Plans, billing and usage

Every academy is on a plan. The plan sets what the academy pays each month, the fee taken from each learner payment collected through Paystack, and the limits on what the academy can hold. There are three plans an academy pays for itself, monthly through Paystack — Starter, Growth and Scale — and Enterprise, whose terms are agreed with Alethris. A new academy starts on a 30-day free trial with Starter's limits.

AI credits and video delivery hours are bought separately, on top of any plan.

The plans side by side

These are the figures Alethris publishes for each plan. The Plans section of Billing and the Pricing page on the Alethris website always show the current figures, and say when a price includes VAT.

Starter is described as for new academies proving their learning model, Growth for established academies increasing programmes and cohorts, and Scale for high-volume academies with substantial delivery operations.

Enterprise is "Terms agreed with us, invoiced for an agreed period." Its limits, its fee on learner payments and how it is paid are set in an agreement with Alethris, and it includes a custom domain.

When a plan's figures change

When Alethris publishes new figures for a plan, they apply to academies that choose the plan from then on. An academy already on the plan keeps the price, fee on learner payments and limits it has: renewing each month does not change them, and only Alethris moves an academy to the new figures.

Until then, Billing shows the figures your academy is on and is charged. The plan card on the Overview says Earlier version under the plan's name, and its Per month is the price your academy pays. While your academy pays monthly for the plan, its column on Plans shows that earlier version's price, fee and limits, marked Your plan and Earlier version, with no button to move to the newer figures.

What the limits count

• Staff counts active members of staff. Suspended members do not count.
• Learners at a time counts the people holding a place, from the offer of a place until they finish or leave. Someone holding several places counts once.
• Published programmes counts programmes with a published edition.
• Cohorts running counts every cohort that has not completed or been cancelled, drafts included.
• Storage counts the files held for your academy, and Video library the hours of video uploaded to it. A logo, a picture or file in a lesson, a learner's draft file or an assistant's source document that nothing uses any more is removed after a day and stops counting.
• Video watched a month and Credentials a month start again each billing month.

Where Billing is

Billing is under Academy settings, then Billing. Its section links are Overview, Plans, AI credits, Video delivery and Invoices. The Plans section sets every plan beside what your academy uses now, in a You use now column, and marks any limit that is Below your use. On a narrower screen, choose a plan's tab to see it.

Who manages billing

The owner and finance administrators choose and pay for the plan, change or cancel it, buy AI credits and video delivery hours, and keep the billing details up to date. Administrators can read every Billing section but cannot change anything; they see "Plans are managed by the owner or a finance admin." Other staff roles do not see Billing.

Owners and finance administrators are also the people Alethris tells about billing: a trial about to end, a failed renewal, a limit nearly reached, an invoice to pay or credits about to expire.

How a finance administrator opens Billing

A finance administrator opens Billing from Academy settings in the menu, under Business. Billing is the only settings page listed for that role, so Academy settings opens straight onto it. Academy settings in the profile menu opens it too, and typing "Billing" into Search this academy finds it.

Billing also opens from a billing notification, whose button, such as Choose a plan, See usage or Top up, leads to the right section, and from the AI credits left figure in the Money card on the Overview page.

Once Billing is open, its section links reach every part of it.

The Pricing page

The Pricing page on the Alethris website is public. It shows each plan with its price and what it includes, every limit side by side, how a learner's payment is split between Paystack, Alethris and your academy, the AI credit packs, and answers to common billing questions.

Every new academy starts on a free trial. It runs for 30 days from the day the academy is created, needs no card, and nothing is charged when it ends. During the trial your academy works as it would on the Starter plan, with Starter's limits and Starter's fee on learner payments.

If you run an academy, the owner or a finance administrator can choose a plan at any point in the trial. Choosing ends the trial, and the first paid month starts that day. A finance administrator, who does not see Academy settings, opens Billing from a billing notification or from the AI credits left figure on the Overview page.

