Credits & subscriptions
How credits work, what each plan includes, and how the monthly Pro grant scales with the number of children.
TL;DR — Free accounts get 3 credits per month. Pro is a monthly subscription whose grant scales with the number of children. One credit marks one paper. Manage everything on Pricing and Account.
How credits work
A credit is the unit Pathora uses to charge for marking. The simplest rule:
- One credit = one successful paper marked.
- Failed marks (e.g. unreadable photo) do not consume a credit.
- Re-marking a paper consumes one fresh credit.
- Practice-set marking consumes one credit per submitted set.
Generating practice questions, browsing analytics, exporting PDFs, and managing children are all free.
Free tier
Every account starts on the free tier:
- 3 credits per month, refreshed on the 1st.
- Unused credits do not roll over.
- All marking features are available — there's no "lite" version of marking.
- Up to as many children as you want; the credit pool is shared.
The free tier is enough to mark roughly one paper per child per month if you have one or two children — perfect for trying Pathora.
Pro tier
Pro is a monthly subscription billed via Stripe. The grant scales with the number of children:
- 1 child — 30 credits / month
- 2 children — 50 credits / month
- 3 children — 70 credits / month
- 4+ children — +20 credits / additional child
Pro also includes:
- Higher-priority marking queue.
- Full analytics history (free tier is limited to last 90 days).
- PDF exports with custom branding hidden (free tier shows a small Pathora watermark).
See live pricing at /dashboard/pricing.
We don’t want to penalise families with multiple children. The Pro grant is sized so that each child gets a reasonable monthly allowance regardless of how many siblings are on the account.
Top-up packs
If you run out mid-month — for example during exam season — you can buy a top-up pack:
- 10 credits — one-off purchase
- 25 credits — better £/credit
- 50 credits — best £/credit
Top-up credits never expire and stack on top of your monthly Pro grant. Available on Pricing for all account types, including free.
Managing your subscription
Open Account → Subscription. From here you can:
- See your current plan and renewal date.
- Switch between monthly and annual billing.
- Cancel — your Pro benefits stay active until the end of the billing period.
- Update your payment method.
All billing is handled by Stripe. Pathora never sees your card details directly.
Credit history
Open Account → Credit history to see every credit transaction:
- Monthly grant deposits
- Pack top-ups
- Marking consumption (per result)
- Refunds (e.g. for failed marks we've manually credited)
Useful when you want to understand exactly where your monthly grant went.
I cancelled — when do I lose Pro features?+
At the end of your current billing period. We don't pro-rate or remove benefits early. You can re-subscribe any time.
Do top-up credits expire?+
No. Top-up credits stay on your account forever (or until used). Only the monthly Pro grant resets each month.
Can I get a refund?+
For unused subscription periods, contact support. We refund pro rata for clear billing errors. Top-up packs are non-refundable once any credit from the pack is used.
My family has 8 children — is there a discount?+
Yes — for 5+ children we offer family pricing. Email info@firstexams.co.uk and we’ll set up a custom plan.