Chapter 57 · Account, Plans, and Privacy
Buying More Checks
A pack is a bundle of prepaid checks for the month the allowance runs short. You pay once, nothing renews, and the checks wait on your account until the staff needs them. This chapter covers where to buy one, how it is spent, and what you see when the allowance and the pack are both gone.
What a pack is
There are two sizes:
| Pack | Price | Per check |
|---|---|---|
| 50 checks | $5 | 10 cents |
| 200 checks | $15 | 7.5 cents |
The rules are short:
- Packs are sold on every plan, Free included. Holding a subscription does not stop you buying one, and you can buy as many as you like.
- They never expire. The 30-day renewal resets the monthly allowance and leaves your prepaid balance alone.
- They are full price for everyone. The founder discount applies to plans and not to packs, and no promotion code applies to them.
- They add to the fact-check pool, which also pays for continuity passes, research questions, and Populate from draft. They do not add Lookbook image credits, which are a separate pool with no pack of their own.
If you find yourself buying a pack most months, a plan is cheaper. The pricing page puts the line at about 150 checks a month; Plans and Allowances sets the two side by side.
Where to buy one
Packs are offered in two places.
The pricing page. Below the three plans, under the heading Or just buy some checks, are two buttons: 50 checks for $5 and 200 checks for $15. They are there at any time, whatever your allowance says. If you already hold a prepaid balance, the same paragraph tells you how many are left. Signed out, the buttons take you to sign-up first.
Your Studio page. When this month's allowance is used up and you have no prepaid checks, a notice appears under your count: You're out of fact-checks for this month. It carries the same two buttons. On Free it also offers See plans, since a subscription is the better deal if this keeps happening. The notice stays away while any prepaid balance remains, so a writer with a few checks left in a pack buys the next one from the pricing page.
Buying, step by step
- Press 50 checks for $5 or 200 checks for $15.
- Stripe's checkout page opens for a single payment. Nothing on it signs you up for anything, and Storskarvia never sees or stores your card number.
- Pay. Stripe sends you back to your Studio page.
- The checks are added when Stripe confirms the payment, usually within seconds. Your count then reads, for example, FREE PLAN · 20/20 fact-checks used this month · 50 prepaid after that.
Leave Stripe's page without paying and you land back on the pricing page with nothing charged. For two packs, buy one and then the other; each purchase is its own checkout, and the balances add together.
How prepaid checks are spent
Every action draws on your monthly allowance first. The prepaid balance is touched only once the allowance is gone, so a pack bought early in a quiet month sits untouched until the busy one.
A single action can be paid from both. With one allowance check left and 50 prepaid, a three-check document takes the last allowance check and two prepaid ones, leaving 48. The monthly figure then runs past its limit on the Studio page, as in PRO PLAN · 1002/1000 fact-checks used this month · 48 prepaid after that. That is correct: the extra two came out of the pack.
If you hold more than one pack, the oldest is spent first. The Studio page and the pricing page show the prepaid balance. The Account page shows only the monthly count, so look on the Studio page for the full picture.
Two situations change the monthly figure without touching the pack:
- A failed renewal payment. While a subscription payment is outstanding, the allowance drops to Free limits. Prepaid checks keep working on top of that reduced allowance, so a pack can carry you while you sort out the card.
- Changing or cancelling a plan. The allowance moves with the plan. The prepaid balance stays exactly where it was.
For what each action costs, read What a Check Costs.
When both run out
A check runs whole or not at all, and the whole cost has to fit in what is left of the allowance and the prepaid balance together. When it does not fit, nothing runs and nothing is charged. You see one of two messages:
- "This document is long, so it counts as 3 fact-checks, and you have 2 left. Run it on a shorter document, or buy prepaid checks on the pricing page." The two you have left may be allowance, prepaid, or a mix. Check a shorter document, or buy a pack.
- "You've used all 20 fact-checks on the free plan this month." Nothing is left in either pocket. Buy a pack, upgrade, or wait for the renewal.
A continuity pass says checks in place of fact-checks, and a research question or Populate from draft says AI actions. The pool is the same one.
Refunds and failed checks
If a check fails, its message says it has not been counted against your checks, and its cost goes back to the pocket it came from: allowance checks to the allowance, prepaid checks to the prepaid balance. When the Report Says Nothing explains how to tell a failed check from a clean one.
If a pack is refunded through Stripe, the refunded share comes back off your balance in proportion: a full refund of the 50-check pack takes back up to 50 checks, and a partial refund takes back the same fraction. It is capped at what is left of that pack. Checks you have already used are never clawed back, and a refund never touches a different pack.
When something goes wrong
| You see | What to do |
|---|---|
| You paid, and the Studio page shows no prepaid balance | Wait a minute and reload. The checks arrive with Stripe's confirmation, which can land a moment after you do. If they have not appeared after a few minutes, tell us through ✎ Feedback. |
| "Please verify your email first" | Packs need a verified address. Use the link in your inbox, or resend it from your Studio page, then buy again. |
| "Your account is comped, so your checks are already covered." | Your account is complimentary and has nothing to buy. |
| No pack offer on the Studio page | The offer appears only once the allowance is used up and the prepaid balance is empty. Buy from the pricing page at any other time. |
| No packs on the pricing page | Packs are switched off while checkout is unavailable. Try again later. |
| Lookbook says you are out of image credits | Packs do not cover portraits. Image credits return at the next renewal, or with a larger plan; see The Lookbook. |
For moving between plans, card changes, and cancelling, continue with Plans and Allowances. For what the staff does with the checks you buy, start at Running a Fact-Check.
Updated 2026-10-06 · Full contents · Something wrong or missing?