How credits work
Credits are how Subedit meters the parts of the workflow that cost us money to run. The editor itself runs in your browser, so most of what you do is free. Credits only get deducted when you trigger something on our servers — pulling a video from YouTube, calling the AI clip picker, generating B-roll, that sort of thing.
What a credit is
One credit is the cost of one server-side operation. Different operations cost different numbers of credits depending on how much they cost us. We list every operation below so you always know what you are paying for.
What each tier gets per month
Credits refresh on the first of every billing cycle. They do not roll over. Use them or lose them.
- Free: 100 credits a month.
- Pro: 500 credits a month.
- Power: 2,000 credits a month.
- Clipper Pro (agency): 10,000 credits a month.
What deducts credits
| Action | Cost | Notes | |---|---|---| | Import a YouTube video | 1 credit per 5 minutes of source | A 40 minute video costs 8 credits. Rounded up. | | Run the AI clip picker | 1 credit | Finds the best moments in a long transcript. One charge per pick session no matter how many clips it returns. | | Server transcription (Safari fallback) | 1 credit | Only fires when in browser Whisper does not work for your file. Chrome and Firefox users almost never hit this. | | AI hook title | 1 credit | The button that rewrites a clip's hook. | | AI auto cut | 1 credit | The pass that removes filler words and dead air. | | AI B-roll | 1 credit | The pass that suggests stock footage to overlay. | | AI cover image | 1 credit | The pass that generates a thumbnail. |
What does NOT deduct credits
- Caption editing.
- Caption styling.
- Audio swap from the licensed pool.
- Export to MP4. Three platform variant export is also free.
- Saving and reopening projects.
- In browser transcription. Chrome and Firefox use Whisper locally so we do not pay for the compute.
- Anything you do inside the editor that does not call our server.
What if I run out
Right now credits do not block any action. If you hit zero we log it in your account but the route still runs. We are watching usage patterns before we flip enforcement on. When that lands we will email everyone the new behavior and give a week of grace.
If your usage is consistently above your tier you will see an inline prompt to upgrade. No surprise downgrades, no service interruptions in the middle of a render.
Why not charge per minute of edited video
Every clip tool that meters by output minute punishes long form thinking. You edit a 60 minute podcast, you cut it to a 90 second short, you get charged for 60 minutes. We do not do that. We charge for the parts that cost us money. The export stays free.
Why not unlimited everything
YouTube import goes through a residential proxy because YouTube blocks data centers. That proxy bills us per gigabyte transferred. AI calls bill us per token. If we sold these as unlimited we would either lose money on power users or have to mark up everyone's tier to cover the worst case. The credit grant on Pro is sized so a daily clipper rarely hits it. If you do, that is the upgrade signal.
Checking your balance
The Pro Plan card on /projects shows your credit usage live. The number updates the moment a deduction lands.
If a deduction looks wrong tell us at hello@subedit.app and include the project URL. We can read the ledger and refund the credits.