ReadLoudly Pricing Explained: Subscription Plans vs Prepaid Voice Credits (and How to Recharge)
Core, Plus and Pro subscriptions include features and a monthly credit allowance. Prepaid Voice Credits, from $12 for 250K credits to $250 for 10M, are listening time with no subscription, valid for 180 or 360 days. Here is what each buys, what a credit is worth in hours, which is spent first, and how to recharge in four steps.
"A subscription is a membership with listening time included. A prepaid pack is listening time on its own. Most confusion about ReadLoudly pricing comes from treating them as the same thing."
ReadLoudly sells two different products, and they solve two different problems. In text-to-speech terms, it is the choice between a subscription and pay-as-you-go. Subscription plans (ReadLoudly Core, Plus and Pro) unlock features such as ad-free reading, bigger uploads, books kept past the free 30-day limit and Study Hub podcasts, and they include a fresh allowance of voice credits every billing cycle. Prepaid Voice Credits are one-time packs of listening time that need no subscription, stay valid for 180 or 360 days, and are there when a subscription allowance runs out.
This guide explains exactly what each one buys, what a credit is worth in hours, which credits are spent first when you hold both, and the four steps it takes to recharge in the middle of a chapter. Every price and limit below is taken from ReadLoudly's live plan list on September 14, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Subscriptions buy features plus a monthly credit allowance: Core $5, Plus $10 and Pro $19 a month, with 100K, 200K and 400K voice credits. Unused subscription credits reset at renewal and do not roll over.
- Prepaid Voice Credits buy listening time only: six packs from Stream (250K credits, $12) to Ocean (10M credits, $250). They need no subscription, last 180 or 360 days, stay usable if you cancel, and are non-refundable.
- One credit reads 4 characters in a Standard voice or 1 character in a Natural voice, so 100K credits is about 9.6 hours of Standard or 2.4 hours of Natural listening.
- When you hold both, ReadLoudly spends the credits that expire soonest first, so a monthly allowance is normally used before a pack.
- Ran out mid-book? Tap Upgrade plan in the voice picker, scroll to Prepaid Voice Credits on the Pricing page, pick a pack and pay with Stripe. Credits are added the moment payment succeeds.
Two Ways to Pay, in One Minute
The quickest way to tell the two apart is to ask what you lose if you stop paying. Stop a subscription and you lose its features and its next refill of credits. Stop buying packs and you lose nothing, because a pack was never a membership.
| Side by side | Subscription plan From $5 a month | Prepaid Voice Credits From $12, paid once |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Plan features plus a monthly credit allowance | Voice credits only |
| Features unlocked | No ads, 200 to 500 MB uploads, books kept past 30 days, podcasts and written tests | None; a pack adds listening time only |
| How often you pay | Every month or every year | Once per pack |
| When credits end | At the next renewal; unused credits do not roll over | 180 days (Stream to River) or 360 days (Bay, Ocean) after purchase |
| If you cancel a plan | Paid features and future refills stop | Unused credits stay usable until they expire |
| Best for | Regular weekly listening and study | Spikes, long projects, or listening without a membership |
How Voice Credits Work
A voice credit is the unit ReadLoudly charges when a Pro Voice, one of the premium voices available on any plan that has credits, including Free with a pack, reads text aloud. The rate depends on the voice type you pick in the player: one credit covers 4 characters in a Standard voice or 1 character in a Natural voice, so Natural voices use four times as many credits for the same page.
In listening time, that works out to about 9.6 hours of Standard voice or 2.4 hours of Natural voice per 100,000 credits, the same conversion the Pricing page uses on every plan card. A 300-page textbook is not a fixed number of credits, because it depends on how dense the pages are and which voice you choose, but hours are the easiest way to think about it.
- Listening with Pro Voices, Standard or Natural
- Downloading Pro Voice audio
- Voicing AI podcast episodes in Study Hub
- Free browser voices
- Uploading and reading documents
- Quizzes, flashcards, notes and tutor lessons, which use a separate daily allowance
Subscription Plans: Features Plus a Monthly Allowance
Pick a subscription when you use ReadLoudly most weeks and want the features, not just the voices. Each paid plan includes a credit allowance that refills at renewal; yearly billing loads twelve months of credits at once and costs the same as ten months. If you are deciding between Free and the entry plan, our Free to Core upgrade guide walks through what changes on day one.
| Free $0 Forever | Core $5/mo or $50/year | Recommended Plus $10/mo or $100/year | Pro $19/mo or $190/year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice credits a month | None | 100K | 200K | 400K |
| Standard listening | Browser voices | ~9.6 h | ~19.2 h | ~38.4 h |
| Natural listening | None | ~2.4 h | ~4.8 h | ~9.6 h |
| Uploads | 50 MB | 200 MB | 350 MB | 500 MB |
| AI chat | 5 a day | 25 a day | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Ad-free, books kept | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
All paid plans add AI podcast generation, written tests and a larger daily Study Hub allowance. Yearly plans load 1.2M, 2.4M or 4.8M credits for the year.
Prepaid Voice Credit Packs: Listening Time Only
Pick a pack when you need more listening time than your plan includes, when you listen in bursts rather than every week, or when you want Pro Voices without a membership at all. ReadLoudly lists them on the Pricing page under Prepaid Voice Credits – No Subscription, its pay-as-you-go option. Larger packs cost less per credit, and the two biggest last a full 360 days.
