An entitlement management system controls what a customer can access based on their plan and contract terms.
It reflects limits, trials, and billing state directly in the product instead of handling those rules through custom code.
For example, if a customer exceeds their included API calls, the system can apply overage pricing or restrict further requests automatically.
This guide explains what an entitlement management system is, what it governs in SaaS products, and how it fits into your stack.
An entitlement management system decides what an account can do in your product based on plan and contract terms, not just identity or roles.
It governs plans and packaging, metered usage, trials, credits, and account-specific overrides so access matches what customers paid for.
Runtime enforcement follows a simple flow: authenticate the user, evaluate the plan and usage at request time, enforce allow or deny, then record usage for future checks.
Platforms like Schematic provide this layer on top of Stripe, so teams can change plans, limits, and exceptions without hard-coding checks in the app.
An entitlement management system evaluates whether an account is allowed to perform a specific action inside a product. The decision is based on subscription data and packaging rules, not just identity.
Identity confirms who the user is. Role-based access control defines user roles and permissions. Entitlement management defines what the account has paid for and what usage or features are available.
The system evaluates context such as:
Active plan
Included limits
Contract terms
Subscription status
For example, an admin role may allow inviting teammates. A Pro plan may include 10 seats, advanced reporting, and 100,000 API calls per month. If usage exceeds that limit, the system can block additional requests or allow continued usage while recording overage events for billing.
Many software vendors package plans differently for self-serve customers, enterprise buyers, and resellers. Entitlements reflect those packaging rules inside the product.
They can also support external entitlements, such as agency seats, reseller access, or shared environments with partner organizations.
An entitlement management platform connects plans, limits, and subscription state directly to product behavior without embedding pricing rules in controllers.
In day-to-day product operations, an effective entitlement management system appears in how plans are structured, how usage is enforced, how trials expire, how credits are deducted, and how enterprise overrides are applied.
Plans define how your software products are packaged and sold. Each plan bundles features, usage limits, and pricing into a structured offering.
For example, a Pro plan might include 5 seats, advanced analytics, and API access. In a well-designed entitlement management software setup, those inclusions are stored as structured data rather than hard-coded feature checks.
When pricing or packaging changes, you update the plan definition instead of rewriting logic tied to access permissions.
This approach makes it easier to manage new features, adjust packaging, and support changing business models without time-consuming deployments.
Metered usage applies when pricing depends on measurable consumption. That could include API requests, AI tokens, storage volume, or active seats.
The entitlement layer tracks usage against defined limits and determines whether the account remains within its allowance. If usage exceeds the plan’s limit, the system can block additional requests or apply overage pricing tied to billing.
Clear usage enforcement helps efficiently manage access while keeping billing and product behavior aligned.
Trials grant temporary access to features or usage under defined conditions.
A 14-day trial, for example, may include limited API calls and access to premium features. When the trial ends, premium capabilities are removed unless the account converts to a paid subscription.
No manual toggles are required. The entitlement rules handle the transition automatically.
Some pricing models rely on prepaid credits rather than fixed limits.
An account might purchase 1 million AI tokens upfront. Each request deducts from that balance. When the balance reaches zero, additional token usage is restricted until more credits are added.
Managing entitlements at this level keeps usage tracking, billing, and product behavior tightly connected, reducing security risks caused by manual overrides.
Enterprise agreements often include custom contract terms that differ from public plans, especially when customers operate under specific regulatory requirements or industry-level external regulations.
An account may receive a higher API limit, additional seats, early access to certain features, or restrictions customized for partner organizations. Overrides attach directly to the account record and adjust entitlements without branching product logic.
This keeps access management predictable while still supporting negotiated terms.
An entitlement system has four key components. Each one supports consistent access decisions inside your product without scattering plan checks throughout the codebase.
The system of record stores plans, limits, add-ons, and account-specific overrides. It acts as the authoritative source for plan and entitlement data.
Plans function like an access package tied to billing. Instead of scattering configuration in different services, you manage entitlements in one place. That structure simplifies managing access rights when packaging changes or enterprise contract terms are updated.
A centralized record also supports audit trails and helps with maintaining compliance when contract terms or pricing conditions change.
The evaluation engine processes entitlement checks during product execution.
Input may include:
Account identifier
Plan reference
Usage counters
Subscription status
Relevant account attributes
The output is a clear decision. Permit the action or deny access. The decision reflects plan limits, overrides, and billing state.
A well-designed engine supports the principle of least privilege and helps maintain security by granting only the access defined by the plan and contract terms.
Enforcement points are where entitlement decisions are applied.
Common locations include:
API endpoints
UI feature rendering
Background processing tasks
Each enforcement point checks whether the account has the right access before executing the action, independent of individual user permissions. If usage exceeds limits or a subscription becomes inactive, the product restricts the operation in real time.
