Pay for transcripts. Not requests.

A delivered caption transcript or non-empty page of search, channel, or playlist listings uses one credit. AI Fallback Transcription, on by default for a video with no captions, uses one credit per started 5 minutes of audio, so a short clip is one credit, while one audio transcript can use several credits: an hour is twelve. Failed or empty results use no credits. Your plan provides a credit allowance; each response reports the credits used.

Yes, on every paid plan. Whatever you have not used when the month renews stays in your balance and the new month's allowance is added on top, until the plan balance reaches 2× your monthly allowance. On Pro (7,500 a month), use 3,000 and you renew with 4,500 + 7,500 = 12,000; leave that untouched and the next renewal tops you out at the 15,000 cap rather than 19,500. So one quiet month is banked in full; credits only stop accumulating once you are holding two months' worth.

Topped-up credits sit outside the cap and never expire; they are used only after your plan's credits. Changing plans never takes credits away: a balance above the new plan's cap is kept as is and simply gains nothing at renewal until it drops below the cap. The free tier does not roll over - it resets to 50 credits each month.

AI Fallback Transcription is on by default: when a video has no caption transcript, its audio is transcribed and counts 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, minimum 1, charged only when the transcript is delivered - a job that fails costs nothing. Send mode "captions" to never pay for audio. Caption transcripts are always 1 credit regardless of length.

50 credits every month with no card on file, with all supported platforms, API, batch, and MCP access. Free accounts can make 10 requests a minute; unused free credits do not roll over. When you outgrow it, plans start at $5.

Requests return a clear insufficient-credits error instead of silently billing you - there is no surprise overage. Top up at your plan's rate ($5 per 1,000 credits on Basic down to $0.92 on Scale), or upgrade your plan.

1 credit per check, whether or not a new upload has appeared. Poll the channel endpoint with since_video_id to get only the uploads newer than the last one you saw, or create a monitor and we check on a schedule: daily without a paid plan, as often as every 15 minutes on any paid plan.

Your account can make 10 requests a minute on Free, 60 on Basic, 300 on Pro, and 900 on Mega. Scale starts at 900, with custom increases available. The allowance is shared across your API keys, dashboard, and MCP connections. Concurrent work is also limited by plan; responses include Retry-After when you need to wait. Job-status polling has a separate allowance. See the rate-limit docs for details.

Every request is delivered-or-free: a fetch that fails costs nothing, automatically. Your first month on any plan is covered too: if you've made at least 100 fetches and it still isn't what you hoped, email us within 30 days of your first payment and we refund the month in full.

Yes, self-serve from the billing portal. Upgrades charge the full new-plan price, start a fresh billing period, and add the new plan's monthly credit allowance to your unused credits. There is no time-based proration or refund of the old period. Annual plans still receive credits monthly. Downgrades and switches to a shorter billing interval take effect at renewal. A cancelled plan stays active until the paid period ends, when unused plan credits expire. Top-up credits are yours forever.