After you create an account you land on a plan gate. You cannot skip it. Pick a paid plan for a 7-day trial, or continue with the free sandbox. The sandbox is a real choice, not a default the app made for you.
Pricing-page Get started buttons arrive with that plan already highlighted. Other signup links do not pre-select a card.
What the sandbox includes
One active project. Fifty saved products. Selection boards. Ten Smart Imports, counted for the life of the account from AI-assisted imports only. Unlimited watermarked PDF exports. Rooms and the spec editor stay on.
A skip that needs no AI (the page already had a complete identity) does not count against the ten.
What stays locked
AI chat, photo capture, the browser clipper, quote reading, and the rest of the AI surfaces. Viewing revision history is locked; every change is still recorded so the timeline is waiting if you upgrade. Client send, change orders, order sheets, trade packages, and the home manual stay off.
Hitting a limit
The eleventh Smart Import asks you to upgrade. The fiftieth saved product does too, and the next rung that unlocks more products is Pro, not Starter. Starter still has no product library; it buys AI, more projects, and templates.
Billing never says "Current plan: Free." It says sandbox, with no subscription.