What the trial includes

• Starter's limits. 5 staff, 50 learners at a time, 3 published programmes, 3 cohorts running, 10 GiB of storage, 10 hours of video library, 50 hours of video watched a month and 50 new credentials a month. A custom domain is not included.
• Learner payments. Learners can pay for places once your settlement account is active, and the Starter fee on learner payments applies.
• AI credits. 25,000 credits, added by Alethris when the academy is created and usable for 30 days from that day. Under Billing, AI credits, they appear in When credits expire as "Added by Alethris on date".

Follow the trial

Open Academy settings, then Billing. While the trial runs, the plan card's badge reads Trial and its Trial period gives the dates. A strip above it counts down: "Your trial ends date, in n days", with Choose a plan for the owner and finance administrators.

A week before the trial ends, the owner and every finance administrator receive a notification with Choose a plan, which opens Billing. An academy that is closing is not sent it.

Choose a plan during the trial

1. On the Billing overview, choose Choose a plan, or open the Plans section.
2. Under the plan you want, choose its button, such as Choose Growth.
3. If the academy has no billing details yet, enter the Name on receipts and Billing email, and choose Save and continue.
4. Read the dialog. It gives the price charged today and each month after that, and says "The trial ends when the payment goes through."
5. Enter Your password and choose Continue to payment.
6. Pay on Paystack's page.

When you return, a message says whether the payment was received. The plan card then shows your new plan, and Paystack charges the card you paid with each month until you cancel.

Only one payment for a plan can be open at a time, for up to an hour. If someone at your academy has already started paying for the same plan, choosing it again reopens that same Paystack page, so the academy is never charged twice. Choosing a different plan in that hour is refused with "A payment for plan is still open. Choose plan to finish it, or try another plan in an hour."

When the trial ends without a plan

Nothing is charged, and your academy stays online. Its growth is restricted until a plan is paid: the Billing overview shows "Growth is restricted" and "The trial ended on date." Learners keep their access and their credentials, while new learners, cohorts and programmes wait for a paid plan. Choosing a plan at any time lifts the restriction once the payment goes through.

The AI credits added for the trial expire 30 days after the academy was created, whether or not a plan has been chosen. Credits you buy last 12 months.

When you close the academy during the trial

A free trial does not stop an owner closing the academy. Closing it sets the trial to end on its date, and nothing is charged. The dialog that confirms the closure says "Its free trial ends too, on date, and nothing is charged." While the academy is closing, the Billing overview still shows "Your trial ends date", but no plan can be chosen, because a closing academy cannot be changed.

If an owner chooses Keep this academy before the trial's date, the trial runs on as before, and a plan can be chosen again. If the date comes first, the trial ends as any trial does, and Billing shows "The trial ended on date."

When it does not work

• No Choose a plan button. Only the owner and finance administrators can choose a plan; an administrator sees "Plans are managed by the owner or a finance admin."
• "Payment not completed" The payment on Paystack did not go through, and nothing changed. Choose the plan again.
• "Payment not confirmed yet" Paystack has not confirmed the payment. Refresh the page in a minute to see the result.
• A payment for a plan is still open. Someone started paying for that plan within the last hour. Choose that plan to finish the same payment, or wait an hour to choose another.
• An invoice reads To be refunded. A second payment for a plan went through after the first had already started your subscription. Alethris refunds it; your plan and its dates are those of the first payment.

If you run an academy, the owner or a finance administrator chooses its plan and changes it as the academy grows. Plans are paid monthly through Paystack and can be cancelled at any time. Every change is confirmed in a dialog with your password before anything is charged or scheduled.

There are two cases. An academy that is not yet paying monthly — on its trial, restricted, after a failed renewal, or on a plan that will not renew — chooses a plan and starts a new monthly payment. An academy already paying monthly moves up or down from the plan it is on.

Before you start

Open Academy settings, then Billing, then Plans. Each plan sits beside what your academy uses now, and a limit the plan would set below your use is marked Below your use. Paystack bills the name and email in your billing details; if there are none, the first payment asks for them.

An academy paying for an earlier version of its plan sees that version in its plan's column, marked Earlier version, with no button: moving to a plan's newer figures is arranged by Alethris, not chosen here.

