Summary and recommendation
ProtoPie user management can be run manually, but complexity usually increases with role models, licensing gates, and offboarding dependencies. This guide gives the exact mechanics and where automation has the biggest impact.
ProtoPie's workspace administration lives entirely in the admin console at cloud.protopie.io → [Workspace name] → Settings → Members. Like every app that lacks automated provisioning, all adds, role changes, and removals are manual actions performed by an Owner or Admin.
The Admin role itself is gated behind Team and Enterprise plans, so Free and Pro workspaces are limited to a single Owner managing everything.
Quick facts
| Admin console path | cloud.protopie.io → [Workspace name] → Settings → Members |
| Admin console URL | Official docs |
| SCIM available | No |
| SCIM tier required | Enterprise |
| SSO prerequisite | No |
User types and roles
| Role | Permissions | Cannot do | Plan required | Seat cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Full workspace control: billing, plan changes, member management, all admin actions. Transfers ownership to another member. | Cannot be removed from the workspace without first transferring ownership. | Any paid plan (one Owner per workspace) | Counts as a paid editor seat | Only one Owner per workspace; ownership must be explicitly transferred before the current Owner can leave. |
| Admin | Invite and remove members, manage roles, create and manage spaces/projects. Cannot access billing. | Cannot change billing or plan; cannot transfer ownership. | Team or Enterprise plan | Counts as a paid editor seat | Admin role is only available on Team and Enterprise plans; not available on Free or Pro (individual) plans. |
| Member (Editor) | Create, edit, and share prototypes within the workspace. Can be assigned to spaces. | Cannot manage other members, billing, or workspace settings. | Any paid plan | Counts as a paid editor seat (~$67/editor/month on Team plan) | Each editor seat is billed individually; adding a member mid-cycle may result in prorated charges. |
| Viewer | View and comment on shared prototypes via a link. No editing capability. | Cannot create or edit prototypes, cannot access workspace settings. | Viewers accessing via share link do not require a paid seat on most plans; Enterprise may have viewer seat controls. | No seat cost for link-based viewers | Viewer access is link-based; viewers are not formally added to the workspace member list and do not consume editor seats. |
Permission model
- Model type: role-based
- Description: ProtoPie uses a fixed role-based model with three workspace roles: Owner, Admin, and Member. Roles are assigned per workspace. There are no custom roles or granular permission sets. Space-level access can be controlled by assigning members to specific Spaces within the workspace.
- Custom roles: No
- Custom roles plan: Not documented
- Granularity: Workspace-level roles (Owner, Admin, Member) plus Space-level membership assignment. No field-level or object-level permissions.
How to add users
- Navigate to cloud.protopie.io and open your workspace.
- Go to Settings → Members.
- Click 'Invite Members'.
- Enter the email address(es) of the person(s) to invite.
- Select the role to assign (Admin or Member).
- Click 'Send Invite'. The invitee receives an email invitation.
- Invitee accepts the invitation and joins the workspace; a seat is consumed upon acceptance.
Required fields: Email address of invitee, Role selection (Admin or Member)
Watch out for:
- Inviting a new member consumes an additional paid seat immediately upon acceptance; ensure your plan has available seats or be prepared for an automatic seat upgrade charge.
- Invitations expire if not accepted; the admin must resend if the link lapses.
- The invitee must create or log in to a ProtoPie account with the invited email address; mismatched emails will block access.
- On Enterprise plans, SSO enforcement may require the invitee to authenticate via the configured IdP before joining.
| Bulk option | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV import | No | Not documented |
| Domain whitelisting | No | Automatic domain-based user add |
| IdP provisioning | Yes | Enterprise |
How to remove or deactivate users
- Can delete users: No
- Delete/deactivate behavior: ProtoPie does not offer a 'delete member' action that erases the user account. Admins or Owners can remove a member from the workspace, which revokes their access. The user's ProtoPie account itself is not deleted. Content owned by the removed member remains in the workspace.
- Navigate to cloud.protopie.io and open your workspace.
- Go to Settings → Members.
- Locate the member to remove.
- Click the options menu (⋯) next to the member's name.
- Select 'Remove from workspace'.
