Question 1

What is an Atlas Unit?

Accepted Answer

An Atlas Unit is a shared monthly usage allowance for Atlas AVD's metered products: the User Portal, Atlas Ink, Atlas Reach and Atlas Spool. One unit costs $1, every plan includes a monthly allowance (10 units a month on Community and 50 units per licensed tenant a month on Atlas AVD), and all four products draw from the same pool.

Question 2

Why does Atlas use units?

Accepted Answer

So you pay for four optional products with one simple currency instead of four separate per-user licences. The core Atlas AVD platform is a flat monthly price; units only cover the products whose cost grows with use, and they all share one pool, so you never have to guess how to split a budget between them.

Question 3

Which products consume units?

Accepted Answer

Only four: User Portal: 1 unit per active portal user / month; Atlas Ink: 1 unit per active signature user / month; Atlas Reach: 1 unit per managed device / month (synced AVD session hosts free); Atlas Spool: 5 units per managed printer, charged once. Nothing else in Atlas AVD uses units: Atlas Resolve DNS filtering, for one, is included with Atlas Reach and uses no units of its own.

Question 4

Do AVD users consume units?

Accepted Answer

No. People connecting to your Azure Virtual Desktops never use a unit, and AVD users are unlimited on every plan. A person only uses a unit if they also sign in to the User Portal or have an Atlas Ink signature applied that month.

Question 5

Are units shared between Atlas products?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your included units are one pooled allowance per subscription per calendar month, shared across every metered module and every tenant you manage: on Atlas AVD, each licensed tenant adds its allowance to the same pool. Atlas Spool's one-time printer units draw on the same bucket as portal, signature, and device usage. Any units you buy are added to that same pool.

Question 6

Do unused units roll over?

Accepted Answer

Your plan's included allowance refreshes at the start of every UTC calendar month. Unused included units do not roll over. Units you buy roll over. A monthly unit pack's unused units and one-time top-offs carry forward while your subscription stays active. On a prepaid term, each year's pack (12 × your monthly count) is yours up front and is usable until that year's anniversary.

Question 7

When does my unit allowance reset?

Accepted Answer

At the start of every UTC calendar month. Usage is counted fresh each month, and your plan's included units refresh on the 1st.

Question 8

What happens if I exceed my included units?

Accepted Answer

First, any units you have bought are used. Units are prepaid. Atlas never sends a surprise overage bill: usage past your pool is not charged after the fact. When your pool is used up, the four metered modules pause new usage until you add units: new portal users can't sign in (anyone already counted this month still can), Atlas Ink pauses signature updates, Atlas Reach pauses new device enrollments and live actions on billable devices, and new printers can't be added. Everything else in Atlas keeps running normally. The first time a paid plan runs out, Atlas keeps admitting usage for a one-time 14-day grace window so you have time to add units. The free Community plan has no grace window.

Question 9

Can I purchase additional units?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at $1 per unit. In Atlas AVD, use Add units on the Usage Units card (Settings → Licensing, or the dashboard widget when you're running low) to buy a one-time top-off, or Change plan on the Licensing page to set a recurring monthly pack. Both open the Atlas plan picker and are paid securely through Stripe: a one-time top-off by card, and a recurring pack by card or ACH, or by invoice on a prepaid (one, two or three year) term.

Question 10

Are units prorated?

Accepted Answer

There is no proration by day: a person or device is one unit for the month whether it was active for one day or thirty, and removing it mid-month does not hand the unit back. It simply isn't counted next month.

Question 11

When is a unit counted?

Accepted Answer

The first time something counts in a month: a portal user's first sign-in, the first time Atlas applies a user's signature, a billable Reach device checking in (or an attended Quick Support session), or the month a printer is added to Atlas Spool. Repeat activity in the same month adds nothing.

Question 12

If I remove a device, user or mailbox, what happens to its unit?

Accepted Answer

It stays counted for the month it was active and stops using units from the next month. A Spool printer's 5 units are a one-time charge and are not returned if the printer is deleted; adding it again counts as a new printer.

Question 13

Can I see my current unit usage?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Usage Units card in Settings → Licensing and on the dashboard shows units used this month, units remaining in your pool, and a breakdown by product. On the Licensing page, admins can also switch individual products off so they stop drawing on the pool.

Question 14

Are units shared across tenants?

Accepted Answer

One pool per subscription. Each licensed tenant adds its included units to the pool, and every tenant draws on the same pool, so there is no per-tenant balance to track. Every tenant you manage counts as a licensed tenant, your own included, and each one adds its included units to the pool.

Question 15

Do technician or admin accounts consume units?

Accepted Answer

No. Every plan includes unlimited technician seats. Admins, engineers and MSP technicians who sign in to operate Atlas never use a unit.

Question 16

Does the free trial use units?

Accepted Answer

The 30-day full-access trial is unlimited: no units are counted against you while you evaluate.

What Is an Atlas Unit? Unit Pricing Explained