Usage is what pays for your videos. Each plan gives you a pool of usage every month, and it covers everything a video needs: the picture, the motion, the music and any sharper finish. Publishing to your channel, your analytics, storage and downloads use none of it, and if a render fails, it doesn't use your usage.
Bigger plans get a bigger pool, measured against Starter:
Plan | Monthly usage | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
Starter | 1x | Ideal for starting out |
Creator | 5x | For posting every week |
Pro | 10x | For creators scaling up |
Max | 20x | For running multiple channels |
Your monthly usage resets on your billing date each month, even if you pay yearly, and whatever you don't use doesn't carry over.
Heavier work uses more. A longer video uses more than a short one, a Plus video with motion uses more than a Lite video with a still scene, and finishing at 1440p or 4K adds to it. Re-rolling a layer later uses usage for that layer only. How am I charged for usage? has more on what uses more and what uses less.
When your monthly usage runs out, usage packs take over, as long as Extra usage is switched on at Settings → Plan & billing. It switches on by itself when you buy a pack. With it off, or with no packs left, a render that needs more than you have won't start, and Studio tells you there isn't enough usage left before anything runs. Buy extra usage with usage packs has the details.
To see where you stand, open Settings → Usage. It shows how much of your monthly usage is left, when it resets, and the dollars of extra usage in your packs. Before you commit to a schedule, Series → New series tells you how much of your monthly usage the Series would use.
If you had credits before we moved to usage, they were converted automatically, and nobody lost value in the switch. Credit packs became usage packs and kept their original expiry date.
If a number on your Usage page doesn't add up, email [email protected] and a human will read it.