How ListenHub credits work
Credits pay for everything you generate on ListenHub. What the three types mean, the order they get spent in, and what a podcast or a video actually costs.
Credits are ListenHub's unit of work. Every podcast, explainer video, deck, image, and minute of speech you generate draws down a credit balance, and the cost tracks how much the model actually had to do.
There are three kinds of credits. They expire on different schedules and they get spent in a specific order. That order is the part most people miss, and it's what stops your never-expiring credits from being burned while a monthly allowance sits unused.
The three kinds of credits
| Type | Where it comes from | When it expires |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | An active subscription | End of the current billing cycle. Unused credits do not roll over. |
| Permanent | Credit packs, sharing, referrals | Never. |
| Limited-time | Daily check-ins, trial grants, promotions | On a set date, typically 7 or 30 days out. |
Monthly credits arrive with your subscription and reset every cycle. They are use-it-or-lose-it: whatever is left when the cycle turns over is gone, replaced by a fresh allowance.
Permanent credits sit in your account until you spend them. They survive cancellations, downgrades, and plan changes. If you buy a credit pack and then cancel your subscription six months later, the pack credits are still there.
Limited-time credits come with an expiry date attached. Check-in credits last a week. Promotional credits last however long the campaign says. Once the window closes, the unused remainder disappears.
The order they get spent
Credits are deducted in one fixed order:
Limited-time → Monthly → Permanent.
This is the order you would pick yourself. The most perishable balance goes first, your monthly allowance goes next, and the credits that never expire are the last thing touched. You don't have to manage it, and you can't override it.
If your combined balance across all three types can't cover a job, the job doesn't run. You'll get an Insufficient Credits notice telling you what the task needs and what you currently have, rather than a half-finished episode.
What things cost
| Job | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 5-minute AI podcast | ~24 credits |
| 10 minutes of text to speech | ~40 credits |
| Slides, 10 pages | ~150 credits |
| Explainer video, 10 images | ~150 credits |
| One image | 15 credits at 2K, 30 credits at 4K |
| Presentation generated from a podcast | 15 credits |
| Video rendered from an explainer or slides | 15 credits |
| Voice clone save beyond your plan's allowance | 300 credits |
Treat these as estimates. Credits are deducted against real model usage, so a dense source document produces a longer episode and costs more than a thin one. Before you generate, the podcast tool and the other creation tools show the cost of the exact settings you've picked — that's the figure to trust.
Paid plans include a set number of voice clone saves each month. Saving beyond that allowance costs 300 credits per save.
Where credits come from
A subscription
Monthly credits land automatically every 30 days, timed from the moment you bought the plan rather than the first of the month.
| Plan | Monthly credits |
|---|---|
| Basic | 1,300 |
| Pro | 2,700 |
| Max | 30,000 |
The pricing page has the current rates and the rest of what each plan includes — voice clone slots, image resolution, upload limits.
Credit packs
One-time purchases in four sizes: 1k, 2.5k, 6k, and 12k credits. These are permanent credits, so they never expire.
Worth knowing: buying a pack is not the same as subscribing. A pack tops up your balance but doesn't grant plan benefits. If you want the benefits, pick a plan on the pricing page; if you just need more credits on the plan you already have, the credit packs page is the faster route.
Sharing what you make
Share an episode and you earn permanent credits when other people play it:
- 1 credit per play
- Up to 50 credits per episode
- Up to 1,000 credits per month from sharing
This only pays on work you've actually put in front of an audience. Discover is where public episodes live if you want to see what that looks like.
Referrals
Referrals also pay permanent credits. The amount per referral depends on whether you're subscribed and whether the person you invited goes on to subscribe, and there's a weekly ceiling on what you can earn.
The rates move with promotions, so read them where they're authoritative: the Invite Friends dialog in the sidebar shows your current per-referral amount and your weekly cap.
Daily check-ins
Checking in once a day grants limited-time credits valid for 7 days:
- Not subscribed: 5 universal credits per check-in
- Subscribed: 15 universal credits per check-in
Each check-in also drops one Banana Pro quota into your account. That's a separate allowance for high-quality image generation, not a credit balance — it's counted and spent on its own.
Trial credits, promotions and codes
New accounts start with a batch of limited-time trial credits, and while you remain unsubscribed that grant renews on a 30-day cycle. The size of the grant has changed over time, so check the Free column on the pricing page or your live balance in Settings rather than trusting a number in a blog post.
Promotional campaigns and redemption codes issue their own credits, with the amount, the scope, and the validity window set by the campaign. Codes are redeemed on the redeem page, and how to use a redemption code walks through it.
Common questions
Where do I check my balance?
Open Settings → Plan. The readout shows Total Credits, and the info icon next to it breaks that number into time-limited, subscription and permanent credits, plus your Banana Pro free quota.
Do my credits expire?
It depends on the type. Monthly credits reset every billing cycle. Permanent credits never expire. Limited-time credits expire on the date attached to them — 7 days for check-in credits, or whatever the promotion specified.
What happens to my credits if I cancel?
Monthly credits stay valid through the end of the cycle you've already paid for. Permanent credits are untouched and stay in your account indefinitely.
Can I get an invoice?
We don't issue custom tax invoices at the moment. After every purchase you'll automatically receive a detailed payment receipt by email, which carries the transaction details most reimbursement and record-keeping processes ask for.
Where to go next
- See what each plan includes: pricing.
- Spend your first credits on something: create an AI podcast.
- Read a document aloud instead: text to speech.
- Browse the voices before you commit credits to an episode: voice catalog.