Choose a plan

When the academy is not yet paying monthly, each plan offers Choose, as in Choose Growth. After a failed renewal, the plan it is on offers Pay for plan instead, as A failed renewal and restricted growth explains.

1. Under the plan, choose its button.
2. Read the dialog. It gives the price charged today and each month after it, on the card you pay with, until you cancel.
3. Enter Your password and choose Continue to payment.
4. Pay on Paystack's page.

The new monthly period starts the day the payment goes through. On a trial, the trial ends then.

Move up to a larger plan

When the academy pays monthly, a dearer plan offers Upgrade to plan.

1. Choose Upgrade to plan.
2. Read the dialog. It charges, today, the difference between the two prices for the rest of this month, and gives the full price from the next renewal date. The price it shows holds until the time stated in the dialog.
3. Enter Your password, choose Continue to payment, and pay on Paystack's page.

The larger plan applies as soon as Paystack confirms the payment. Until then, the Billing overview shows "Your move to plan is waiting for its payment".

Move down to a smaller plan

A cheaper plan offers Move to plan. Moving down costs nothing and waits for the next renewal, so nothing you have paid for is taken away early.

1. Choose Move to plan.
2. Read the dialog: "Nothing is charged today", with the date the smaller plan starts.
3. Enter Your password and choose Schedule the move.

The Billing overview then shows "Moving to plan on date": your current plan's limits and price apply until then. To stay where you are, choose Keep plan on that strip before the date.

Choosing another plan before that date replaces the scheduled move. An upgrade started then takes the place of the move straight away, so if its payment is not made, your academy renews on the plan it is on now, at that plan's price.

A scheduled move is kept when Alethris moves academies to a newer version of the plan you are on: your academy is left out of that move, and still moves to the smaller plan on the date shown. If Alethris has already arranged a newer version for your next renewal, Keep plan keeps that arrangement.

When the smaller plan allows less than you hold

Every plan dialog lists what changes, limit by limit. If the new plan allows less than your academy holds now, it says so — for example "Starter allows less than your academy holds now" — and names each limit with your use beside it.

Nothing is removed or unpublished. Until the academy is back within those limits, what each one holds back waits: no new learner is offered a place or enrolled, no one new joins the staff, no new programme is published, no cohort is created or scheduled, or nothing is uploaded, depending on the limit.

A custom domain is not part of Starter. After a move to Starter, a connected custom domain keeps working for 14 days, and then your academy is served at its platform address. The Domains page under Academy settings explains this.

Enterprise

Enterprise cannot be chosen from Plans. Its card offers Ask Alethris about Enterprise, which opens a new support case. What follows is in Enterprise agreements.

When it does not work

• "A payment for your last plan change is still open. Finish it, or try again in an hour." An earlier upgrade has not been paid. Finish that payment, or wait an hour and start again.
• No buttons under the plans. Only the owner and finance administrators see them. They are also hidden while the subscription is set to end — choose Resume subscription on the Billing overview first — and while the academy is on an Enterprise agreement.
• "This month's renewal is still being confirmed. Try again shortly" Wait a few minutes and try again.
• "The plan-change quote has expired" An upgrade price holds for a short time. Close the dialog and choose the plan again for a fresh price.
• "Enter your password to confirm this change." The password confirmation ran out. Enter your password again.

If you run an academy, the Billing page under Academy settings keeps the details Paystack bills, the card it charges each month and a record of every payment for the plan. The owner and finance administrators can change the billing details and the card, and cancel or resume the subscription. Administrators can read all of it. Billing is under Academy settings, where it is the only page a finance administrator sees.

Billing details

Billing details are the name and email Paystack puts on receipts for your plan and your purchases. They sit under Billing details on the Payment card of the Billing overview.

1. Open Academy settings, then Billing.
2. On the Payment card, choose Add billing details, or Edit if there are some already.
3. Enter the Name on receipts, usually your academy's or organisation's name, and the Billing email.
4. Choose Save.

Paystack sends a receipt for each payment to the billing email. If there are no billing details when you first choose a plan or buy credits or hours, the payment asks for them first, and Save and continue carries on to the payment.

