Workiva’s data management layer sits behind its reporting and GRC solutions. Wdata holds tables, queries and views that documents and spreadsheets can connect to,[2] Chains orchestrates work such as connecting systems and scheduling runs,[5] and Scripting runs custom Python logic on Workiva-managed infrastructure.[5] Of these, Wdata and Chains carry quantitative quotas that depend on the subscription level, and Scripting and Custom Fields are sold as a separate add-on, Customize Workiva. These are the parts of the platform where a licence position can run out of capacity, which is why they are worth an inventory of their own.
Editions
The Support Center names two subscription levels for Wdata: Solution and Enterprise.[1] The level applies to the organization, and it fixes three quotas.
| Quota | Solution | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Wdata lifetime storage | 100GB | 500GB |
| Wdata annual querying | 120TB | 3,000TB |
| Chains connections | One | Five |
The storage and querying quotas come from the Track Wdata usage article, and the connection counts from the Wdata feature and API limits article.[1][2] Workiva does not state in these articles whether “Solution” and “Enterprise” are the only levels, nor how they relate to the solution-based licensing model described for roles. Catalog rows: Wdata (Solution subscription level); Wdata (Enterprise subscription level); Wdata storage and query limits follow subscription level; Chains connections depend on subscription level.
Metrics
Lifetime storage
Wdata limits lifetime storage, not an annual figure. Workspace owners can track storage in Configuration under Usage, where the 250 largest datasets and their tables and sizes are listed.[1] Additional lifetime storage is bought through the Account Owner or the Customer Success Manager.[1] The article does not say whether deleted datasets stop counting against the lifetime quota at once. Catalog rows: Wdata lifetime storage; Additional Wdata storage is purchased.
Annual query processing
Query processing is tracked over a selectable 12-month period, overall and by month, in the Query Processing for 12 Months view.[1] The annual quota is expressed in terabytes of data processed. The article does not say whether the 12 months are a rolling window or a contract year, or what happens when a customer exceeds the quota. Catalog row: Wdata annual query processing.
Chains connections
A Chains connection is a configured link to a data source or destination. One connection is provided with a Solution subscription and five with Enterprise, and additional connections are purchased through the Customer Success Manager.[2] Catalog row: Chains connection.
Technical limits that are not licence metrics
Wdata and the spreadsheet engine also enforce limits that apply to every customer. For tables, the Support Center states a maximum upload file size of 1 GB (with 300 MB or less recommended), 150 columns per table, 1 billion rows in a fact table and 2 million rows in a dimension table.[2] A single query is limited to 30 parameters, and a spreadsheet to 3,000,000 cells and 100 connected queries.[2] A Workiva spreadsheet holds up to 1000 sheets, 3,000,000 cells and 300 connections.[7] These are performance guard rails rather than purchased quantities. Catalog rows: Wdata file upload size limit; Spreadsheet size limits.
The Wdata API limits are described as rate limits enforced “at the workspace level and not on a per-user basis”, and exceeding them returns a 429 Too Many Requests response.[2] For Chains the API allows 50,000 requests within a 24 hour period and a burst of 100 requests within 20 seconds.[2] An integration that polls several workspaces can therefore hit limits that are unrelated to its licence quotas. Catalog row: Wdata API rate limits apply per workspace.
Counting and floors
Roles in Wdata
Wdata access is the sum of a workspace role and item permissions. Viewer, Starter and Limited Starter roles give read-only access to tables, queries and views, while Editor, Professional and Standard roles give read/write access.[3] Administrative roles are Workspace Owner and Workspace Support; a member with an administrative role is an owner of all Wdata items in the workspace regardless of item permissions.[3] The Data Sharing Manager role lets a person other than a Workspace Owner create cross-workspace connections, and Workiva recommends limiting shared sheet data to targeted, limited-size reports and using tables or queries for large transfers within an organization.[3] A workspace that has Wdata enabled cannot be archived.[9] Catalog rows: Wdata read-only versus read/write roles; A workspace with Wdata cannot be archived.
Chains roles
For Chains, three roles can be assigned in the workspace Members settings. Chain Owner is a legacy role equivalent to Workspace Owner. Chain Builder opens the Chains homepage and nothing more, so what a builder can do depends on the permissions given to the user groups the person belongs to. Chain Security Admin assigns those permissions.[4] Two organization-level roles complete the model: Org Security Admin enables and disables connectors for the organization, and Org Chain Security Admin manages connections and runners across workspaces.[4] For workspace owners, both Workspace Owner and Editor roles are needed to manage chains.[3] Catalog row: Chain Builder role only opens the Chains homepage.
Virtualization and partitioning
Quotas are set at organization level, while API rate limits are enforced per workspace.[1][2] A customer with many workspaces therefore shares one storage and querying quota across all of them, while each workspace has its own API ceilings. The Support Center does not describe any per-workspace storage allocation.
Cloud and BYOL
The connectors that move data into Workiva are part of the service. The pricing page says that 70+ connectors to platforms, including Oracle, Salesforce, Workday and BlackLine, and open APIs are included with every plan.[10] The documentation for the third-party systems on the other side of a connector, such as an ERP, is not Workiva’s, and any licence the customer needs for API access to those systems is outside this article. Chains connections counted above are Workiva’s own quota, not the third party’s.
Programs
Customize Workiva
Customize Workiva is the umbrella for Scripting (custom Python logic run on Workiva-managed infrastructure), Custom Fields (extra fields for automations, dashboards and monitoring) and Integrated Automations for Scripting.[5] The FAQ states the commercial rules in four points.
- It is a paid add-on. “Customize Workiva is a paid add-on to your existing Workiva subscription”, and pricing depends on how it is scoped and on the current subscription.[5]
- It has a scope. It can be scoped to a single solution or to the whole account. Account-level scope makes it available across all eligible areas, and solution-level scope limits it to the named solution.[5]
- It has availability limits. It is available to partners and customers but not within Government or Resale deals. Scripting and Integrated Automations for Scripting work across all solutions, whereas Custom Fields work across all solutions except GRC solutions.[5]
- Enablement is per workspace. After purchase the workspace is enabled and the builder can start, and Scripting needs the appropriate Scripting role and file permissions.[5][6]
Scripting itself has technical limits: a script can run for at most 240 minutes, 90 executions can run at once across all customers, and a run has one CPU, 1 GiB of RAM and 2 GiB of temporary storage.[6] Partners that deliver Customize Workiva implementations must have script builders with Python skills validated by a recognized certification and with completed Workiva training.[5] Catalog rows: Customize Workiva add-on; Customize Workiva; Customize Workiva is a paid add-on; Customize Workiva scope: account or solution; Customize Workiva excluded from Government and Resale deals; Custom Fields not available for GRC solutions; Scripting is included with Customize Workiva; Scripting run limits.
Chains compared with Scripting and APIs
The FAQ describes Chains, Customize Workiva and the APIs as complementary: Chains orchestrates and schedules work without code, Customize Workiva adds governed custom logic, and the APIs let scripts and chains read and write platform data.[5] For licensing this means that an automation can touch three separately controlled capabilities: the Chains connection quota, the Customize Workiva add-on and the API rate limits.
Out of scope
Pricing for extra storage, connections and Customize Workiva is not public. This article does not cover the Data Prep subscription terms, the Workiva API grant process, or the AI features that read Wdata queries, which are covered in the Workiva AI article. It also does not cover third-party connector licences.