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Frequently asked questions

Everything about what Pilla is, how you build and run workflows, what it connects to, what it costs, and how your data is handled.

Pilla overview

What is Pilla?
Pilla is a work automation platform for teams of frontline and deskless workers. You design your day-to-day work as visual workflows, your team runs them from their phones, and Poppi, the AI built into Pilla, handles the briefing, checking, deciding and chasing that used to eat a manager's day. Building, running, tracking and automating work all live in one place.
What kinds of businesses use Pilla?
Any business where the work happens on the ground rather than at a desk, from a single site to a multi-location operation. It suits owner-managers running one team and operations leaders standardising work across dozens of locations. If your work is repeatable and needs to be done right every time, Pilla fits.
Which industries is Pilla for?
Pilla is built to work across industries, not for one sector. Hospitality, retail, care, cleaning, facilities, logistics, warehousing, construction, clinics, gyms and more all run on it. The common thread is teams doing repeatable work in the real world that has to be consistent and accountable.
What does work automation actually mean?
Work automation means the routine parts of running frontline work happen on their own. Instead of just listing tasks, Pilla briefs your team with the right context, checks the work as it comes in, decides what should happen next, and takes follow-up actions in your other tools. Task and team management track work. Pilla runs and automates it.
Who uses Pilla, managers or frontline workers?
Both, on different surfaces. Managers and operators build and oversee workflows on the web app. Frontline workers carry out the work on the mobile app. Owners and operations leaders get visibility across every team and location without chasing people for updates.
What tools does Pilla replace?
Pilla replaces the patchwork most frontline teams stitch together: paper checklists and SOP binders, spreadsheets, a separate training tool, and a group chat for work. It pulls building the work, running it, tracking it and chasing it into one product. It connects to the tools you keep, like Slack and Google, rather than replacing them.
What can I actually do with Pilla?
Build opening and closing routines, audits, inspections, onboarding, compliance checks, incident handling, and any repeatable process. Attach photo, video and written guidance to each step, require evidence, and have Poppi decide what happens next based on what your team submits. Then let Poppi brief the team and act in your connected tools when the work is done.
How is Pilla different from a checklist or SOP app?
A checklist app shows a list and records ticks. Pilla runs the work: steps can unlock in order, demand photo or signature evidence, branch based on an answer, and trigger AI actions when complete. Poppi adds the judgement and follow-through a static checklist cannot, so the work does not just get recorded, it gets driven.
What is Poppi, the AI assistant?
Poppi is the AI built into Pilla. It briefs your team with context pulled from your connected tools, judges the answers they submit against your rules, decides what happens next in a workflow, and carries out actions for you when a step is done. It does the reminding, checking and chasing that used to fall on a manager.
Do I need to be technical to use Pilla?
No. You build workflows by dragging steps onto a canvas, and you can set up or edit them just by describing what you want in plain English. There is no code, and Poppi can draft a whole workflow for you from a short prompt.
How do I get started?
Sign up and you are on Starter straight away, free and with no card. Build your workflows, bring your whole team on, and let Poppi run the briefings, decisions and actions inside them. Users are free on every plan, so there is no reason to hold anyone back. Move up to Pro at £249 a month when your volume needs the bigger allowances, or Custom at £749 a month when it needs more again. If you would rather have it built with you, book a call and we will map how your team works today, set the workflows up, connect your tools, and configure Poppi to your rules.
How do I move my existing checklists or SOPs into Pilla?
Describe the routine to Poppi in plain English and it drafts the workflow for you, or start from a ready-made template and adjust it. You can attach your existing photos, videos and written instructions to the relevant steps. Most teams have their first few routines live the same day.
Where do I learn Pilla and get support?
The Resources hub has guided courses, help docs and ready-made templates to get you going, and you can ask Poppi as you work. If you need a hand from us, get in touch through the contact page. Support is included on every plan, Starter included, so being on the free plan does not leave you without help. Pro and Custom add priority support, and Custom adds onboarding and training.
I manage several clients. Can I run multiple accounts?
Yes. Pilla runs an expert program for consultants and agencies who set up and run Pilla for several businesses. You can switch between the accounts you manage from one login, each kept fully separate. Get in touch if you would like to join.
Why now? Why has this not existed before?
Two things changed. Frontline teams now all carry a smartphone, so the work can live where the worker is. And AI got good enough to brief, judge and act reliably, which is what turns a checklist into automation. Pilla is built around both, rather than bolting AI onto an older task tool.