- Confirm the removal. The member loses workspace access immediately.
| Data impact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Owned records | Prototypes and files created by the removed member remain in the workspace and are accessible to remaining admins and members. Ownership of those files is not automatically transferred. |
| Shared content | Shared prototype links created by the removed member may continue to function depending on workspace sharing settings; admins should audit and revoke links if needed. |
| Integrations | Not documented |
| License freed | Removing a member frees the seat. However, billing adjustments (refunds or credits) depend on the billing cycle; seats removed mid-cycle may not result in an immediate refund-credit is typically applied at the next renewal. |
Watch out for:
- Files owned by a removed member are not automatically reassigned; admins must manually move or reassign ownership to prevent orphaned content.
- Removing a member does not delete their ProtoPie account; they can still log in to protopie.io with their personal account.
- On Enterprise with SSO, revoking IdP access does not automatically remove the user from the ProtoPie workspace; the admin must also remove them in ProtoPie's Members settings (no SCIM auto-deprovisioning is available).
- Seat billing credit for mid-cycle removals is not guaranteed; verify refund policy with ProtoPie billing support.
License and seat management
| Seat type | Includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Editor seat (Team plan) | Full prototype creation and editing, collaboration features, version history, team spaces. | ~$67/editor/month (billed annually per pricing seed data) |
| Editor seat (Enterprise license) | All Team features plus SSO/SAML, private server option, ISO 27001/27701 compliance, priority support. | $2,000–$2,500/license/year; minimum 3 licenses (~$6,000–$7,500/year minimum) |
| Free seat | Up to 2 prototypes, 2 recordings; no team collaboration features. | $0 |
- Where to check usage: cloud.protopie.io → Workspace Settings → Members (shows current member count vs. plan seat limit)
- How to identify unused seats: Admins can review the Members list in Settings → Members and check last-active dates if displayed, or cross-reference with prototype activity in the workspace. No dedicated 'inactive seat' report is documented in official help articles.
- Billing notes: Enterprise licenses are sold in annual minimums of 3 seats. Team plan seats are billed per editor per month (annual billing). Viewer access via share link does not consume a seat. Adding seats mid-cycle on the Team plan may result in prorated charges. Enterprise pricing is negotiated directly with ProtoPie sales.
The cost of manual management
Every app that lacks SCIM or a user-management API puts the full provisioning burden on admins, and ProtoPie is no exception. Onboarding a large cohort means sending individual email invitations one at a time - no CSV bulk-invite is documented.
Offboarding carries its own overhead: removing a member does not reassign their files, so orphaned content must be cleaned up manually. On Enterprise with SAML SSO, revoking IdP access does not automatically remove the user from the ProtoPie workspace; admins must also remove them in Members settings as a separate step.
What IT admins are saying
Recurring friction points in the ProtoPie community center on three areas. First, mid-cycle seat billing: users report no clear in-app indication of whether removing a member triggers a prorated credit, requiring a support ticket to confirm.
Second, orphaned content: files owned by removed members stay in the workspace unassigned, creating ongoing cleanup work.
Third, the Enterprise minimum spend - a floor of roughly $6,000–$7,500 per year across at least three licenses - is flagged as a barrier for smaller teams that need SSO but cannot justify the volume commitment.
Common complaints:
- Users report confusion about whether removing a member mid-billing-cycle results in a prorated refund or credit, with no clear in-app indication.
- Some users note that there is no SCIM/automated provisioning available even on Enterprise, requiring manual member management when onboarding or offboarding large teams.
- Users have noted that files owned by removed members are not automatically reassigned, creating orphaned content management overhead for admins.
- Community members have expressed that the lack of a CSV bulk-invite option makes onboarding large teams tedious.
- Some Enterprise prospects have noted the $6,000+ annual minimum spend is a significant barrier for smaller organizations needing SSO.
The decision
Every app with manual-only provisioning forces a tradeoff between access control depth and admin overhead, and ProtoPie is a clear example. Team plan unlocks multi-admin management and Space-level access segmentation, which is the practical minimum for a design team with distinct project boundaries.
Enterprise is the only path to SAML SSO, ISO 27001/27701 compliance, and private server deployment - but it arrives with a negotiated annual contract and no self-serve SCIM, so weigh the compliance value against the manual provisioning commitment before signing.
Bottom line
ProtoPie is a capable prototyping platform with a straightforward role model - Owner, Admin, Member, and link-based Viewer - but its user lifecycle management is fully manual at every plan tier.
There is no SCIM, no public REST API, and no bulk-invite tooling, which means provisioning and deprovisioning scale linearly with headcount.
Teams that need SSO must commit to Enterprise pricing and should budget time for ongoing manual member hygiene, particularly around orphaned content and IdP-to-workspace sync gaps.
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