your avatar, then Profile) and find the Subscription section. If you're on Free, you'll see a blue Upgrade to Pro button and a summary of what Pro unlocks. Click Upgrade to Pro.
You'll be taken to Stripe Checkout. Complete payment with a card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.). When payment succeeds, you'll return to Settings and Pro features unlock immediately.
Stripe test mode
At launch, CRAYON-C4 runs Stripe in test mode. An orange banner appears on all paid-tier surfaces (pricing, checkout, settings) with the label "Test mode — no real payments". This is not a bug; no real charges occur. When production billing goes live, this banner disappears.
Use test card 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future date and any CVC to test the upgrade flow.
Your profile
Open Settings (click your avatar, then Profile). The page opens with a profile card: your avatar or initials, your name, the email you're signed in with — carrying a green Verified check once your address is confirmed — and which identity provider you signed in with. That last line is the quickest way to check the provider-identity pitfall above: if your projects seem missing, compare it with the provider you used last time.
Managing your subscription
Open Settings and scroll to Subscription. Here you see:
- Current plan — Anonymous, Free, or Pro
- Renewal date — for Pro only, the next billing date and days remaining (e.g., "Renews on June 15, 2024 (12 days left)")
- Manage subscription — Pro only, a blue button that opens the Stripe billing portal
Click Manage subscription to access the Stripe portal in a new tab. There you can:
- Update your payment method
- View past invoices
- Cancel your subscription (you keep access until the end of the current period)
If your payment fails, a warning appears in the Subscription panel: "Payment failed — your Pro access expires soon. Update your payment method to keep access." Open the portal and add a valid card.
Cancelling Pro
To cancel, click Manage subscription, then find the Cancel subscription button in the Stripe portal. You'll keep access until the end of the current billing period; after that, you're downgraded to Free.
If you want to cancel but keep access to your cloud projects, make sure they're transferred to another owner or converted to local projects before the cancellation takes effect.
Deleting your account
To delete your account, open Settings and scroll to the bottom to the Danger zone section. Click Delete my account.
You'll be asked to resolve all projects you own. For each one, choose:
- Delete project — the project and all its diagrams are permanently removed
- Transfer to [teammate] — if there are other members, you can transfer ownership to one of them
Once you've decided what to do with all your owned projects, click Confirm deletion. Your account, all personal data, and any deleted projects are permanently removed. This action is irreversible.
If you have no owned projects, you can delete immediately.
Getting help
The Support page is your gateway to help. Open the app menu (hamburger icon in the top-left or click the CRAYON-C4 mark), then click Support. You'll see a form with two fields:
- Your email address — pre-filled if you're signed in
- Message — describe what happened, what you expected, and any steps to reproduce
When you click Send message, the form automatically attaches diagnostics:
- Your CRAYON-C4 app version
- The current page URL (where the problem occurred)
- Your account ID (if signed in; "anonymous" if not)
This information helps us reproduce and fix issues faster. Your input is preserved if the send fails, so you can retry without re-typing.
What to expect
When you send a message, you'll see a confirmation: "Thanks for reaching out. We'll get back to you as soon as we can." We aim to reply within 24 hours during business hours. Check the email address you provided for our response.
Give feedback
Separate from support, the app menu also carries Give feedback — a short feedback page where you can leave a quick note or answer a brief questionnaire about the product. You need to be signed in, and you can submit once per day. Use it for opinions and suggestions; use Support for problems that need an answer.
Where next
- Projects & sharing — how to create, save, and share projects.
- Troubleshooting — if something looks wrong or an import fails.