Building workflows

What is a workflow, and what is the Canvas?
A workflow is a piece of work your team runs, like an opening routine or a safety check, built as a series of connected steps. The Canvas is the visual builder where you create it: you drag steps on, connect them, and decide how the work flows. It is the web-app screen where managers design everything their team will do.
How do I build a workflow?
Open the Canvas and drag steps onto it, then connect them in the order the work should happen. Each step can carry instructions, photo or video guidance, an input for your team to complete, or a Poppi action. You can also describe the workflow to Poppi in plain English and have it built for you.
What step types can I add?
Guidance steps with written instructions, photos or videos. Input steps where your team types text, enters a number, picks a time, chooses from options, ticks a checklist, or gives a rating. Evidence steps for photos, audio, signatures and file uploads. And Poppi steps that brief, decide or act. Steps can be gated so the next one only unlocks when the last is done.
What is a Poppi step: briefing, decision or action?
Three kinds. A briefing step has Poppi gather information from your connected tools and brief the team right on the step before they start. A decision step has Poppi judge an answer against your rule and choose what happens next. An action step has Poppi carry out a task in your connected tools when the step is complete, like posting to Slack or updating a sheet.
Can I try building before I sign up?
Yes. The playground lets you build a workflow on the canvas without an account: start from a prompt and watch Poppi assemble it. When you want to keep it, hit Save my workflow and create your account in the same step, and the workflow you just built comes with you. That puts you on Starter, which is free and needs no card, so you can put it in front of your team the same day.
Do you have ready-made templates?
Yes. There is a library of ready-made workflow templates covering common routines across different industries. Open one, see how it is built, and use it as the starting point for your own. You will find them under Templates in the Resources hub.
Can Poppi build a workflow from a prompt?
Yes. Describe the routine you want in a sentence or two and Poppi assembles the workflow on the Canvas, with the steps, guidance and logic in place. You then tweak anything you want before it goes live.
Can I edit a workflow in plain English?
Yes. Alongside the Canvas you can tell Poppi the change you want, like add a photo step after cleaning, or ask for a temperature reading, and it edits the workflow for you. You do not have to build every change by hand.
Can a workflow branch or make a decision mid-way?
Yes. A Poppi decision step judges what your team submits against a rule you set and chooses the path: revealing extra steps, picking a branch, or simply carrying on. So a workflow can react to what is actually happening rather than running the same way every time.
Does Poppi act on its own, or am I in control?
You are in control. Poppi only does what you design into a workflow: the briefings, decisions and actions you place on the Canvas, against the rules you set. It acts when a step runs, within the boundaries you have given it, not on its own initiative.
Can I test what Poppi will do before it runs for real?
Yes. You can preview a workflow and have Poppi's steps run for real against a test team, so you see exactly how it briefs, decides and acts before any of your live teams touch it. Adjust until it behaves the way you want, then publish.

