Plans and the free tier, explained plainly

Updated September 13, 2026 · 6 min read

Every account has the free Studio — currently one World build, one Character a day, 4 Lite Images a day, with no card required. A plan unlocks Clips and Film and includes monthly Credits: Starter at $19.99, Creator at $39.99, Pro at $99.99 a month. Images and Story pictures use Credits or the daily Lite allowance — they never require a plan.

Free line: 4 Lite Images a day · no card
Plans: Starter · Creator · Pro
Entry plan: $19.99 / month
Plans unlock: Clips and Film
Never plan-gated: Images and Story pictures

The first-run photo step — the start of the free Studio, no card and no plan needed. — The free Studio starts here — one photo or one line, before any plan exists.

The free Studio, verbatim
The pricing page’s own words: “Every account has the free Studio — currently one World build, one Character a day, 4 Lite Images a day.” The site-wide line is the same shape: “Free to start · up to 4 Lite Images a day · no card.”
“Currently” is doing honest work in that sentence — the daily allowance is operator policy and can change. What doesn’t change is the shape: writing and drafting cost nothing, and the free meter covers the light Image draws.
Free to start: the first Character needs a photo or a description, not a card.
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What the free tier actually covers
The pricing FAQ states it directly: “Every account, Free or paid, currently gets up to 4 Lite Images per UTC day. Writing and reviewing a Story draft costs 0 Credits; each Lite Scene Image you draw uses one of those daily Images first.”
So a free day looks like: build your one World, seat your one Character, draft a Story for zero Credits, and draw up to four Lite Scene Images. That is a real production session — not a demo.
Drafting is free; the four Lite Scene Images a day are what the free meter spends.
What a plan unlocks: Clips and Film
The page’s rule is one line: “A plan unlocks Clips and Film. Images and Story pictures use Credits; Image and Story are one-press actions.” Motion is the plan-gated layer — stills are not.
The FAQ version adds the model detail: “Plans unlock the currently available Clip and Film models. Image models use Credits and do not require a plan.” So if the goal is a moving Episode, a plan is the path; if the goal is Cast, World, and drawn Scenes, the free Studio is enough.
Clips and Film — the moving layer — are what a plan unlocks.
The three plans, by the page’s numbers
Starter is $19.99 a month for “800 Credits / month” — the page values it as “about 4 min 26 s of H3 Max Turbo Clips from an Image, or 200 Lite Images.” Creator — the plan the offer marks Recommended — is $39.99 for “1,600 Credits / month” (about 8 min 53 s, or 400 Lite Images). Pro is $99.99 for “4,000 Credits / month” (about 22 min 13 s, or 1,000 Lite Images).
Those conversions name the current default model, so they move when the registry does — check the live cards at /pricing before budgeting a season around them.
Film time is what Credits buy — the page converts each plan’s grant into minutes.
How Credits price each press
The pricing FAQ gives the rate card: “An Image is 4–12 Credits. A default 5-second Clip made from an Image is 15 Credits (3 Credits per second). A text-only Clip has no start Image, so it uses a different model at 10 Credits per second — 50 Credits for 5 seconds.” Other visible Clip models currently run 2–50 Credits per second.
And the seal: “the price is on every paid press before you make it.” No estimate, no surprise — the number on the button is the number charged.
The price rides the press — the Credit cost is on the button before you touch it.
Rollover, cancel, commercial use
Three more verbatim answers: on Credits — “Unused wallet Credits roll over while your account is open. Daily free Images reset each UTC day and do not roll over.” On the commitment — the fine print under the cards reads “Cancel any time. Unused Credits roll over while your account is open.”
On rights: “Commercial use is available on every plan, including Free, subject to provider terms, your rights in the Inputs, our Terms and Content Policy, and applicable law.”
Cast, Worlds, and kept work belong to the account — not to a plan tier.
Which tier for which maker
Free fits the explorer — one World, daily draws, zero spend, real output. Starter fits the weekly maker — about four and a half minutes of default Clips a month. Creator fits the serial — the Recommended tier roughly doubles that runway. Pro fits the daily publisher.
The honest guidance is the page’s own structure: draw on the free meter until you want the Episode to move, then pick the plan whose Credits match your filming pace — every grant, conversion, and current model is listed live at /pricing.
Match the plan to the ambition — a season’s pace is a Credits-per-month question.
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Made this way

One World build — the free tier’s first entitlement.
Film time — what monthly Credits become.
A season’s worth of Episodes is the Pro-tier use case.

Generated in Character App · example stills, not a live product demo

Common mistakes

Assuming “free” means a trial. There is no trial and no clock — the free Studio is a standing daily allowance: one World, one Character a day, four Lite Images a day.
Thinking Images need a plan. They don’t — “Image models use Credits and do not require a plan.” Only Clips and Film are plan-gated.
Expecting a second confirm on Images. Story and Image are one-press actions; the daily Lite meter or Credits apply at the press — there is no separate approval card.
Guarding daily Images like Credits. The daily Lite allowance resets each UTC day and doesn’t roll over — spending it is the point.
Budgeting from this page next month. Rates name current registry models — “Prices and model availability can change.” /pricing is the live source.

Questions

Is the free tier actually usable?

Yes — the pricing page describes it as “one World build, one Character a day, 4 Lite Images a day,” with Story drafting at 0 Credits. That covers building a Cast and World and drawing a real Story’s Scene Images — everything except motion.

What do the paid plans cost?

Starter $19.99/month (800 Credits), Creator $39.99/month (1,600 Credits — the Recommended plan), Pro $99.99/month (4,000 Credits). The live cards and their model conversions are at /pricing.

Do I need a plan to make Images?

No — the page’s FAQ is explicit: “Image models use Credits and do not require a plan.” The daily Lite allowance covers four draws a day at no cost.

What does a Clip or Film cost?

The FAQ’s numbers: a default 5-second Clip from an Image is 15 Credits (3 per second); a text-only Clip is 10 Credits per second. The exact price is printed on every paid press before you make it.

Do unused Credits expire?

Wallet Credits roll over while your account is open. The daily free Images are different — they reset each UTC day and don’t roll over.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes — the fine print under the plan cards reads “Cancel any time. Unused Credits roll over while your account is open.”

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Explore plans & Credits

1The free Studio, verbatim

2What the free tier actually covers

3What a plan unlocks: Clips and Film

4The three plans, by the page’s numbers

5How Credits price each press

6Rollover, cancel, commercial use

7Which tier for which maker

Made this way

Common mistakes

Questions

Keep going

Your nextScene startswith you.

The free Studio, verbatim

What the free tier actually covers

What a plan unlocks: Clips and Film

The three plans, by the page’s numbers

How Credits price each press

Rollover, cancel, commercial use

Which tier for which maker