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In this article, you will learn about the systeme.io restriction process and what happens to your account when it gets restricted.
Each systeme.io plan has a limited number of contacts that can be managed by the user.
To see the features offered for each subscription plan, click here.
1. Why would an account be restricted?
There are two situations where restrictions may be applied:
a. Exceeding the contact limit defined by the subscription plan
Freemium Plan: 2,000 contacts.
Startup Plan: 5,000 contacts.
Webinar Plan: 10,000 contacts.
Unlimited Plan: Unlimited contacts.
If these limits are exceeded, your account becomes subject to restriction.
b. Exceeding feature limits after a change in plan
This may occur in cases where:
You cancel a paid subscription and revert to the Freemium plan
You downgrade from a higher-tier plan to a lower-tier one
To check your current subscription and plan limits, go to: Profile picture > Settings > My plan.
We recommend taking preventive action before restriction occurs to avoid losing new leads or sales. Monitoring your contact list size and following the steps below can help you avoid service interruptions.
2. The pre-restriction process
When plan limits are exceeded, a pre-restriction process is initiated to notify the user and allow time to take action before restrictions are applied.
During this process:
You will receive three warning emails (one per day).
An alert is displayed on your systeme.io dashboard.
This pre-restriction period provides the opportunity to avoid the restriction process through one of the following actions:
a. Upgrading to a higher plan
This increases your contact limits and available features. To view available plans, click here.
If none of the available options meet your current needs, contact support for assistance.
b. Removing exceeded items
In case of exceeding the limits of the available features:
To easily identify excess items, go to Profile picture > Settings > My plan. Items exceeding the plan limits will appear in red within the subscription summary table for easy identification and removal.
In case of exceeding the limit of contacts:
You must proceed to clean your email list, as explained in this article. However, if you do not have any inactive contacts, you can always delete contacts using other criteria by following the instructions in this article.
3. The restriction process
If no action is taken by the fourth day, the restriction process is automatically activated.
There are two scenarios, depending on the subscription plan:
a. Freemium plan
We send a final warning email, confirming that the account has been restricted.
A permanent alert is displayed on the systeme.io dashboard.
Once the account is restricted, some features on your account will be disabled:
General account limitations
Opt-ins and payments stop working.
It is no longer possible to add or import contacts and students through any method (forms, manual entry, automations, Zapier, or API).
New sales cannot be processed.
Users cannot join a community owned by a restricted account.
Email-related limitations
Creation of new newsletters is not allowed.
Scheduled newsletters are not sent. If a newsletter's scheduled send date arrives while your account is restricted, the scheduled date will be permanently removed. This prevents outdated emails from being sent automatically once your account restriction is lifted. You will receive an in-app notification for each affected newsletter so you can adjust your sending strategy.
Email campaigns are paused during the restriction period.
Sending test emails is disabled.
Automations
New automation and workflow triggers do not activate (existing ones already running continue normally).
Course and student communication (for teacher accounts)
While the account is restricted, students cannot access its courses, including lectures they had already unlocked (enrollments, purchases, and progress are preserved).
Drip access emails are paused (after the restriction ends, only the last email related to the last unlocked lecture will be sent).
Course reminder emails will not be sent.
Manual enrollment of students from the dashboard is disabled.
Important: Please note that even while the account is restricted, the days continue to be counted in the drip schedule. This means that if there is a delay set between lectures, the restriction period will still be included in the calculation for the next lecture release.
b. Paid plan
The system will automatically upgrade the subscription to the next available tier to ensure uninterrupted service.
If this automatic upgrade occurs, and you wish to return to your original plan, any excess content must first be removed. Once the account is within the limits again, contact customer support to request the downgrade.
4. Inactive accounts
If you do not log in or show any activity on your account for an extended period, the following inactive account process will apply:
After 5 months of inactivity: You will receive an initial warning email notifying you of your inactivity. Additional reminder emails will be sent 7 days, 3 days, and 24 hours before the next step.
After 6 months of inactivity: Your Customer role is removed, and your Customer dashboard is hidden. However, your Student role is preserved, meaning you will not lose access to any courses you have previously purchased.
1-month grace period: Your customer-related data is kept for an additional 1-month grace period after the Customer role is removed. During this time, your data can still be restored by contacting our customer support team. Once this grace period ends, the customer data will be permanently deleted.