Running workflows

How does a workflow get to my workers?
When you assign a workflow to a team, or privately to individual people, it appears in the Pilla app on their phones, ready to run. You decide who gets it and when, including on a repeating schedule. Your team just opens the app and works through the steps.
Can I assign a workflow to one person?
Yes. When you choose who a workflow runs for, switch to the People tab and pick individuals instead of teams. Each person gets their own private run that only they, the manager who assigned it, and account admins can see. It works well for one-to-one check-ins, reviews and onboarding checklists, and it can repeat on a schedule like any other workflow.
Is there a mobile app? Which platforms?
Yes. There is a mobile app for iOS and Android where your team does their work, plus a web app you can use from any browser. Managers can build and review from either a phone or a laptop.
What do workers do on mobile versus managers on web?
Frontline workers use the mobile app to run their workflows: following guidance, completing steps, and capturing evidence like photos and signatures where the work happens. Managers mostly use the web app to build workflows, review completed work, and see what is happening across teams. Either role can use either surface.
How do workers get added? Do they need accounts?
You invite your people and they join with a simple login on their phone, with no setup or technical steps. There is no cap on how many you add and no charge per person on any plan, so the whole team can be on Pilla from day one. Your bill follows what Pilla does rather than who is on the account: the workflows it processes for you and the automations Poppi runs. Adding or archiving people does not move it.
What if some staff do not have smartphones?
They can log in through the web app in any browser and do all the same things. Nothing is locked to the mobile app.
Can workflows repeat on a schedule?
Yes. Set a workflow to recur, like every opening, every Monday, or on whatever pattern the work follows, and it appears for the right team automatically. You can also run one ad hoc whenever you need it.
What happens when a worker finishes a workflow?
The completed run is recorded with everything your team captured, including timestamps, answers and evidence, so you have a full record. Any Poppi action steps fire, carrying out follow-ups in your connected tools. Managers can review it on the web app, with logs of every change along the way.
How does my team communicate in Pilla?
Pilla has built-in team messaging: direct messages and group chats, with photos and files. Because it lives alongside the work, messages carry the context of what your team is actually doing, and Poppi can post into it too.
Can Poppi post messages to my team?
Yes. As part of a workflow, Poppi can send a message to the right team or channel, like flagging a failed check or confirming a job is done. The message lands in your team's Pilla app, where they see it with a push notification.
Do workers get push notifications?
Yes. Your team gets push notifications on their phone for new messages and for work they need to do, whether it is a direct message, a group chat, or a message from Poppi.

Integrations and API

What does Pilla connect to?
Pilla connects to more than 40 tools, including Slack, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Shopify and WhatsApp. Poppi can read information from them to brief your team and carry out actions in them when work is done. You connect the tools you already use rather than switching anything out.
Does Pilla post as me or as Pilla?
Actions run under the account of the person who connected the tool, not as a Pilla bot. So a Slack message Poppi sends appears as you, and a calendar event shows you as the organiser. It is a uniform "your account did this" model across every integration.
Can Poppi take actions in my other tools?
Yes. That is what a Poppi action step does: when your team completes a step, Poppi carries out a task in a connected tool for you, like posting a Slack message, creating a calendar event, or adding a record to Airtable. You decide which action sits on which step.
Can I connect a tool that is not on your list?
If a tool is not on our list, get in touch and tell us what you use. We are adding to the set of supported tools regularly, so it helps us prioritise. If your team has developers, you can also connect through the Pilla API to move work in and out of your own systems.
Do I need my own API keys?
For most integrations, no. You connect the tool by signing in to it once and approving access, the normal way you would connect any app. A few tools connect instead with an API key you paste in once, and Pilla checks the key works before saving it.
Does Pilla have an API or MCP server?
Yes. Pilla exposes its workflow capabilities through an API and an MCP server, so other systems and AI assistants can work with your workflows programmatically. Get in touch if you want access for a custom integration.
How many connections can I have per tool?
One per service for each account: one Slack workspace, one Google account, and so on. Connecting a tool again cleanly replaces the old connection. It keeps it clear which account Poppi is acting through.

