diff --git a/docker/backend/src/db.ts b/docker/backend/src/db.ts
index 190b807..31c5134 100644
--- a/docker/backend/src/db.ts
+++ b/docker/backend/src/db.ts
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ export const PHOTO_HISTORY_MAX = 3;
 // `verified` the client reads.
 // `pro` is the admin's own 0/1 grant — the "Activated Pro" box in the users
 // table, and the only way an unproven address reaches the PRO tier.
+// `createdAt` is the signup instant, which the PRO cutoff reads (see server.ts).
 export type User = {
   id: number;
   email: string;
@@ -249,6 +250,7 @@ export type User = {
   deletedAt: string | null;
   emailVerified: number;
   pro: number;
+  createdAt: string;
 };
 export type Recipe = {
   id: number;
@@ -282,10 +284,11 @@ const now = () => new Date().toISOString();
 
 export function createUser(email: string, password: string): User | null {
   try {
+    const createdAt = now();
     const info = db
       .prepare('INSERT INTO users (email, password_hash, created_at) VALUES (?, ?, ?)')
-      .run(email, hashPassword(password), now());
-    return { id: Number(info.lastInsertRowid), email, avatar: null, blocked: 0, deletedAt: null, emailVerified: 0, pro: 0 };
+      .run(email, hashPassword(password), createdAt);
+    return { id: Number(info.lastInsertRowid), email, avatar: null, blocked: 0, deletedAt: null, emailVerified: 0, pro: 0, createdAt };
   } catch (err) {
     if ((err as { code?: string }).code === 'SQLITE_CONSTRAINT_UNIQUE') return null;
     throw err;
@@ -295,14 +298,14 @@ export function createUser(email: string, password: string): User | null {
 export function findUserByEmail(email: string): (User & { password_hash: string }) | undefined {
   return db
     .prepare(
-      'SELECT id, email, avatar, blocked, deleted_at AS deletedAt, email_verified AS emailVerified, pro, password_hash FROM users WHERE email = ?',
+      'SELECT id, email, avatar, blocked, deleted_at AS deletedAt, email_verified AS emailVerified, pro, created_at AS createdAt, password_hash FROM users WHERE email = ?',
     )
     .get(email) as (User & { password_hash: string }) | undefined;
 }
 
 export function findUserById(id: number): User | undefined {
   return db
-    .prepare('SELECT id, email, avatar, blocked, deleted_at AS deletedAt, email_verified AS emailVerified, pro FROM users WHERE id = ?')
+    .prepare('SELECT id, email, avatar, blocked, deleted_at AS deletedAt, email_verified AS emailVerified, pro, created_at AS createdAt FROM users WHERE id = ?')
     .get(id) as User | undefined;
 }
 
@@ -604,6 +607,7 @@ export type AdminUser = {
   blocked: number;
   deletedAt: string | null;
   pro: number;
+  emailVerified: number;
 };
 
 export function listUsersWithCounts(): AdminUser[] {
@@ -611,7 +615,8 @@ export function listUsersWithCounts(): AdminUser[] {
     .prepare(
       `SELECT users.id AS id, users.email AS email, users.created_at AS createdAt,
               users.avatar AS avatar, users.blocked AS blocked,
-              users.deleted_at AS deletedAt, users.pro AS pro, COUNT(photos.id) AS photos
+              users.deleted_at AS deletedAt, users.pro AS pro,
+              users.email_verified AS emailVerified, COUNT(photos.id) AS photos
          FROM users LEFT JOIN photos ON photos.user_id = users.id
         GROUP BY users.id
         ORDER BY users.id`,
diff --git a/docker/backend/src/server.ts b/docker/backend/src/server.ts
index eb3cf2a..b16db8c 100644
--- a/docker/backend/src/server.ts
+++ b/docker/backend/src/server.ts
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ const ADMIN_EMAILS = new Set(
     .map((s) => s.trim().toLowerCase())
     .filter(Boolean),
 );
-const isAdmin = (user: User) => ADMIN_EMAILS.has(user.email.toLowerCase());
+const isAdmin = (user: Pick<User, 'email'>) => ADMIN_EMAILS.has(user.email.toLowerCase());
 
 // What an account is worth. Being signed in is the basic tier and nothing more
 // is required of it (see requireMember): the account has its own recipes and
@@ -94,13 +94,21 @@ const isAdmin = (user: User) => ADMIN_EMAILS.has(user.email.toLowerCase());
 // carries on top. Admins come from the deployment's own allowlist — trusted by
 // construction, so no letter is needed and a broken relay cannot lock the
 // operator out of their own site.
-const isVerified = (user: User) => user.emailVerified === 1 || isAdmin(user);
+const isVerified = (user: Pick<User, 'email' | 'emailVerified'>) => user.emailVerified === 1 || isAdmin(user);
 
-// The PRO tier itself: a proven address, an admin, or a grant the operator
-// ticked in the users table. The grant only ever adds — unticking an account
-// that has already proven its address leaves it PRO, because the address is
-// still the stronger proof of the two.
-const isPro = (user: User) => isVerified(user) || user.pro === 1;
+// The one date in the tier model: an account that signed up before it keeps the
+// studio it was promised, so its "Activated Pro" box is ticked by the calendar
+// rather than by the operator. Signups from the cutoff on start basic and the
+// box is theirs to tick (or the address to prove).
+const PRO_CUTOFF_MS = Date.parse('2026-12-01T00:00:00Z');
+const grandfathered = (createdAt: string) => Date.parse(createdAt) < PRO_CUTOFF_MS;
+
+// The PRO tier itself: a proven address, an admin, a grandfathered signup, or a
+// grant the operator ticked in the users table. The grant only ever adds —
+// unticking an account that has already proven its address leaves it PRO,
+// because the address is still the stronger proof of the two.
+const isPro = (user: Pick<User, 'email' | 'emailVerified' | 'pro' | 'createdAt'>) =>
+  isVerified(user) || user.pro === 1 || grandfathered(user.createdAt);
 
 // The public shape of an account. `admin` is the allowlist's answer, so the
 // client can decide whether to offer /admin without a second round trip — and
@@ -1011,9 +1019,10 @@ app.get('/api/admin/users', async (req, reply) => {
       admin: ADMIN_EMAILS.has(u.email),
       blocked: !!u.blocked,
       removed: !!u.deletedAt,
-      // An allowlisted account is PRO by construction; its stored box is not
-      // what decides, so the table shows the truth of `isPro`.
-      pro: !!u.pro || ADMIN_EMAILS.has(u.email.toLowerCase()),
+      // The box shows the truth of `isPro`, not the stored column: an
+      // allowlisted operator and a signup from before the cutoff are PRO
+      // whatever the column says, and unticking them cannot take that away.
+      pro: isPro(u),
     })),
   });
 });
@@ -1062,7 +1071,7 @@ app.patch<{ Params: { id: string } }>('/api/admin/users/:id', async (req, reply)
   const row = listUsersWithCounts().find((u) => u.id === id);
   return reply
     .status(200)
-    .send({ user: { ...row, blocked: !!row?.blocked, removed: !!row?.deletedAt, pro: !!row?.pro } });
+    .send({ user: { ...row, blocked: !!row?.blocked, removed: !!row?.deletedAt, pro: !!row && isPro(row) } });
 });
 
 app.delete<{ Params: { id: string } }>('/api/admin/users/:id', async (req, reply) => {