The card Paystack charges

While your plan renews monthly, the Payment card has a Card section naming the card Paystack charges, such as "Visa ending 4081, expires 09/2030". To charge a different card, choose Update card and enter it on Paystack's page.

Invoices

The latest three invoices are on the Payment card. All invoices, or the Invoices section link, lists every payment for the plan, newest first. Each invoice shows what it was for, its number and date, the total, and a status: Due, Paid, Voided, Not collected or Draft. An invoice marked To be refunded is money Paystack took that your academy did not owe, such as a second payment for a plan already paid for. Alethris refunds it, and nothing else about your plan changes.

AI credit and delivery hour purchases are not invoices here. Each is listed under Purchases in its own section, AI credits or Video delivery.

Choose an invoice to open it. The page shows Billed to, Issued, and Paid or Due, then each line with its quantity, unit price and amount, and the Total. Where VAT applies, a line under the total says how much of it is VAT. Choose Print to print the invoice on its own, without the rest of the workspace.

Cancel the subscription

Cancelling stops the monthly payments. The plan keeps working until the end of the month already paid for.

1. On the Billing overview, choose Cancel subscription on the plan card. It appears while the plan renews monthly, and while a renewal is unpaid.
2. Read the dialog, headed "Cancel the subscription?". It gives the date everything keeps working until.
3. Enter Your password and choose Cancel subscription.

The page confirms with Subscription cancelled: it stays active until the end of the current period. The plan card's badge reads Ending, and a strip says "Your subscription ends date". Paystack keeps the monthly charge set up until two days before that date, then stops it, and may email you at that point to say the subscription is cancelled.

After that date, growth is restricted: learners keep their access and their credentials, and new learners, cohorts and programmes wait for a paid plan. Choosing a plan again lifts the restriction. AI credits you have bought stay usable even if the subscription lapses.

Cancel after a renewal failed

Cancelling a subscription whose renewal was not paid ends it at once, because the month paid for is already over. The dialog says so: Paystack will not charge the card again, growth is restricted, and any unpaid renewal stays on your invoices as due. The page confirms with Subscription cancelled: "Paystack will not charge the card again." The overview then shows "Growth is restricted" and "The subscription ended on date", with Choose a plan.

A subscription cancelled this way cannot be resumed. To use a plan again, choose one, and a new month starts the day you pay. An academy that Alethris has made read-only can still cancel this way, though nothing else on Billing can be changed.

Resume before it ends

To keep the plan after all, choose Resume subscription on the "Your subscription ends" strip before the end date. The page confirms with Subscription resumed, and the plan renews as before, even when you resume moments after cancelling.

When it does not work

• No Edit, Update card or Cancel subscription. Your role can read Billing but not change it. Ask the owner or a finance administrator.
• "Add billing details before choosing a plan" Add the billing details on the Payment card, then choose the plan again.
• "The card could not be read from Paystack. It is still charged each month." Paystack did not answer just then. Nothing about the card has changed.
• "This invoice could not be found. It may belong to another academy." The link is for another academy, or the invoice does not exist. Open it from your own Invoices list.
• "Enter your password to confirm this change." The password confirmation ran out. Enter your password again.

Your plan sets limits on staff, learners, programmes, cohorts, storage, video and new credentials. If you run an academy, the Billing overview shows how much of each your academy uses. When a limit is reached, the action that would cross it is refused, and everything else carries on. You are never charged for going over, and nothing you already have is removed or unpublished.

The owner, administrators and finance administrators can see usage under Billing, in Academy settings. For a finance administrator, Billing is the only page listed there.

Where usage shows

Open Academy settings, then Billing. The Usage against your plan card groups the figures as People, Programmes and cohorts, Files and video and This billing period. Each figure reads as your use against the limit, such as "212 of 250", with a bar that turns amber when you are close and red at a limit that has been reached.

The figures for This billing period — Credentials issued and Learner payments collected — start again each billing month, on the date the card gives. Learner payments collected has no limit. It counts learner payments made through Paystack in the billing month they were made, less any part refunded since: a refund made in a later month lowers the month the payment was made in, and adds nothing to the month the refund is made in. Anything counted after a billing month ends, while no new one has begun, such as during a failed renewal's grace, counts in the month that ended. Video watched this month is on the Hosted video delivery card below.

