Plans & credits
The Owner-level billing model, current plan entitlements, Credit lifecycle, and spend behavior.
Billing belongs to the user, not to the Channel. A Channel resolves its capabilities and indexing budget through its one Owner. Any Member can click Index, but the Credits are reserved from the Owner's shared pool.
The Owner manages this under Settings → Billing. Admins and Members see an Owner-managed notice instead of another person's billing details.
The Credit unit
$1 = 10 Credits.- One hour of episode audio/video Indexing costs 20 Credits (an effective
$2/hour). - One Credit covers three minutes; duration is rounded up to a whole Credit.
- Index, Backfill, and Re-index use the same rate and pool.
PodHood reserves Credits before a run starts, then settles to the measured transcript duration when publication completes. A failed run refunds the hold. There is no postpaid metered bill: when the balance cannot cover another episode, that episode is not queued.
Current plans
| Plan | Price | Included Credits | Owned Channels | Team Invitations | Comments | Custom domain | White-label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 200 lifetime, non-expiring (about 10 hours) | 1 | No | No | Yes | No |
| Pro | $199/mo or $1,990/yr | 240/mo (about 12 hours), or 3,600 up front annually (about 180 hours) | 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Studio | $499/mo or $4,990/yr | 800/mo (about 40 hours), or 12,000 up front annually (about 600 hours) | Unlimited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Comments — the YouTube comment mirror and its analysis — follows the Owner's Plan like every capability, and never draws Credits: mirroring and analysis are included on Pro and Studio, and Credits stay dedicated to indexing.
The pricing page and Checkout are driven by the same application constants. Use the pricing page as the final purchase surface.
How balances expire
The Billing page separates expiring Plan Credits from the non-expiring reserve:
- Free lifetime grant — every Owner gets 200 Credits once. They do not expire and are shared across the Channels that person owns.
- Monthly Plan grant — added each month and expires at the end of that billing period.
- Annual Plan grant — the full annual amount is granted up front and expires at the end of the annual term.
- Top-up — one-time packs available on Pro and Studio. Purchased Credits never expire and survive a later cancellation.
Spending uses the soonest-expiring balance first, so Plan Credits drain before lifetime/Top-up Credits.
Channel limits and downgrades
Free and Pro Owners can connect one Channel; Studio Owners can connect unlimited Channels. The limit is enforced when a new Channel is created.
A downgrade never deletes a Channel or removes its public Library. If the Owner ends up above the new limit, new Indexing spend is paused across their Channels until they return within the limit or switch to Studio. Already-published content stays online.
Paid feature gates also protect new operations, not existing state. Existing Members or an already-enabled white-label Library can survive a downgrade, but sending a new Invitation or re-enabling white-label requires the current eligible Plan.
Top-ups
Pro and Studio Owners can buy these non-expiring packs from Settings → Billing:
| Price | Credits | Approximate Indexing |
|---|---|---|
$20 | 200 | 10 hours |
$50 | 500 | 25 hours |
$100 | 1,000 | 50 hours |
Free cannot buy Top-ups; upgrade to a paid Plan first.
Switching and canceling
Switching between paid Plans starts a new term immediately. PodHood charges the full target Plan price, does not prorate or refund the current term, and adds the new Plan's complete grant alongside any old grant that has not expired. If the immediate payment fails, the Plan does not change and no new Credits are added.
Use Manage billing for payment methods and cancellation. A canceled paid Plan remains active through its current period; non-expiring lifetime/Top-up Credits remain available afterward.
Check the confirmation text before switching Plans. It is an immediate full-price purchase, not a prorated upgrade.
Ownership transfer and billing
Only the current Owner can transfer ownership, and the target must already be a Member of the Channel. On confirmation:
- The target becomes the sole Owner.
- The previous Owner becomes an Admin.
- Future feature gates and Credit spend use the new Owner's account.
- Existing Plans, balances, holds, and historical charges stay with their original users.
Before transferring, open the future Owner's Billing page from a Channel they own (or transfer and then check this Channel) to confirm their Plan and balance can support the planned work.