Hard caps
A hard cap is a fixed limit on a plan, like 20 tables on Starter. Past the cap you upgrade to the next plan tier or wait until next month. There is no overage charge, no metered surprise on the invoice.
What it means in operation
On MobiTaste the caps are written in the pricing table: tables per restaurant, restaurants per organization, staff seats. The dashboard shows your current usage against the cap with a small progress bar. When you hit it, the next action that would cross the line is blocked with a message and a link to upgrade. You do not get billed for the extra capacity you tried to use. You either move to the higher tier (which takes effect immediately and prorates the rest of the month) or you wait to free up capacity. Some operators run intentionally near the cap to keep cost predictable.
Why it matters
Hard caps are the alternative to usage-based billing surprises. A metered model charges you for whatever you use, which means a busy weekend produces a bigger bill than you planned for. A hard cap model means the invoice never surprises you, at the cost of occasionally having to upgrade in the middle of the month. For SMB hospitality, the predictability wins most of the time: owners running tight margins prefer a known $25 to a possible $42. The buying decision is which side of that trade you want.
Related terms
- Plan tier: the package the cap belongs to.
- Subscription: the monthly fee under the cap.
- Organization: the account level that aggregates caps across restaurants.