When any figure is close to its limit, a line under the card names it, such as "Storage is close to what your plan allows", with Compare plans.

Warnings before a limit

At 80% of a limit, the owner and every finance administrator receive a notification naming it, such as "Learner places nearly used up" or "File storage nearly full", with See usage, which opens Billing. Your academy is warned once for each limit, and once a month for a limit that starts again monthly.

What waits at each limit

Learners keep everything they already have at every limit. They go on studying, handing in work and watching video already published.

How learners are counted

Learners at a time counts the people holding a place, from the offer of a place until they finish or leave, whichever programme or cohort the place is in. Someone with several places counts once. A place frees up when a learner completes, or when a place is cancelled or expires.

Because the count starts at the offer, a learner is refused before paying, never after. When every place is taken, staff see "Every learner place the plan allows is taken. Places free up as learners finish or leave", and a learner trying to join sees "This academy is not taking new learners at the moment".

Make room under a limit

• Move up a plan. Under Billing, Plans, every plan sits beside your use, so you can see which one holds your academy. A larger plan applies as soon as its payment is confirmed.
• Wait for the month to turn. Credentials a month and Video watched a month start again each billing month.
• Buy delivery hours. For video watched, the owner or a finance administrator can buy delivery hours under Billing, Video delivery, without changing plan.
• Free up what you hold. Learners who complete free their places, and a cohort that is completed or cancelled no longer counts as running. Files nothing uses any more, such as a replaced logo or a file taken out of a lesson, leave Storage a day later. A homepage image or programme cover uploaded before and not in use can be deleted when you choose an image.

When an action is refused

Most actions that would cross a limit are refused with "The requested operation exceeds the current plan limit". Publishing a programme names the limit instead: "Your plan's limit on published programmes is reached. Move up a plan in Settings, under Billing." for the programmes limit, and "This month's video delivery allowance is used up, so new video cannot be published. Buy delivery hours or move up a plan in Settings, under Billing." for the month's video delivery, which only new uploaded video counts against. A new learner place is refused in the words above, and a video upload in its own, such as "There is no room in your plan's video library for this video." An invitation to a new member of staff is checked when it is sent and again when the person accepts it, so it can be refused then if the staff limit was reached in the meantime.

Paystack charges your academy's card on each monthly renewal date. If that charge fails, your academy keeps full access for seven days from the renewal date, and the owner or a finance administrator can pay at any time in those days. If the plan is still unpaid after the seven days, your academy's growth is restricted: everything already running carries on, but nothing new is added until a plan is paid. The academy stays online either way.

The same restriction applies when a trial ends without a plan, when a cancelled subscription reaches its end date, and when an Enterprise agreement ends.

When a renewal fails

The owner and every finance administrator receive a notification, "Subscription payment overdue", which opens Billing; Academy settings, then Billing, opens it too. On the Billing overview, the plan card's badge reads Payment failed, and a strip says "The renewal payment failed", with the date to pay by. Paystack does not retry a failed charge, so the renewal waits for someone to pay it.

Pay the renewal

1. Open Academy settings, then Billing.
2. On "The renewal payment failed" strip, choose Pay now.
3. Read the dialog. It gives the amount charged today and says that paying starts a new month from today.
4. Enter Your password and choose Continue to payment.
5. Pay on Paystack's page, with the same card or another.

The card you pay with is charged each month after that. To pay for a different plan instead, open Plans and choose that plan's Choose button.

Cancel instead of paying

To stop paying for a plan after a failed renewal, choose Cancel subscription on the plan card, read the dialog, enter Your password and choose Cancel subscription. The subscription ends at once, Paystack will not charge the card again, and growth is restricted. The unpaid renewal stays on your invoices as due. A cancelled subscription cannot be resumed; choosing a plan later starts a new month.

What restricted growth stops

When the seven days pass without payment, the badge reads Restricted and the strip says "Growth is restricted". Until a plan is paid, your academy cannot:

• invite staff, or let anyone new join the staff;
• offer places, enrol learners, or take learner payments through Alethris;
• create or publish cohorts, or publish a new programme or your homepage;
• upload files or video; or
• issue new credentials.

