Billing Model
1. Overview
The ACT 3 AI platform uses a flexible, usage-based billing system powered by an internal unit called a Credit. It is designed for creators of all sizes — from individuals to large studios — and balances predictability, scalability, and fairness.
The system supports:
- Subscription-based access
- Credit-based metering
- Role-based access control
- Rollover banking for unused credits
- Organizational billing and shared pools
2. Core Model: Credits
Credits represent computational cost and resource usage on the platform.
Key Concepts:
- 1 credit ≈ $0.001 USD in infrastructure cost
- Credits are consumed based on:
- GPU/CPU usage - Storage usage - AI model licensing - Optional services (e.g. TTS, upscale, MoCap)
Typical Usage Examples:
- Generating a full 2-hour film script and breakdown: ~8,000 credits
- Higher tiers get bulk discounts and extended rollover caps
3. Subscription Plans
| Plan | Price (Monthly) | Credits | Storage | Notes | |-------------|------------------|---------------|---------|----------------------------------| | Starter | $0 / $8† | 800 | 10 GB | Limited trial for ≤ 6 months | | Creator | $35 | 33,000 | 100 GB | Rollover cap: 66,000 credits | | Studio | $99 | 120,000 | 500 GB | Priority queue access | | Enterprise | Custom | Pooled credits| Custom | SSO, invoicing, SLAs available |
† Trial access deactivates after 6 months unless upgraded. † Enterprise can include private 3D sets, 4K rendering, and collaboration scaling.
4. Credit Rollover Bank
- Unused monthly credits roll over to a personal credit bank
- Each plan has a maximum cap (e.g. Creator → 66,000)
- Credits expire after six billing cycles
- Monthly credits are consumed first; banked credits are used next
5. Billing Workflow
5.1 Plan & Usage View
- Real-time credit meters (Monthly + Bank)
- Upgrade/Downgrade options
- Payment method management (card/VAT)
- PDF invoices download
5.2 Pre-Spend Confirmation
- “Calculate” button shows cost before running AI tasks
- Example quality tiers:
- Q1 = 80 credits - Q2 = 200 credits - Q3 = 400 credits
5.3 Out-of-Credit Actions
If credit balance is insufficient, the user sees upgrade options:
- Upgrade to next plan
- Buy one-time credit pack (+15% surcharge)
- Cancel and return
6. Organization Billing Structure
Key Concepts:
- Every user account belongs to at least one Organization
- Each Org has:
- Credit pool - Payment method - Storage bucket - Member access controls
Roles & Permissions:
- Owner – Full access to billing, members, transfers
- Billing – Can update payment methods only
- Creator – Can run jobs using credits
- Viewer – Read-only access
Invitation Methods:
- Email-based invites
- LinkedIn SSO required for free-tier accounts
- Shared credit toggle available per member role
7. Storage Management
- Each plan includes fixed S3 video storage
- Overages trigger upgrade prompts
- Tools include:
- Bulk media delete (project/org level) - Auto-purge on downgrade to archive
- Storage is billed per organization, not per project
8. Archive Plan
Users can downgrade to a free Archive tier:
- Keeps scripts and textual assets
- Deletes media assets after 30 days
- Generation disabled unless re-upgraded
- Re-download of text assets allowed during archive state
9. Technical Summary
Architecture Components:
- Credit Ledger – Atomic debit/credit ops (PostgreSQL + Redis)
- Plan Catalog – Pricing sync (Stripe API)
- Usage Meter – Job metrics → Billing ledger
- Notification System – Credit threshold alerts
- Billing Gateway – Stripe webhook, invoicing, receipts
10. Planned Enhancements
- Consolidated billing across sub-organizations
- Marketplace credit splits (for 3rd-party models)
- Regional VAT & tax calculation
- Education grants with credit bundles
- Self-hosting architecture (future)
11. Glossary
- Credit: Internal currency based on compute/storage cost
- Rollover Bank: Temporary savings pool for unused credits
- Archive Plan: Free tier preserving non-video content post-cancellation
- Organization: Shared team space for billing, projects, and roles