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Stream 180 days250K credits~24 h Standard~6 h Natural$12$4.80 per 100K credits
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Wave 180 days500K credits~48 h Standard~12 h Natural$22$4.40 per 100K credits
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Lake 180 days1M credits~96 h Standard~24 h Natural$40$4.00 per 100K credits
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River 180 days2M credits~192 h Standard~48 h Natural$70$3.50 per 100K credits
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Bay 360 days5M credits~480 h Standard~120 h Natural$150$3.00 per 100K credits
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Ocean 360 days Lowest cost per credit10M credits~960 h Standard~240 h Natural$250$2.50 per 100K credits
Hours use the Pricing page conversion (100K credits ≈ 9.6 h Standard or 2.4 h Natural). Cost per 100K is list price divided by credits.
What a Credit Actually Costs
Per credit, the smallest packs cost about the same as a monthly plan and the largest cost half as much. That comparison is only fair on credits, because a subscription also pays for features a pack does not include. The chart divides each list price by the credits it delivers.
Two practical readings of that chart. If you listen every week and want the features anyway, a plan is the cheapest way to get both, and yearly billing lowers the credit price further. If you have run through your allowance and need, say, another 40 hours of Standard listening this month, Wave (about 48 hours) covers it for $22 and the rest waits up to 180 days. For context, Speechify Premium lists at $29 a month and ElevenReader Ultra at $11 a month on their official pricing pages as of September 7, 2026; ReadLoudly's own position is covered in our Speechify alternatives guide.
Which Credits Get Used First
You never have to choose which balance to spend. When you hold credits from more than one source, ReadLoudly draws from the batch that expires soonest and moves to the next only when that batch is empty. Spending the soonest-expiring credits first keeps waste to a minimum.
Example: Core monthly subscriber who bought a Wave pack
-
1
Core allowance: 100K credits, ends at next renewal
Expires first, so every Pro Voice minute comes from here until it is used up.
-
2
Wave pack: 500K credits, valid 180 days
Takes over automatically. On renewal a fresh Core allowance arrives, and it is spent first again because it now expires sooner.
The order flips on a yearly plan. A yearly allowance lasts twelve months, so a 180-day pack bought in month two expires first and is spent first. Either way, the rule protects the credits closest to their end date.
Which Should You Buy? Six Real Situations
Match the purchase to how you actually listen. These are the situations we see most often.
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I study with ReadLoudly most weeks A plan pays for the features you use weekly, and its allowance covers regular listening. Core suits about 10 hours of Standard voice a month; Plus doubles it.Subscription
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My plan ran out halfway through exam month Keep the plan and add Stream or Wave. The pack covers the spike and whatever is left carries on for up to 180 days.Plan + small pack
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I only want Pro Voices now and then Buy Stream on the Free plan. 250K credits is about 24 hours of Standard listening, usable any time in the next 180 days.Pack, no plan
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I have a long research or audiobook backlog Bay or Ocean give 480 to 960 hours of Standard listening, last 360 days and cost the least per credit.Large pack
-
I listen in Natural voices every day Natural voices use four times the credits. Pro gives about 9.6 Natural hours a month; add River or Bay for the rest.Pro + pack
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I cancelled but I am mid-book Prepaid Voice Credits do not need a subscription, and any you already hold stay usable after cancelling until they expire.Pack
One thing a pack cannot do: unlock plan features. If what you need is uploads above 50 MB, books that do not expire after 30 days, podcasts, or a bigger daily Study Hub allowance, that is a subscription, and our notes-to-podcast tutorial shows what the podcast tool does with it.
How to Recharge Your Credits When They Run Out
You will know you are out because a Pro Voice stops and the player shows "Insufficient credits. Please upgrade your plan to continue using Pro voices." The voice picker also shows a Low Credit Balance or Insufficient credits banner with an Upgrade plan link. Free browser voices do not use credits, so you can keep listening in a browser voice while you top up. To get Pro Voices back:
Open the Pricing page
Tap Upgrade plan in the voice picker, or go straight to app.readloudly.com/pricing. Subscription plans are at the top.
Scroll to Prepaid Voice Credits and pick a pack
The section is titled Prepaid Voice Credits – No Subscription. Use the hours above to choose: Stream or Wave for a short spike, Bay or Ocean for a long project. If you are signed out, the buy button opens a sign-in window on the same page first.
Pay in the Purchase Credits window
Checkout runs on Stripe and shows the credits and the dollar amount, with a Pay button. Major cards are accepted, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay where available. This is a one-time charge, not a new subscription, and pack purchases are non-refundable.
Go back to your book
A Credits added successfully! message confirms the top-up and Pro Voices work again right away. Your new available balance appears in the Usage menu of your dashboard.
Recharging never touches your subscription. If you would rather have a bigger monthly allowance for good, upgrade the plan from the same Pricing page instead; if the need is temporary, a pack is the cheaper choice with no ongoing commitment.
Cancelling, Refunds and What Stays
You can cancel a subscription from your account at any time, with no cancellation fee. When the paid period ends, your account returns to the Free plan: paid features such as ad-free reading stop, and no new credit allowance arrives. Prepaid Voice Credits you already bought are not affected and remain usable until their 180-day or 360-day expiry.
Prepaid Voice Credit purchases are final and non-refundable under our refund policy, so start with the smallest pack that covers the gap. The simplest rule to remember: subscribe for the features and the habit, top up for the extra hours. If you are unsure which you need, start on Free, listen with browser voices, and buy the smallest pack the first time a Pro Voice matters. Our $0 AI study stack covers how far the Free plan goes on its own.
Prices and limits from ReadLoudly's live plan list on September 14, 2026. Check the Pricing page before buying, as prices can change.
Compare plans and packs side by side
Three plans from $5 a month and six packs from $12, all on one Pricing page.
See ReadLoudly Pricing