An action that is stopped is refused with a message saying billing must be restored first, such as "Publishing is paused until your academy's billing is up to date. Settle it in Settings, under Billing." when a programme is published. A learner whose place is waiting for payment sees "Ways to pay are unavailable right now. Your place is unaffected."

What learners keep

Learners keep their access and their credentials. Lessons, assignments, assessment and attendance carry on, credentials can still be verified, and learners keep their Skills Passports. Staff can still teach, mark work, and use AI credits already bought, which stay usable even if the subscription lapses.

Lift the restriction

The restriction lifts as soon as a payment for a plan goes through. On the "Growth is restricted" strip:

• after an unpaid renewal, choose Pay now to pay for the same plan;
• after a trial or a cancellation, choose Choose a plan, then the plan.

Either way, the new month starts the day you pay. After an Enterprise agreement ends, the strip says "Contact Alethris to renew it", and the agreement is renewed with Alethris rather than from Billing.

When it does not work

• No Pay now button. Only the owner and finance administrators can pay; others see "Plans are managed by the owner or a finance admin."
• "Payment not completed" The payment on Paystack did not go through, and nothing changed. Try again, with another card if need be.
• "Payment not confirmed yet" Refresh the page in a minute to see the result.
• A payment for a plan is still open. Someone started paying within the last hour. Choose Pay now again to finish that same payment, or wait an hour to choose another plan.
• "Pay the overdue renewal first, then buy delivery hours." Delivery hours add to a billing month, and the last one has ended unpaid. Pay the renewal with Pay now, then buy the hours.

AI credits pay for the AI in your academy: the staff copilot, the Study Guide and drafting with the assistant. They are bought in advance, in packs, separately from your plan, so there is no bill after the fact. When credits run out, only AI stops; assessment, credentials and payments carry on. Alethris Help, the platform's own assistant, never uses your credits.

If you run an academy, the owner and finance administrators buy credits. Administrators can see the balance and the purchases, with the note "Credits are bought by the owner or a finance admin."

The packs

The AI credits section of Billing lists the packs, each with its price, its price per 1,000 credits and an estimate of what it buys. These are the packs Alethris publishes; the section and the Pricing page always show the current ones.

A new academy also receives 25,000 credits with its free trial, usable for 30 days from the day the academy is created.

Buy credits

1. Open Academy settings, then Billing, then AI credits.
2. Choose Buy on a pack, such as Buy Build. On the Billing overview, Buy credits opens the same dialog.
3. Under How you pay, choose Card or bank app, or Bank transfer.
4. Enter Your password.
5. Choose Continue to Paystack for a card, or Get the account to pay into for a transfer.

By card or bank app, Paystack's page opens, and the credits are added as soon as the payment goes through. Back in Billing, a message such as "100,000 AI credits have been added" confirms it.

By bank transfer, the dialog shows the account to pay into and the exact amount. The account closes after a short while. Billing keeps the details on screen, in a strip headed "Waiting for your transfer for n AI credits", until the money lands; Paystack confirms a transfer automatically, usually within a few minutes, and Transfer received appears. If the account closes first, the strip says so: a transfer sent before it closed is still added once Paystack confirms it, and Buy credits starts a new purchase.

If the academy has no billing details yet, the purchase asks for the name and email on receipts first.

How credits are used and when they expire

Each purchase lasts 12 months from the day it is bought, and credits stay usable even if the subscription lapses. Requests use the credits that expire soonest first.

The Balance card shows Available now, any credits Held for requests running now, and how long the balance lasts at your recent pace. When credits expire lists each purchase and each grant from Alethris with the credits left and its expiry date; one that expires within 30 days is marked, such as "Expires in 12 days". The owner and finance administrators are also sent a notification with Top up before credits expire.

What each assistant task usually costs, and the daily limits on credits, are under AI assistant in Academy settings; the AI in your academy guide explains them.

