Nothing a month, or unlimited builds for one price.

What things cost

Two things spend credits, and the rules are the same in Stepped Layers and in Landscape Silhouette Layers: an AI picture is an AI picture, and building a stack of sheets is a build. In Vectorize a Photo only the AI redraw does; the dither and every download are free. The studio shows you the number on the button before you press it.

An AI picture, by quality

Charged by what it takes to make - bigger and more detailed costs more - and the same on both tiers.

Draft quality is for finding the composition; work there and a pack lasts a very long time. Move up to finished quality once you know what you want.

Questions

What can I do with a free account and no credits?

Look round the whole studio, change every setting, and bring in your own images and artwork - all for nothing. The two things that make something are what cost: building a picture into layers (250 credits, once per picture, in either studio) and an AI picture (or your own OpenAI key). So an account with no credits makes nothing yet. Packs never expire, and the smallest is 1,500 credits for $15.00 - 6 builds.

Is there a free trial?

Yes, and it is not a smaller version of anything: the trial IS Studio, free, for 3 days, no card. The whole studio with every build included, exactly as on the plan, your own images and artwork brought in without limit, and 120 credits (about 3 AI pictures - that is the only thing a trial runs out of, besides the days). One trial per person. When it ends nothing is deleted and you land on Pay as you go with the credits you have left; keeping Studio - which changes nothing except that it stops being free - is a button away at any point. You can keep Studio during the trial too, and doing so costs nothing on the day: your card is saved, the rest of your free days stay free, and the first $14.99 is charged on the day the trial would have ended - or, if you choose in its last two days, two days after you choose, because the payment provider needs that much notice. The extra time is free too. So there is never a reason to wait.

What happens when the trial ends?

You land on Pay as you go, and we email you to say so. Nothing is deleted and nothing is charged: your projects, exports and remaining credits are exactly where you left them, the studio stays open, and your own images and artwork still cost nothing to bring in. What changes is that a build costs credits again - 250 the first time each picture is built on pay as you go, one you already built during the trial included, and every rebuild of it after that free - and an AI picture costs what it always did. The trial's 120 credits are less than one build, so a pack is usually the next thing; credits from a pack never expire. Studio is there whenever you want every build included, and keeping it during the trial costs nothing on the day.

Is there a free plan?

Pay as you go costs nothing a month. Make an account, open the studio, and everything in it is yours to use. Two things cost credits: an AI picture, and the first time a picture is built into layers (250 credits). Bring your own images and your own OpenAI key and only the builds cost anything.

What does a build cost, exactly?

On pay as you go, 250 credits ($2.50) the first time a picture is built into layers. Every rebuild of that same picture is free - change the layer count, the depth, the material, the finish, and build again as often as you like. A new picture is a new build. On Studio builds are included, without limit.

What are finished designs, and what do they cost?

Designs we built and perfected in Stepped Layers and Landscape Silhouette Layers, under Finished designs in each studio. Opening one is free: it becomes a project of your own with the same picture and every setting, nothing generated. Building it is a build like any other - 250 credits on pay as you go, once per design however many times you open it, and included on Studio. Rebuilds after that are free, and the files are yours to download.

When is the plan cheaper than paying as I go?

At 6 pictures a month. 6 builds at 250 credits is $15.00, and the plan is $14.99 for as many as you like. Fewer than that, pay as you go is cheaper; more, take the plan.

Is yearly cheaper?

Yes: $149.90 a year for Studio is 10 months' money for 12 months of service - two months free against $14.99 a month. It is billed once a year.

Can I switch from monthly to yearly?

Yes, any time. The yearly plan starts that day and is billed in full; what was left of the month is credited against it by Stripe.

Can I switch from yearly back to monthly?

When the year ends. A yearly plan runs for the year you paid for; choose monthly for the renewal, or cancel and it simply will not renew.

What is a credit?

A cent. Packs are 1,500 credits for $15.00, 2,500 credits for $20.00, 3,500 credits for $26.00, and they never expire. An AI picture costs by its size and quality - about 40 credits for a finished tall or wide one, 27 square, and a draft a fraction of that. A pay-as-you-go build is 250.