Pricing and billing

How does pricing work?
You pay for the work Pilla does, not for the people using it. Users are unlimited and free on every plan. Two things are counted: processed workflows, which are the workflows Pilla processes and makes available for Poppi to see, check and act on, and automations, which are the AI executions Poppi runs. Starter is £0 a month and includes 1,000 processed workflows and 5,000 automations. Pro is £249 a month and includes 2,500 and 12,500, then charges 5p and 1p per extra unit. Custom is £749 a month and includes 10,000 and 50,000, then charges 2.5p and 0.5p. A Starter account without payment details keeps running above its allowance and is not charged automatically. We record the usage and contact high-usage accounts about moving to the appropriate paid plan. Every core feature is on every plan, including all of the AI; user audit logs, detailed server logs and priority support start on Pro.
What counts as a processed workflow or an automation?
Both are work Pilla does, not work your team does. A processed workflow is a workflow Pilla processes and makes available for Poppi to see, check and act on, counted once per workflow, per team, per occasion. An automation is one AI execution: a Poppi briefing, decision or action, a Poppi rule on a step, a message Poppi answers in chat, or an AI canvas build or edit. As a rule of thumb, an automated workflow uses about five automations each time it runs.
What doesn't count towards my usage?
Most of what you do in a day. Building a workflow yourself is free, and so is editing one, adding people and creating teams. Previewing a workflow on the canvas costs nothing, and neither does the playground or anything you try before you sign up. Poppi searching your help docs or the template library is not an automation. Failed runs are voided, so only successful executions are ever counted. People are never counted at all, on any plan, so headcount does not enter the sum. The flip side is worth knowing: asking Poppi to build or edit a workflow for you is an automation, and so are live test runs and manual Run Now runs, because Pilla really does the work.
Are there plan tiers?
Three: Starter at £0 a month, Pro at £249 a month, and Custom at £749 a month. Every plan gets every core feature, including all of the AI, and users are unlimited and free on all three. Only the audit and server logs and priority support wait until Pro. What changes is how much Pilla does for you before you pay anything more. Starter includes 1,000 processed workflows and 5,000 automations a month and keeps your records for a year. Pro includes 2,500 and 12,500, halves the rate past that, and keeps your records for three years. Custom includes 10,000 and 50,000, halves the rate again, and keeps your records for good.
Do I need a card to start?
No. Starter is free, so there is no card to add, no checkout to clear and no trial counting down. You get the whole product straight away, for everyone you bring on, with 1,000 processed workflows and 5,000 automations included each month. If you use more, Pilla keeps running and records the extra usage. We do not charge you without payment details. We review high-usage Starter accounts and contact the account administrator about moving to the appropriate paid plan.
What do I get for each price?
The whole working product, on all three plans: unlimited users, the drag and drop canvas, every step type, the mobile app, Poppi and all of the AI, integrations, analytics, the run-by-run log of every workflow, and group chats and DMs. Three things start on Pro: user audit logs, which record who did what across the account, detailed server logs, which record what Pilla itself did and whether it worked, and priority support. Nothing you need to build and run the work is held back. Starter is free, covers 1,000 processed workflows and 5,000 automations a month, and keeps your records for a year. A Starter account without payment details keeps running above its allowance while Pilla records the usage and contacts high-usage accounts about moving to a paid plan. Pro at £249 a month raises the allowance to 2,500 and 12,500, charges 5p and 1p per extra unit, and keeps your records for three years. Custom at £749 a month raises it again to 10,000 and 50,000, halves those rates, keeps your records for good, and adds your own branding on the app plus dedicated compute and data.
What does the Custom plan add?
Custom is £749 a month and includes 10,000 processed workflows and 50,000 automations, then 2.5p and 0.5p per extra unit, with your records kept for good. It includes everything on Pro, so the user audit logs, the detailed server logs and priority support come with it. On top it adds your own branding on the app your teams use, dedicated compute and data of your own, single sign-on, multi-entity management and an uptime SLA. On the commercial side it adds a custom contract and security review, onboarding and training, and annual billing by invoice or purchase order. None of it changes what the product can do: the canvas, every step type and all of the AI are the same on all three plans, and you build your workflows your own way from the free plan up. The prices are published, but Custom is bought by talking to us rather than through checkout, so tell us what you need and we will set it up.
Is there a usage limit on Poppi?
Not as a hard limit, and not per person or per seat. Poppi is included on every plan and anyone on your account can use it. What gets counted is your account's monthly total: automations, meaning each AI execution Poppi runs, and processed workflows. Starter includes 5,000 automations and 1,000 processed workflows a month, Pro includes 12,500 and 2,500, and Custom includes 50,000 and 10,000. Paid subscribers are charged the published per-unit rates above those allowances. A Starter account without payment details keeps running, records the extra usage and is not charged automatically. We review high-usage accounts and contact the account administrator about moving to the appropriate paid plan.
Is there an annual discount?
Not on Pro; self-serve billing is monthly, and Starter is free either way. Annual contracts and invoice or PO billing come with Custom, at £749 a month, alongside things like single sign-on, an uptime SLA and your own branding on the app. Get in touch if that would suit you better.
What happens if we use Pilla more?
Pilla keeps running and records the extra usage. If you have an active paid subscription, usage above the allowance is added to your bill at the published rate. On Pro that is 5p per processed workflow beyond 2,500 and 1p per automation beyond 12,500. On Custom it is 2.5p and 0.5p, beyond 10,000 and 50,000. A Starter account without payment details is not charged automatically or paused. We review high-usage accounts and contact the account administrator about moving to the appropriate paid plan. Only successful runs count, failed ones are voided, and allowances reset each month rather than rolling over.
What will my monthly bill look like?
On a paid plan, your monthly bill is the plan price plus anything you run beyond its allowances. A ten-site operator running 3,500 processed workflows and about 17,500 automations pays £349 on Pro: the £249 plan fee plus £100 of overage. Push that to 12,000 processed workflows and 60,000 automations and Custom comes to £849, where the same volume on Pro would be £1,199. A cardless Starter account stays free and keeps running if it exceeds 1,000 processed workflows or 5,000 automations, while Pilla records the usage and contacts high-usage accounts about moving to a paid plan. Headcount never enters the sum, and VAT is added to paid bills.
How do I change or cancel?
Billing is monthly and it flexes with your volume. On a paid plan, anything you run past your allowance is added to that month's invoice. A cardless Starter account is not invoiced automatically; Pilla records its usage and contacts high-usage accounts about moving to the appropriate paid plan. Admins open the billing portal from the account menu in the web app to update the card, read invoices or cancel. Cancelling takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for, and there is no minimum term or lock-in.
Do you offer non-profit or other discounts?
There is no standing discount on the published prices, though checkout does accept a promotion code if you have been given one. Starter is free anyway, so a lot of smaller operations never pay us at all. Non-profits and other special situations are welcome to get in touch and we will look at it. Custom, at £749 a month, is the plan that carries annual contracts and invoice or purchase order billing, so get in touch if that suits your procurement better than paying monthly by card.
How is VAT or sales tax handled, and what if I am exempt?
Prices exclude tax. On a paid plan, VAT or sales tax is worked out from your billing location at checkout, added on top of your plan and any billable usage above its allowance, and shown as its own line on your invoice. Prices are set in GBP and your invoice is converted to your local currency. If your business is VAT-registered or tax-exempt, get in touch and we will sort it out on your account.