Purchases and other changes

Purchases lists every purchase, newest first, with how it was paid, the price and where it stands: Paid, Waiting for the transfer, Transfer not received, Not paid, Being confirmed, Failed, Refunded or Reversed.

Other changes lists anything else that changed the balance: credits added or removed by Alethris, credits that expired, and credits that left with a refunded or reversed purchase.

If a purchase is refunded or its payment reversed after some of its credits were used, or an assistant answer already delivered costs more than the balance left, the shortfall appears on the Balance card as Owed, and the next credits bought pay it off first. Alethris can refund a purchase none of whose credits have been used; raise a case from Support cases to ask. If Paystack refuses such a refund, never receives it, or accepts it and later fails it, nothing is paid back and the purchase stays Paid with its credits, and Alethris can ask again.

When it does not work

• No Buy buttons. Only the owner and finance administrators can buy credits.
• "The payment details could not be shown" Nothing was charged. Start the purchase again.
• "Payment not completed" The payment on Paystack did not go through, and no credits were added. Try again.
• "Payment not confirmed yet" Refresh the page in a minute to see the result.
• "Enter your password to confirm this change." The password confirmation ran out. Enter your password again.

Every plan includes a number of hours of video delivery a month: the hours your learners spend watching video that Alethris hosts for your academy. If you run an academy and the month's hours run out, learners keep watching everything already published. What pauses is adding more: new video uploads, and publishing a programme edition that adds uploaded video. You can buy more hours, or move up a plan.

Videos embedded from YouTube are not hosted by Alethris and never count.

How much each plan includes

These are the figures Alethris publishes. The Plans section of Billing and the Pricing page show the current ones. The separate Video library limit counts how many hours of video your academy has uploaded, not how much is watched.

Follow this month's delivery

Open Academy settings, then Billing. The Hosted video delivery card shows Video watched against the month's hours, such as "37 hours of 50 hours", and says what your plan includes, with any hours bought and the date they can be used until. Video delivery in the section links opens the full page.

Watching is counted to the end of the previous day, so the figure runs a day or two behind, and the count starts again on the date the card gives. Learner playback is never interrupted. Watching on your academy's first day counts in its first month. After a month ends with no new one begun, such as during a failed renewal's grace or after a trial or plan ends, watching still counts, in the month that ended.

At 80%, the card warns "You are close to this month's video delivery", and the owner and finance administrators receive a notification, "Video delivery nearly used up". At 100%, the card says "This month's video delivery is used up", and new video uploads and publishing a programme with new video pause until you buy more hours, move up a plan, or the month turns.

The packs

The Video delivery section lists the packs, each with its price and its price an hour:

Hours you buy add to the current billing month and lapse when it ends. They do not carry over to the next month.

Hours can be bought only while a billing month is running. Once it has ended, for example after a renewal payment fails, Billing refuses a purchase with a reason such as "Pay the overdue renewal first, then buy delivery hours." If a bank transfer for hours lands after the month has ended, the hours wait and are added to the next month when it starts, lapsing when that month ends.

Buy delivery hours

The owner and finance administrators buy hours. Others see "Delivery hours are bought by the owner or a finance admin."

1. Open Academy settings, then Billing, then Video delivery.
2. Choose the pack's button, such as Buy 50 hours. Buy delivery hours on the overview opens the same dialog.
3. Under How you pay, choose Card or bank app, or Bank transfer.
4. Enter Your password.
5. Choose Continue to Paystack for a card, or Get the account to pay into for a transfer.

By card or bank app, the hours are added as soon as the payment goes through, and a message such as "50 hours of video delivery have been added" confirms it. By bank transfer, the dialog shows the account to pay into, which closes after a short while; Billing keeps the details on screen until the money lands, and the hours are added once Paystack confirms the transfer, usually within a few minutes.

Purchases lists every purchase with how it was paid, the price and where it stands, such as Paid or Waiting for the transfer.

Move up a plan instead

A larger plan includes more hours every month, and applies as soon as its payment is confirmed. If your academy runs short most months, compare plans under Billing, Plans.

