Start Free with a hosted website, custom-domain support, unlimited bookings, one seat, and basic customer records. Existing invoices, receipts, and orders stay viewable and exportable as read-only history while the account is active. No card or tax ID at setup. Upgrade to Starter or Growth for paid tools. Helm charges no booking commission; payment-provider fees may apply.
Yes. From Free, open Settings → Billing, choose Starter or Growth, and complete Stripe Checkout. If you already have a paid subscription, choose Manage billing to open the Stripe billing portal. Upgrades can take effect immediately with Stripe proration. Downgrades and cancellations take effect at the next renewal date unless the portal shows a different Stripe-managed effective date.
What happens after I sign up?+
After verifying your email, add your business country, name, first service, and operating hours. Your Free Site and booking link go live without a card or tax ID. Upgrade from Billing when you need paid features.
Can I use Helm for free?+
Helm has a Free plan with no expiry: a public Site, custom-domain support, unlimited bookings, one staff seat, and Customer profiles with booking history and inbound notes. Active Free accounts can also view and export existing invoices, receipts, and orders as read-only history. No card is required. Starter and Growth are paid upgrades with no trial.
How do referral rewards work?+
Free has no expiry, and paid upgrades have no trial or referral trial extension. Eligible referrer rewards are reviewed account credits after a paid invoice; they are not cash payouts, instant credits, or automatic Stripe coupons.
What payment methods do you accept?+
All major credit and debit cards are supported through Stripe.
What commerce features does Growth include today?+
Growth gives you Store + Orders with catalog, storefront, checkout, order management, order history, review requests, waitlist workflow, and customer history. Business is planned and is not available for self-serve purchase. Its advanced capabilities—including promotions, coupons, gift cards, loyalty, events, roles/rights, audit trail, and location-aware operations—are not included in Starter or Growth. Helm may separately enable some gated capabilities for approved pilots or written arrangements.
What is not included in Helm?+
Helm does not currently include proactive messaging automations, POS, SSO or SCIM, separate legal entities, separate Stripe accounts, independent billing tenants, a Shopify-scale app marketplace, carrier-label purchasing, duties/tax engines, multi-warehouse inventory, Google Business Profile review sync, or public review widgets.
Does Helm handle shipping and tax compliance?+
Starter and Growth do not include shipping or tax compliance features today. Simple merchant-configured shipping and tax or fee estimates are planned for a future tier. Those estimates will not be legal, tax, customs, or compliance advice.
Do you offer enterprise plans or advanced integrations?+
Starter and Growth are the current self-serve checkout plans. Business is planned and is not available for self-serve purchase. For custom integrations, migrations, or a separately enabled capability, contact support for a requirements review and feasibility assessment.
Can I cancel anytime?+
Yes. There are no lock-in contracts and you can cancel anytime from your dashboard settings.
“I used to manage all my bookings through WhatsApp. Now customers book online … and I just focus on cutting hair.”