Placing checks inside the request flow ensures consistent behavior for all software applications tied to the product.
An entitlement system must integrate with billing and usage tracking. Subscription state syncs from Stripe. Usage events are sent from the product.
When subscription status changes, the system updates access decisions automatically. When usage increases, counters reflect the latest consumption.
Tight integration between billing and entitlements helps reduce operational costs, supports accurate renewal terms, and keeps access aligned with what the customer has paid for.
These components form the foundation of effective software entitlement management inside modern SaaS products.
An entitlement management system evaluates access during the lifecycle of a product request.
First, a user authenticates through the identity provider, which confirms identity and assigns a role inside the application.
The product then receives a request, such as generating a report, calling an API endpoint, or handling a user action to request access to a gated feature.
Before executing the action, the product calls the entitlement layer.
The engine evaluates the account’s plan, limits, usage counters, credits, contract overrides, and Stripe subscription state against defined access policies. It determines whether to allow the request, limit it, or deny it.
If usage exceeds a quota, the engine may apply overage logic or begin limiting access to prevent abuse or other potential threats, such as runaway API consumption.
If a subscription becomes inactive, it can revoke premium features while preserving core data visibility.
The product enforces the decision immediately inside the request flow, especially for endpoints handling sensitive information. Usage events and other user activities are recorded and fed back into the system for future evaluations.
The result is consistent software access to billing and plan data without hard-coded pricing logic in the application.
In practice, entitlement rules surface during everyday product events such as upgrades, downgrades, usage spikes, and billing changes. Clear enforcement prevents surprise invoices, protects revenue, and supports long-term customer satisfaction.
A customer exceeds the included API calls, and the system applies overage pricing while allowing requests to continue. Usage tracking and billing remain aligned without forcing a plan change or manual updates.
The entitlement layer evaluates the resources needed for continued access and enforces limits automatically. Engineering does not intervene. Product behavior matches contract terms in real time.
A customer moves from Pro to Free, which reduces the seat allowance and removes advanced analytics from the UI. Accounts above the new limit are flagged immediately.
Access changes are enforced without waiting for support tickets or manual cleanup. Entitlements evaluate at the account level, while roles determine user-level permissions.
That separation protects digital assets tied to higher tiers and strengthens the organization’s security posture.
A temporary enterprise override reaches its end date, the custom quota is removed, and the account returns to the standard limits defined in billing.
Time-bound overrides help minimize risk. They prevent long-term exposure to elevated limits and reduce the chance of insider threats abusing extended access.
An invoice becomes past due, which may trigger revoking access rights for write actions while preserving read access. Sensitive operations are limited until billing is resolved.
The product enforces these rules consistently, whether deployed in the cloud or on premises.
Customers can still use a self-service portal to submit requests for plan updates, which may trigger internal approval workflows before access expands again.
In a modern SaaS stack, each system owns a specific responsibility, and the entitlement layer sits between billing and the product runtime.
The identity provider authenticates the user and determines their role. After authentication, Stripe manages the subscription, invoices, and payment state. The product then delivers features and records usage events.
The right entitlement management solution connects billing state and product behavior. When the product receives a request, it calls the entitlement layer to evaluate the account’s plan, limits, usage, and overrides before executing the action.
It does not replace authentication or billing. It acts as the decision layer that translates subscription data and plan definitions into runtime access control.
Schematic fills this role as the system of record for your product catalog, including plans, SaaS entitlements, limits, trials, credits, add-ons, and overrides.
It is built on Stripe and syncs subscription state directly, so billing and product access stay aligned without webhook glue code.
Instead of embedding pricing rules in controllers or feature checks, the product calls Schematic during the request flow and receives a clear decision fast.
Engineering implements monetization once. Product and RevOps can adjust packaging, limits, and exceptions without rewriting application logic, which improves the customer experience during upgrades and renewals.
To enable entitlement management, define your plans, limits, credits, and overrides as structured data and connect them to your billing system. Then integrate entitlement management into your product’s request flow so every feature check evaluates plan, usage, and subscription state at runtime. Most teams connect it to Stripe and their identity provider to support automated provisioning when subscriptions start, change, or cancel.
An entitlement model is the structured definition of what an account can access based on its plan and contract terms. It includes features, usage limits, seat counts, credits, and expiration rules. The model separates plan-based access from job roles and identity, and it evaluates user behavior such as API consumption or seat usage against defined limits.
Examples of entitlements include the number of seats included in a plan, API call limits per month, access to premium analytics, prepaid AI token balances, and time-bound trial access. Entitlements can also define which digital features are available in a Microsoft Azure deployment or other hosted environments.
The key benefits of user access managed through entitlements include consistent enforcement of plan rules, fewer billing mismatches, and clearer boundaries between pricing and application code. Structured entitlement logic reduces manual overrides, improves upgrade flows, and keeps product behavior aligned with billing without hard-coded checks.
