Canny appears simple and affordable at first glance, but several hidden costs start adding up as your product and user base grow. These expenses often surprise teams, making Canny significantly more expensive over time—especially for scaling SaaS companies.
Below are the major hidden costs teams should look out for:
1. Per-Seat Pricing That Scales Poorly
Canny charges per team member. As soon as more PMs, engineers, support agents, or GTM users need access, your bill grows quickly. For high-growth teams, this becomes an unavoidable push into more expensive plans.
2. Tracked-User Pricing (The Biggest Hidden Cost)
Canny charges based on how many customers interact with your feedback system. The more votes, comments, and contributors you have, the more you pay. High engagement becomes a liability, turning feedback volume into a “growth tax.”
3. Missing Modules Require Buying Multiple Extra Tools
Canny does not include:
- Forms or in-app surveys
- Knowledge base or documentation
- In-app announcements or changelog
- AI clustering or insights
- Search analytics
- Deep product communication workflows
Teams end up paying separately for tools like:
- Typeform / Google Forms
- Notion / HelpDocs / Mintlify
- Beamer / AnnounceKit
- Internal spreadsheets / Airtable
These add-ons often cost more than Canny itself.
4. Feature Restrictions at Lower Tiers
Important features such as:
- Multiple boards
- SSO
- Private/internal boards
- Advanced integrations
- API access
- Admin permissions
are locked behind higher-tier plans.
Most teams upgrade sooner than expected just to unlock essentials.
5. Manual Operational Costs (Time = Money)
Without built-in automation and AI, teams spend hours every week:
- Manually categorizing feedback
- Merging duplicates
- Linking feedback to roadmap and changelog
- Importing survey results from external tools
- Closing the loop manually in external systems
These time costs accumulate significantly as your user base grows.
How FeatureOS Removes These Hidden Costs
FeatureOS eliminates these scaling penalties with flat, predictable pricing:
- No per-seat charges
- No tracked-user charges
- No forced upgrades
Every plan includes the full platform:
- Feedback boards
- In-app surveys & forms
- Roadmaps
- Changelogs
- Knowledge Base
- AI clustering & insights
- Search analytics
- Integrations and workflows
With one platform replacing 3–5 additional tools, companies typically save 3–5× compared to Canny + its required add-ons.
FeatureOS provides a more complete, scalable, and cost-efficient solution—without the hidden costs that come with Canny.