Privacy, security and data

Who can see my data?
Only you and the people you invite to your account. Your data is yours, kept private to your business, and never sold or shared with third parties.
How is my data kept separate from other companies?
Pilla is multi-tenant, and every account's data is isolated so one business can never see another's. Access is enforced at the database level on every request, not just hidden in the interface.
What data can Poppi see?
Poppi only works with your own account's data and the tools you choose to connect. It uses that to brief your team, judge answers and take the actions you have set up. It cannot reach another business's data, and what it sees stays inside your account.
Do you train AI on my data?
No. Your data is never used to train AI models. Poppi uses it to do the work inside your account and nothing else.
Is Pilla GDPR compliant?
Yes. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, stored in secure data centres, never sold, and only shared with the vetted providers that run the service, never for their own purposes. You can delete any person's data at any time.
Where is my data hosted?
Your data is stored on secure, reputable cloud infrastructure with encryption in transit and at rest. Get in touch if you have specific data-residency requirements.
How do you handle my workers' personal data?
Your team's personal details are part of your account's private data, visible only to you and the people you invite, and never sold or shared. You control it, and you can remove a person and their data whenever you need to.
Can I export or delete my data?
Yes. You can export completed work and records from your account, and you can delete any person's data at any time. It is your data, and you stay in control of it.