ConsultEarth has four client tiers. Inquiry Only is free and created automatically when a user first contacts an expert. Starter and Basic are pay-per-post, with no subscription. Pro is a subscription that adds proactive discovery tools. The right tier depends less on price than on what the client needs to do with applicants once they arrive.
At a glance
| Inquiry Only | Starter | Basic | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $50 / post | $200 / post | $299 / mo or $2,990 / yr |
| Billing | Auto-created on first inquiry | Pay per post | Pay per post | Subscription |
| Post a job | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Job tokens included | — | — | — | 4 / month (2-month carryover) |
| Extra token price | — | $50 | $200 | $150 |
| Open jobs at once | — | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Listing window (max) | — | 14 days | 30 days | 60 days |
| Applicants per brief | — | 15 | 25 | Unlimited |
| Posting goes live | — | After admin approval | Instantly | Instantly |
| Quick Import AI | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On-platform hire + workspace | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Browse Expert Directory | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Service inquiries at once | 1* | 1 | 3 | Unlimited |
| Saved Talent Pool / searches | No | No | No | Yes |
| Invite experts to apply (Pings) | No | No | No | 25 / month |
| Applicant Intelligence (AI fit) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Concierge matching | No | No | No | Yes |
| Team seats (including owner) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
* Inquiry Only's cap of one covers open inquiries and active engagements together: one active relationship at a time.
Inquiry Only
Inquiry Only is free and is created automatically the first time a signed-in user sends a service inquiry to an expert. The account can hold one active relationship at a time, whether that is an open inquiry or an engagement. It cannot post jobs or browse the expert directory. It is the entry point for someone who has found one expert and wants to start a conversation, not run a search.
Starter
$50 per post, with no subscription. Starter is the cheapest way to post a brief and collect applicants. One brief can be open at a time, it stays live for up to 14 days, and it accepts up to 15 applicants. Starter briefs are held for manual admin approval before going live.
A Starter client can shortlist, interview, review proposals, and message applicants, but finalizes the hire off-platform. There is no on-platform offer step, no engagement workspace, and no expert directory. Quick Import AI is included.
Basic
$200 per post, with no subscription. Basic publishes a brief instantly, keeps it live for up to 30 days, and accepts up to 25 applicants. It includes the full expert directory, Quick Import AI, and on-platform hiring with an engagement workspace, so the work can be run and closed on ConsultEarth rather than off it.
A Basic account can hold up to three active service inquiries and up to two team seats.
Pro
$299 per month, or $2,990 per year (about two months free). Pro is a subscription that includes four job tokens a month. Unused tokens carry over for two months, and extra tokens cost $150 each after the included four. Pro briefs publish instantly, stay live for up to 60 days, and accept unlimited applicants.
Pro also adds the proactive side of the platform:
- Expert Directory to browse experts outside the job feed
- Invite to apply to nudge specific experts toward a brief, 25 invitations a month
- Saved Talent Pool and saved searches for shortlists with notes and tags
- Applicant Intelligence AI fit summaries on each proposal
- Concierge matching
- Match count and past-expert panels that appear while composing a brief
Pro raises team seats to five and removes the cap on concurrent service inquiries.
Which fits
The clearest signal is what the client needs to do with applicants, and then post volume:
- Just need applicants and will hire off-platform: Starter at $50 a post is the cheapest route.
- Want to hire and manage the work on ConsultEarth, posting occasionally: Basic. The engagement workspace and expert directory are what separate it from Starter.
- Two or more posts a month, or proactive sourcing: Pro is cheaper at volume (four tokens for $299 works out below $200 a post once past one) and its Saved Talent Pool, invitations, and past-expert panel cut re-discovery cost on every new brief.
The annual plan is worth it when Pro is the right choice and the org is confident it will not churn within the year.
Switching tiers
The org owner makes any tier change. Switching between the pay-per-post tiers (Inquiry Only, Starter, Basic) happens from the account and applies to the next post.
Moving up to Pro runs through subscription checkout and takes effect immediately; the first month's four tokens land at activation.
Moving from Pro down to a pay-per-post tier is queued to the end of the current billing period. Pro features stay available until then, unused tokens remain spendable, and saved data (talent pool, searches, invitation history) is never deleted; it becomes read-only and unlocks again if the account re-subscribes. Tokens already bought keep their count but not their price, so upgrading does not revalue a token bought at a higher tier.
Related
- Posting a job: /help/posting-a-job
- How expert names are masked: /help/name-masking
- Refund policy: /help/refund-policy