🔍 What This Article Covers
If you are considering downgrading to a lower-tier plan and you currently have more projects than your new plan supports, this article explains exactly what happens to those projects — and what you will and will not lose.
📋 Understanding Project Types and Plan Limits
Search Atlas has two distinct project categories:
- OTTO SEO Projects: Projects connected to OTTO SEO for AI-driven automation, on-page fixes, and active optimisation tasks.
- Regular Projects: Standard projects that support keyword tracking, rank tracking, site audits, and reporting — without OTTO automation.
Every plan includes a limit on the number of OTTO SEO (OTTO-connected) projects you can have active at one time. The Pro plan at $399 supports up to 4 OTTO SEO projects and up to 4 OTTO-connected sites.
✅ What Happens to Your 10 Existing Projects After Downgrading
If you are currently on a higher plan with 10 sites and you downgrade to the Pro plan, here is the practical outcome:
- You can keep all 10 projects in your account. Downgrading does not delete or archive your existing projects.
- Up to 4 of those projects can remain connected to OTTO as active OTTO SEO projects.
- The remaining 6 projects will continue to function as regular projects.
As regular projects, those 6 sites retain full access to:
- Keyword tracking — your tracked keywords continue to update and display ranking data.
- Rank tracking and ranking reports — historical and ongoing rank data is preserved and accessible.
- Site audits — you can still run and schedule site audits at any time.
- Reporting — all reporting features remain available for non-OTTO projects.
The only functionality those 6 sites lose is OTTO SEO automation — meaning AI-generated fixes, automated on-page optimisation tasks, and active OTTO management will not apply to those sites.
⚙️ How to Manage Your Projects After Downgrading
- Go to OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) in the left sidebar or navigate to /seo-automation-v3.
- Review your current OTTO SEO projects and identify which 4 sites you want to keep connected to OTTO.
- For the remaining sites, disconnect them from OTTO. They will automatically revert to regular projects and retain all tracking, audit, and reporting data.
- Confirm your selections before completing the downgrade to avoid any unintended disconnections.
⚠️ Important Things to Know Before You Downgrade
- No data is lost when a site moves from an OTTO SEO project to a regular project. All historical ranking data, audit history, and keyword lists are preserved.
- OTTO progress is paused, not erased. If you upgrade again in the future, you can reconnect those sites to OTTO and resume automation.
- You cannot exceed the plan limit for OTTO SEO projects. If you have 4 active OTTO connections and try to add a fifth, you will be prompted to upgrade or disconnect an existing one.
- Regular projects do not count against your OTTO SEO project limit — only OTTO-connected projects do.
💡 Choosing Which 4 Sites to Keep on OTTO
When deciding which sites should remain as OTTO SEO projects under the Pro plan, consider prioritising:
- Sites with the most active optimisation work in progress.
- Sites in competitive niches where OTTO automation delivers the most value.
- Sites with upcoming campaigns or seasonal content pushes.
All other sites will continue to be monitored and tracked automatically — you simply manage any on-page changes manually rather than through OTTO.
💬 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.