Pay as you go

Pay-as-you-go is the overage path. When you burn your monthly plan allowance and have auto-PAYG enabled, the next jobs auto-bill at the metered rate so the pipeline doesn't stall mid-cadence. This page covers the rate, the controls, and the deliberate friction points that stop a runaway.

The rate

The metered rate is £0.024 per credit. Derived from the 500-credit pack (£12 / 500 = £0.024), so the same rate the burst-pack-purchase user gets. PAYG is not punished; it's the same rate the smallest one-off pack costs.

In video terms (using the four supported lengths):

• 8-minute Documentary or Listicle: 500 credits → £12 on PAYG.
• 12-minute: 700 credits → £16.80.
• 20-minute: 1,100 credits → £26.40.
• 30-minute: 1,600 credits → £38.40.
• Auto-extract Shorts: 50 credits → £1.20.
• Scratch Shorts: 100 credits → £2.40.

If you're publishing daily, a month of PAYG-only at the 12-minute rung is about £500. That's deliberately more expensive than the Creator plan's monthly subscription, the math nudges you to subscribe rather than PAYG indefinitely.

How auto-PAYG fires

Auto-PAYG is OFF by default. Enable it in Settings → Billing → Auto pay-as-you-go.

When enabled and your credit balance drops below zero during a job submission, the pipeline:

1. Calculates how many credits the next job needs.
2. Picks the smallest top-up increment (£25, £50, or £100) that covers the shortfall.
3. Charges your payment method on file for that increment.
4. Credits the balance and proceeds with the job.

The top-up increment is your choice (default £50). Smaller increments (£25) feel safer but trigger more frequent charges; larger (£100) reduce charge frequency but mean a bigger single hit.

The monthly cap

Auto-PAYG has a monthly spend cap that hard-stops new auto-charges once month-to-date PAYG spend hits the cap. Default £200/month. Cap bounds are £25 (the floor, matches the smallest increment) to £10,000 (a sane upper rail against fat-finger).

The cap is the safety, not the spend target. Most cadence-publishing creators sit well below it; the cap is there so a runaway error in your workflow (forgot to cancel a job, misread a credit cost) doesn't cost you a month's rent.

Cap calendar

The cap is calendar-month, not rolling. It resets at 00:00 UTC on the first day of each month. UTC is deterministic regardless of your timezone; the cap doesn't drift.

Approaching-cap nudge

Once month-to-date PAYG spend crosses 80 percent of your cap, a single polite "approaching your cap" banner surfaces on the dashboard. Not a wall of warnings, one banner. You can:

• Raise the cap. A one-click step of £100 is offered; or pick a custom amount up to the £10,000 ceiling.
• Lower the cap to stop further auto-charges this month.
• Switch auto-PAYG off entirely.

If you hit the cap mid-month, new jobs stop auto-billing and the brief form refuses new submissions with a top-up CTA. The cap resets the following month and auto-PAYG resumes if it's still enabled.

Friction points

A few deliberate friction points keep auto-PAYG honest:

Pre-charge preview. The brief form shows the cost in credits AND in pounds before you submit. If your balance is below the needed amount, the preview shows "this will trigger a £X auto-PAYG top-up". You see the charge before you commit.

Audit log. Every auto-PAYG charge is logged with a timestamp, the trigger (which job ID), the amount, and the resulting balance. Settings → Billing → Usage shows the full ledger.

Email receipts. Every auto-PAYG charge generates an emailed receipt within a few minutes. You can turn these off in Settings → Notifications, but the default is on.

Cancellation refund. If you cancel a job that triggered an auto-PAYG charge, the credit portion refunds per the cancellation refund schedule. The PAYG payment itself doesn't refund (you bought the credits; you used some of them; the rest sit on your balance for the rollover window).

When PAYG is the right shape

Bursty publishing. You're shipping six videos one week, two the next. The plan allocation covers the average but not the peak. PAYG smooths the peak.

Trying out the platform. You don't want to commit to the Creator plan price yet. Sign up on Starter, let PAYG handle anything beyond the allowance for the first month, decide on plan size after you've measured your actual cadence.

Holiday months. December cadence drops; June ramps up. PAYG handles the variance without you adjusting the plan every quarter.

When PAYG is NOT the right shape

Steady cadence above your plan's allowance. If you're consistently burning all your Creator-tier credits AND drawing PAYG for another 30 to 50 percent each month, the Pro plan is cheaper at the steady state. Settings → Billing → Usage shows the three-month rolling burn rate, the upgrade prompt fires when the math points to Pro.

Tight budget. Auto-PAYG can charge unexpectedly. If a hard monthly spend ceiling matters, keep auto-PAYG OFF and top up manually with packs when needed.

Manual top-ups

If you want predictability without auto-PAYG, the three credit packs are one-time purchases:

• 500 credits for £12.
• 2,000 credits for £39.
• 10,000 credits for £149.

The £12 pack is the "burst" rate (matches the PAYG £/credit). The £39 and £149 packs price in volume discounts (£0.0195/credit and £0.0149/credit respectively) so buying ahead saves a little.

Top-up purchase from Settings → Billing → Buy credits, or via the dashboard's low-balance banner. Top-up credits sit on your balance with the same rollover behaviour as subscription credits.

What's next

Credits explained is the deep dive on the credit model itself.

Refund policy covers when refunds apply and how to claim them.

Plans and pricing covers the subscription plans that PAYG sits on top of.

Cheers,
Carl