Admins vs Viewers: Who Pays, Who Doesn't
Admins are paid seats on your Peony workspace. Viewers are counterparties who open your links. Only admins affect your bill.
Last updated April 10, 2026
Adding a teammate to help you manage data rooms costs money. Adding a counterparty to read a room does not. That one sentence is the whole rule. This article covers the full comparison, common persona examples, and the "why was I charged an extra seat?" scenario — the single biggest source of billing confusion in Peony.
The Comparison Table
| Admin | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who are they? | Someone on your team (co-founder, analyst, assistant) | Your counterparty (investor, buyer, client, lender, lawyer) |
| Where do you invite them? | Workspace Settings > Team > Invite Member | Data room Permissions tab > Invite Viewer |
| Peony account? | Yes. Signs in with their own email + OTP. | No. Just opens the link. |
| What can they do? | Create rooms, upload files, invite viewers, see analytics, manage billing (if permitted) | Open the link, read files under your protections |
| Count toward seats? | Yes. Each admin is a paid seat. | No. Never affects billing. |
| Cost | Free (1 max), $20/admin/month on Pro, $40/admin/month on Business | $0 on every plan |
| How many? | Free: 1. Pro/Business: pay per admin. Enterprise: custom. | Unlimited on every plan |
Persona Examples
Founder raising a seed round, sharing a deck with 30 angels and VCs. All 30 are viewers. Free. The free tier works. Upgrade to Pro or Business only for paid features (advanced watermarks, custom domains), not because you have 30 investors.
M&A advisor. Junior associate helping manage the deal room. Your junior is an admin — $20 on Pro, $40 on Business. They will upload files, answer buyer Q&A, and manage links, so they need full admin access.
Sell-side deal with 5 buyer firms, 3 reviewers each. All 15 buyer-side people are viewers. Bill unchanged. Create one link per buyer firm for per-firm analytics.
Solo consultant, one client. Your client is a viewer. You are the only admin. Free tier or Pro ($20) covers it.
Startup with 3 co-founders co-managing rooms. All 3 are admins. Pro: $60/month. Business: $120/month. Each has their own sign-in.
VC firm with 5 partners, 50 LPs on the receiving end. Depends on who manages. If one partner uploads and manages, you need 1 admin seat. The other 4 can be admins (if they manage content) or viewers (if they only read). The 50 LPs are all viewers — free.
The "Surprise Seat Charge" Scenario
The most common billing ticket Peony gets:
- You are on Business ($40/admin/month, single-admin by default).
- A colleague joins and you want them to help.
- You click Settings > Team > Invite Member and add them as Admin.
- Peony pro-rates a $40 charge for the rest of the billing period.
- You see an unexpected line item on your next invoice.
What happened: Business charges per admin seat. The pro-rated charge is for the remainder of the current period.
Fix:
- Settings > Team — remove the extra admin
- Contact support — Peony refunds the charge every time
It is not a trap, but it is a surprise if you did not know the pricing model. This article exists so you do not have to be surprised.
How to Prevent the Surprise
Before clicking any "Invite" button, ask:
Is this person on my team, or are they a counterparty?
- On my team (co-founder, analyst, employee, assistant) → admin → paid seat
- Counterparty (investor, buyer, client, lender, lawyer) → viewer → free
If unsure, default to viewer. You can promote to admin later. You cannot undo a paid seat for the period it was charged (though support can refund it).
Where Each Invite Button Lives
Workspace Settings > Team (paid admin invite) Top-right user menu → Settings → Team → Invite Member. Triggers a seat charge. Lives in workspace settings, not inside a data room.
Data Room > Permissions tab (free viewer invite) Open a data room → Permissions → Invite Viewer. Costs nothing. Lives inside a specific room.
Admin Role Scoping
The admin role has permission levels. A full admin can manage billing; a restricted admin can only upload, invite viewers, and see analytics. Role scoping controls what an admin can do, not whether the seat is charged. Any admin — even restricted — adds a paid seat.
What Admins Can Do That Viewers Cannot
- Create new data rooms
- Upload files and rename folders
- Generate and configure links (NDA gate, watermark, expiry, password)
- Invite other viewers, see the Permissions tab
- See the Analytics tab
- Edit branding and manage custom domains
- Manage billing (if permitted)
- Delete data rooms
Viewers can do none of the above. They only read files inside the link you gave them, under the rules you set, and optionally upload files back if you allowed it.
Common Mistakes
- 3-admin Pro limit as a "viewer limit". No. Pro includes 3 admin seats. Viewers are unlimited.
- Test admin left running. Still a paid seat. Remove after testing.
- Inviting a counterparty as an admin because you want them to "see everything." Just give them a link with all permissions. They do not need admin access to your workspace.
- Upgrade prompts during invite. If Peony prompts you to upgrade while inviting someone, you are in the team-invite flow. Cancel and use the data room Permissions tab instead.