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Managing crews & tier limits

ArborBuddy tracks crews for dispatch routing and capacity — not payroll or HR. How many crews you can create depends on your subscription tier, enforced in the database (not just the UI).

ArborBuddy does not charge per seat. Add as many office staff, bookkeepers, or crew foremen as you need — we gate by crews and AI usage, because that’s what actually drives your operations.

WhatLimit
App loginsUnlimited on all paid tiers
Crews (fleet rows)Tier-capped — see table below
Named roster membersUnlimited text labels per crew (not logins)

Named members are not user accounts. Typing “Tony” or “Lead Climber” on a crew roster does not create a login. Routing uses headcount, not how many names you typed.

TierMax crews
Sandbox (trial)3 total — includes 2 seeded demo crews, so you can add 1 more
Climber3
Foreman10
AutopilotUnlimited
Founding 5010

When you hit the cap, Add Crew is disabled and you’ll see an upgrade link to Settings → Billing.

  1. Open Manage Resources from the dispatch board (people tab).
  2. Enter crew name, headcount, skills, and board row color.
  3. Save — creation goes through a secure server function that checks your tier before inserting.

You cannot bypass the limit with API tools; tier enforcement is server-side via the add_crew database function (trial and Climber: 3, Foreman and Founding 50: 10, Autopilot: unlimited).

  • Headcount is what routing and capacity use (e.g. a 4-person crew routes as four people).
  • Named members are optional — for roster display and future skill-matching.
  • If headcount is 4 but only 2 members are named, dispatch still treats the crew as 4. The UI shows a subtle 2/4 members named badge to encourage filling out the roster without blocking you.
  • Putting 50 names on a 3-person crew won’t break routing — it’s messy data, not extra dispatch capacity. Auto-Dispatch still routes 3 crews, not 50 people.

You can only delete a crew that has no active job assignments. Reassign jobs on the board first, then remove the crew from Manage Resources.

Climber shops that outgrow three crews should move to Foreman (10 crews) or Autopilot (unlimited). See Plans & tiers.