What never costs credits?

Uploading your own image or artwork. Cleaning the mask. Rebuilding a picture you have already built, with any settings. Recolouring, validating, previewing, exporting. Everything, on the plan, except an AI picture.

Can I use my own OpenAI key instead of buying credits?

Yes, on either tier. Add it on your account page and AI pictures run on it instead of spending credits; OpenAI bills you directly at their rates. On pay as you go you then pay only for builds; on the plan you pay nothing beyond the subscription. Credits you have stay on your account while the key is there; remove the key and you are back to them. We ask OpenAI whether the key works when you save it. One thing to check first: the key has to have access to gpt-image-2, the image model this studio calls, and for Pen & ink in Vectorize a Photo also to gpt-5, which reads your photo and has gpt-image-2 draw it through OpenAI's Responses API. A restricted key needs Images and Responses set to Write. A valid key on an account that has not enabled them, or has no billing set up, is refused by OpenAI rather than by us.

Can I get a refund on a pack?

No. Credit packs are not refundable, whether or not the credits have been spent - they never expire instead, so nothing is lost by keeping them until you need them. If a picture or a build fails through our fault or the image provider's, its credits go back on their own.

What if I am not happy with a build?

On pay as you go, ask for its 250 credits back within 14 days: Request a refund is in a strip above the studio, on the project the credits were spent on, and on your account page. Say what went wrong; we look at the project ourselves and email you the answer. A refund puts the credits back on your balance - it is not money back to a card - and one request can be made per build. Rebuilding the same picture with different settings is free, so it is worth a try first.

Is a bigger pack cheaper?

A little: 1,500 credits works out at 1.0¢ each; 2,500 credits works out at 0.8¢ each; 3,500 credits works out at 0.7¢ each. Nothing is wasted by buying one too big, because credits do not expire.

Does the plan include any credits?

No, and that is deliberate: builds are unlimited on the plan, and an AI picture is the only thing that costs, so it is the only thing charged for. Add a pack on the same checkout if you know you want to generate straight away, or buy one from your account page whenever you do.

What happens if I run out?

Buy a pack from your account page, on either tier: 1,500 credits for $15.00, 2,500 credits for $20.00, 3,500 credits for $26.00. Or add your own OpenAI key and AI pictures stop needing credits at all.

What happens if I cancel the plan?

It keeps working until the end of the period you paid for and is not charged again. After that you are on pay as you go: your projects, your settings and any credits you bought are all still there, and builds cost credits again - 250 the first time each picture is built on pay as you go, even one you built while you had the plan, and every rebuild of it after that free. If you kept the plan during a trial and cancel before the first charge, nothing is taken at all - it runs to the end of your free days and then you are on pay as you go, having paid nothing.

What happens if my card is declined?

We email you a link to update it and keep trying the card. The studio stays open on the credits you have for two weeks from the first failed payment; if it is still unpaid after that, the studio closes until it is settled - or until you cancel, which then ends the plan that day without trying the payment again, and you carry on pay as you go. Nothing is deleted.

What happens if I just make an account and do not choose anything?

You are on Pay as you go, at $0.00 a month, and there is nothing to cancel because there is nothing to pay. The whole studio is open: every stack style available today, every control, every export, and your own images and artwork cost nothing to bring in. Two things spend credits when you get to them - an AI picture, and the first time a picture is built into layers - so an account with no credits can look round everything and will ask for credits at the point of making something.

Which stack styles are available?

Stepped Layers and Landscape Silhouette Layers are both finished and open to everybody, and so is Vectorize a Photo, which turns a photograph into one engraving - an AI drawing of it, or the photo itself as black-and-white dots - rather than a stack. The 3D Project Creator is in development. Both tiers open every style that is available today, and so does an account with no plan at all.

Is there someone to ask when I am stuck?

Two ways. The assistant - the Assistant button in the top bar once you are signed in - answers from the documentation and, with a project open, reads that project and explains what it sees. It is included on every tier with a monthly number of messages, larger on the plan; it costs no credits and never changes anything in a project. And hello@mandalalayers.com reaches a person.