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Guides

Private Plans — Invite-Only Subscriptions

Private plans are hidden from the public pricing table and can only be accessed by users you explicitly invite. Use private plans for custom enterprise pricing, partner deals, or beta testing with specific users.

Prerequisites

Before creating private plans, complete the Quickstart guide to set up meters, features, and at least one public plan.

Create a private plan

A plan becomes private when you set "zuplo_private_plan": "true" in the plan's metadata field. You can create private plans through the API.

This example creates an invite-only Developer plan with 1,000 included requests and $0.10/request overage:

Code
curl -X POST "https://dev.zuplo.com/v3/metering/${ZUPLO_BUCKET_ID}/plans" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ZUPLO_API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "billingCadence": "P1M",
    "currency": "USD",
    "description": "1000 requests per month with overages",
    "key": "private_developer",
    "metadata": {
      "zuplo_private_plan": "true"
    },
    "name": "Private Developer",
    "proRatingConfig": {
      "enabled": true,
      "mode": "max_consumption_based"
    },
    "phases": [
      {
        "duration": null,
        "key": "default",
        "name": "Default",
        "rateCards": [
          {
            "billingCadence": "P1M",
            "key": "subscription_fee",
            "name": "Subscription Fee",
            "price": {
              "amount": "9.99",
              "paymentTerm": "in_advance",
              "type": "flat"
            },
            "type": "flat_fee"
          },
          {
            "billingCadence": "P1M",
            "entitlementTemplate": {
              "isSoftLimit": true,
              "issueAfterReset": 1000,
              "preserveOverageAtReset": false,
              "type": "metered",
              "usagePeriod": "P1M"
            },
            "featureKey": "api",
            "key": "api",
            "name": "api",
            "price": {
              "mode": "graduated",
              "tiers": [
                {
                  "flatPrice": {
                    "amount": "0",
                    "type": "flat"
                  },
                  "unitPrice": null,
                  "upToAmount": "155000"
                },
                {
                  "flatPrice": null,
                  "unitPrice": {
                    "amount": "0.10",
                    "type": "unit"
                  }
                }
              ],
              "type": "tiered"
            },
            "type": "usage_based"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

Save the returned id — you need it to publish and invite users.

The key difference from a public plan is metadata.zuplo_private_plan set to "true". Everything else (rate cards, entitlements, pricing) works the same as public plans.

Publish the plan

Like standard plans, private plans are created as drafts. Publish before users can subscribe:

Code
curl -X POST "https://dev.zuplo.com/v3/metering/${ZUPLO_BUCKET_ID}/plans/${PLAN_ID}/publish" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ZUPLO_API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Invite a user

After publishing, create an invite tied to the user's email address. The user does not need to exist in Zuplo yet, but they must sign in with the invited email to see the private plan.

Code
curl -X POST "https://dev.zuplo.com/v3/metering/${ZUPLO_BUCKET_ID}/plan-invites" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ZUPLO_API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "planId": "${PLAN_ID}"
  }'

Once the invite is created, the invited user sees this plan on the Developer Portal pricing page after logging in. Users who have not been invited do not see the plan.

How it works

• Private plans do not appear on the public pricing table.
• Only users with a matching invite (by email) see the plan after signing in.
• A user can be invited to multiple private plans.
• Private plans support the same rate cards, entitlements, and billing features as public plans.
• Subscriptions to private plans work identically to public plan subscriptions (Stripe Checkout, API key provisioning, usage tracking).