Pricing guide
Simple, pay-as-you-go pricing. You only pay for what you use, and much of the app is free to run as often as you like.
The core fees
Everything you do in ActOnCue falls under one of four fees. Each one ranges from free to paid depending on how you use it, so you can rehearse for nothing or add AI where it helps.
| Fee | What it covers | Free option | Paid option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceover | The voices that read the other parts | Upload your own recordings | AI voice generation: $0.19/min |
| Session | Your rehearsal time, from Play to Stop | Listen mode: unlimited | Perform mode: $0.35/hr |
| Import | Bringing a script into the app | Basic text import | Document import: $0.01/page |
| Chat & analysis | AI coaching notes and analysis | n/a | $0.01/message |
These fees are independent and add up. A single run through a scene can involve a session fee and a voiceover fee at the same time. For example, an AI voice still costs $0.19/min even inside a free listening session, because Listen only makes the session time free. The Example usage table below shows exactly how they combine.
Voiceover fee
A voiceover is any voice that reads the other characters back to you. There are two kinds, and only one carries a fee.
- Your own recordings (free): upload your own audio for a character and no voice-generation fee is applied. Bring a scene partner's recording, or record the lines yourself, and play them back as much as you want for free.
- AI voices ($0.19/min): when a line is read by a generated character voice, you are charged $0.19 per minute of generated audio.
AI charges apply when:
- A line is first generated
- A new take is generated (for example switching voice or changing acting instructions)
Note: already-generated lines can be replayed as often as you like at no extra cost. Rehearsing a scene for a second or later take does NOT re-charge for audio generation.
Session fee
A session is your rehearsal time. It starts the moment you press Play and ends when you press Stop. That stretch of time is what the session fee is measured on, and it is priced by the minute depending on which of the two modes you are in.
- Listen (free): a listening and reading mode. The app plays the scene and follows along for you, with no active speech recognition. The session time is free: you can press Play and read through a scene for as long as you like, as many times as you like, and the session itself never costs anything.
- Perform ($0.35/hr): an active performance mode. You speak your lines out loud and the app listens live, recognises your cue, and advances to the next line as you perform. Because Perform runs real-time speech recognition on your performance, the session time is billed at $0.35/hr from Play to Stop.
What "free" means for Listen. Only the session time is free. Listen does not waive the voiceover fee: if a character is played by an AI voice, that line still incurs the $0.19/min voice generation fee, even during a free listening session. The session fee and the voiceover fee are separate and add up independently.
To run a scene with no fees at all: use Listen (free session time) and voice every character with your own recordings (free voiceover). That combination costs nothing.
Import fee
Bringing a script into the app. Basic text import is free. A full document import (PDF or image, automatically structured into scenes, characters, and dialogue) costs $0.01/page.
Chat & analysis fee
Each AI chat message or scene analysis costs $0.01/message.
Example usage
The session fee and the voiceover fee are charged independently, so your total for a run is the two added together. Here is how they combine for common scenarios.
| What you do | Session fee | Voiceover fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listen, all characters use your own recordings | Free | Free | Free |
| Listen to a 1-minute scene with 2 AI voices | Free | ~$0.19 | ~$0.19 |
| Perform for 1 hour, your own recordings | ~$0.35 | Free | ~$0.35 |
| Perform for 1 hour, AI voices already generated | ~$0.35 | Free (cached) | ~$0.35 |
| Perform for 1 hour, first run with ~3 min of AI speech | ~$0.35 | ~$0.57 | ~$0.92 |
Two things to notice: AI voices are billed by the length of the generated audio, not the length of your session, and an AI line is only charged the first time it is generated (replays are free and cached). Imports and chat are separate one-off fees: a 10-page document import is ~$0.10 ($0.01/page) and 10 coach messages are ~$0.10 ($0.01/msg).
Plans and top-ups
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Editor, basic imports, unlimited scenes, unlimited Listen, your own recordings, 3 hours of Perform |
| Monthly | $10/mo | $15 of usage (~85 min voice generation, ~43 hrs of Perform) |
| Annual | $99/yr | $180 of usage (~17 hrs voice generation, ~514 hrs of Perform). Save $21 |
| Top up | $20 one-time | $20 of usage (~2 hrs voice generation, ~57 hrs of Perform) |
The paid fees above (AI voices, Perform, imports, chat) are drawn from your usage balance. A subscription tops that balance up automatically each period, and a one-time top-up adds to it whenever you want.
What a top-up is
A top-up is a single, one-time payment of $20 that adds $20 of usage to your balance. It is not a subscription: nothing renews and nothing is charged again unless you buy another one.
How to top up: go to Account, then Top up. From there you can subscribe for $10/mo or $99/yr for automatic credit, or buy the one-time $20 top-up.
Your balance is what the paid fees draw from as you use them. Free things (the editor, Listen, your own recordings, basic imports) never touch it, so a top-up only runs down when you actually generate AI audio, run Perform, import a document, or chat with the coach. When the balance reaches zero the free features keep working, and you can top up again at any time.
Credit rollover
Your usage balance rolls over between billing periods, so staying subscribed keeps paying off.
How it works: at each renewal you get your plan's usage ($15 on Monthly, $180 on Annual), plus whatever balance you carried. Leftover credit and top-ups roll over on top of the fresh credit, with the total capped at $30.
- Monthly: your leftover stacks onto the new $15, up to $30 of credit.
- Annual: you always get your full $180. That is already above the $30 cap, so leftover simply refills to $180.
- Top-ups are added instantly. Your balance can go above $30 during the month; it is only capped at $30 at your next monthly renewal.
Rollover examples (Monthly plan):
| At the end of the month you have | Your next renewal gives you |
|---|---|
| $5 (used most of your credit) | $20, your $5 rolls over on top of the new $15 |
| $18 (topped up, barely used) | $30, since $18 + $15 = $33 is trimmed to the $30 cap |
| $0 (used it all) | $15, just your fresh monthly credit |
When you cancel: your rolled-over credit is cleared at the end of your billing period. Cancelling starts you fresh, and resubscribing begins at your plan's usage again. If you bought a top-up during your final billing period, it is protected (up to $30) so a last-minute purchase is never wiped. See Cancel your subscription for the steps, or Refunds if you're looking to get money back instead.
Have questions?
Not sure how much you'll need? Reach out anytime using the contact form for a personalized estimate.