diff --git a/backend/tests/app_guest_execution_mode.rs b/backend/tests/app_guest_execution_mode.rs
index 247fbd26ac..47e5c5b31b 100644
--- a/backend/tests/app_guest_execution_mode.rs
+++ b/backend/tests/app_guest_execution_mode.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 //!     is written (git-sync and the CLI push policies past every UI).
 //!
 //! The token is inserted directly: how a guest session is minted is the identity
-//! provider's business (EE), what one can do is this file's.
+//! provider's business (EE), what one can do is this file's. Build with
+//! `enterprise,private`, as CI does: the plan gate refuses every guest on a build
+//! without them, so on a plain CE build every test here fails at the door.
 //!
 //! Users from the `base` fixture:
 //!   test-user   (admin,     token SECRET_TOKEN)
diff --git a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
index d5d14f69ea..d621b231c6 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
@@ -1099,6 +1099,10 @@ async fn get_settings(
     if let Some(git_sync) = settings.git_sync.as_mut() {
         redact_git_sync_webhook_secrets(git_sync);
     }
+    // The effective value, not the column: a switch left on by a plan that no longer
+    // admits guests must not read as open when every gate says shut.
+    settings.guest_access_enabled =
+        settings.guest_access_enabled && windmill_common::workspaces::guest_access_licensed().await;
 
     Ok(Json(settings))
 }
@@ -1135,8 +1139,10 @@ async fn get_public_settings(
     .await
     .map_err(|e| Error::internal_err(format!("getting public settings: {e:#}")))?;
 
-    let settings = not_found_if_none(settings, "workspace settings", &w_id)?;
+    let mut settings = not_found_if_none(settings, "workspace settings", &w_id)?;
     tx.commit().await?;
+    settings.guest_access_enabled =
+        settings.guest_access_enabled && windmill_common::workspaces::guest_access_licensed().await;
 
     Ok(Json(settings))
 }
diff --git a/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs b/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
index 160a3aeb7a..e6b217cdc3 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
@@ -775,10 +775,10 @@ pub struct BillableSeats {
     pub seats: i64,
 }
 
-/// Guests are an Enterprise-plan feature, so a Pro key refuses them at every gate —
-/// the workspace switch, the mint, the door — not only in the UI that hides them. A
-/// build without `enterprise` has no plan to consult and cannot mint a guest session
-/// at all (the mint lives in EE code), so nothing is gated there.
+/// Guests are an Enterprise-plan feature, refused on any other plan and on any build
+/// without `enterprise` at every gate: the switch write, discovery, the mint, the
+/// door. The CE image compiles the OAuth callback that mints, so the build check is
+/// load-bearing, not a formality.
 pub async fn guest_access_licensed() -> bool {
     #[cfg(feature = "enterprise")]
     {
@@ -789,12 +789,13 @@ pub async fn guest_access_licensed() -> bool {
     }
     #[cfg(not(feature = "enterprise"))]
     {
-        true
+        false
     }
 }
 
 /// Whether `w_id` admits guest sessions — someone the identity provider authenticated
-/// who is a member of no workspace, and who therefore takes no seat.
+/// who is a member of no workspace, and who therefore takes no seat. The plan is
+/// checked first: a switch left on by a plan that no longer admits guests is shut.
 ///
 /// Read uncached where a session is minted ([`guest_app_admits`]) and then once per
 /// request at the auth door (`AuthCache::get_opt_job_authed`) for every guest. An app
@@ -815,7 +816,7 @@ pub async fn is_guest_access_enabled(db: &crate::DB, w_id: &str) -> Result<bool>
     .unwrap_or(false))
 }
 
-/// Both gates at once: the workspace admits guests and `app_path` is in `guest`
+/// Every gate at once: the plan, the workspace switch, and `app_path` being in `guest`
 /// execution mode. The single answer to "may a guest session be minted for this app",
 /// used by the mint itself and by the sign-in branch that decides whether to call it.
 /// A missing app or a policy with no stated mode reads as "no".
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/PublicAppFrame.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/PublicAppFrame.svelte
index 66120610ee..706e3a1986 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/PublicAppFrame.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/PublicAppFrame.svelte
@@ -215,10 +215,9 @@
 	let accountSession = $state<'unknown' | 'none' | 'held'>('unknown')
 	let deniedStatus: number | undefined = $state(undefined)
 	/** The sign-in card belongs on a 401, and on a 403 unless discovery has settled
-	 * that the app is not open to guests — a 403 on a guest app is a session for a
-	 * different app of the same workspace, which a fresh sign-in replaces. While
-	 * discovery is still pending this stays true so the skeleton shows rather than
-	 * a flash of "Not found". */
+	 * that the app is not open to guests: a 403 on a guest app is a session for another
+	 * app of the workspace, which a fresh sign-in replaces. True while discovery is
+	 * pending, so the skeleton shows rather than a flash of "Not found". */
 	let offerSignIn = $derived(
 		status === 'noPermission' ||
 			(status === 'notExists' && deniedStatus === 403 && guestEntry !== 'none')
@@ -235,10 +234,9 @@
 	})
 
 	// The stale guest session must be gone before the card mounts: it still
-	// authenticates in this workspace, so the popup's success poll would see it and
-	// complete the sign-in before the new session ever lands. The card waits on
-	// `staleGuestCleared`, and a failed logout fails closed rather than offering a
-	// sign-in that could not complete.
+	// authenticates here, so the popup's success poll would see it and complete the
+	// sign-in before the new session lands. The card waits on `staleGuestCleared`; a
+	// failed logout fails closed rather than offering a sign-in that cannot complete.
 	let staleGuestCleared = $state(false)
 	let staleGuestLogoutFailed = $state(false)
 	$effect(() => {