When it does not work

• Publishing is refused at the limit. The message reads "This month's video delivery allowance is used up, so new video cannot be published. Buy delivery hours or move up a plan in Settings, under Billing." Buy hours, then publish again.
• A video upload is refused. The message begins "This month's video delivery is used up". Buy hours or move up a plan, then upload the video again.
• No Buy buttons. Only the owner and finance administrators can buy hours.
• "Pay the overdue renewal first, then buy delivery hours." The billing month has ended and the renewal was not paid. Pay it with Pay now on the overview, then buy hours. After a trial or a plan that has ended, choose a plan first.
• "Payment not completed" The payment on Paystack did not go through, and no hours were added. Try again.
• "Enter your password to confirm this change." The password confirmation ran out. Enter your password again.

Enterprise is the plan for an academy whose needs go beyond the published plans. Its limits, its fee on learner payments and how it is paid are agreed with Alethris and written into an agreement for a fixed term. Enterprise is invoiced for that term instead of being charged monthly through Paystack, and it includes a custom domain.

If you run an academy, anyone who can raise support cases — the owner, administrators and finance administrators — can ask about Enterprise. The agreement itself is arranged with Alethris.

Ask about Enterprise

1. Open Academy settings, then Billing, then Plans.
2. On the Enterprise card, choose Ask Alethris about Enterprise. It opens a new support case.
3. Describe what your academy needs, such as the number of learners and staff, and raise the case.

On the Pricing page of the Alethris website, the Enterprise card offers Talk to sales instead.

How an agreement starts

Alethris records the agreement for your academy: its number, its term, the amount, the limits and the fee on learner payments. Recording it issues an invoice, which appears under Billing, Invoices as "Enterprise agreement number", marked Due. The owner and every finance administrator receive a notification, "New invoice to pay", with the amount.

The invoice is paid as your agreement sets out, not through Paystack in Billing, and it has no payment button. Once Alethris confirms the payment, the invoice reads Paid and your academy moves onto the agreement straight away, for the period the payment covers. Until then, your academy stays on its current plan or trial, and a plan paid monthly through Paystack is still charged.

If an agreement needs correcting before it is paid, Alethris voids its invoice, which then reads Voided and is not owed, and records the corrected agreement under the same number. A new invoice for the corrected agreement appears under Invoices, and only that one is paid.

When your academy moves onto the agreement, Alethris stops its monthly Paystack charge, so the card on file is not charged for the published plan again. If Alethris cannot stop that charge, the agreement does not start yet, and Alethris tries again. A monthly charge that still reaches your card after the agreement has started is listed under Invoices as To be refunded, and Alethris refunds it. Your agreement and its term are not affected.

Billing while an agreement runs

The Billing overview shows the plan card badged Agreement, with Agreement runs to and the date. Fee on learner payments shows the agreed fee, and Usage against your plan measures your use against the agreed limits.

The Plans section says "Your academy is on an agreement with Alethris" and that the published plans do not apply until it ends, so it offers no plan buttons. There is no card to update and no subscription to cancel: the agreement's term is set with Alethris. For the same reason, an academy on an agreement cannot be closed until the agreement ends. The Closing this academy card, under Academy settings then Profile, gives the date and offers Ask Alethris about the agreement.

AI credits and video delivery hours are still bought under Billing by the owner or a finance administrator, as on any other plan.

When an agreement ends

An agreement ends on the date its payment covers, even when the agreed term runs longer. Your academy then moves straight to restricted growth: the Billing overview says "Growth is restricted" and "The agreement ended on date. Contact Alethris to renew it." Alethris can record the next agreement from that date, and growth returns as soon as its invoice is confirmed paid.

While growth is restricted, learners keep their access and their credentials, and nothing new is added: no new learners or staff, no new cohorts, no new programme or homepage published, no uploads and no new credentials. To continue, raise a support case to renew the agreement. Billing offers no plan buttons for an academy whose agreement has ended.

When it does not work

• The invoice stays Due after you paid. Alethris confirms an agreement's payment itself. Reply on the support case with your payment reference.
• No Ask Alethris about Enterprise link. The Enterprise card appears only while Alethris offers Enterprise. Raise a support case from Support cases instead.