Transparency
Why Editorial Conductor Costs What It Costs
Approximate figures below. Actual API spend varies by chapter length, tool calls, and model pricing. We publish this so you can judge whether the tradeoffs make sense for your workflow—not to promise exact cents on every run.
The short answer
Full transparency: we break down where your money goes—model inference, infrastructure, and why credit packs are structured the way they are. One credit equals one chapter analysis across our nine specialist agents (staged review, not a single generic pass).
What we charge today
Credit packs (Stripe checkout) and workspace tiers (capacity reference—see Pricing) use the same credit math you see in the product.
Credit packs
| Pack | Price | Credits | Per credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Pack | $10 | 5 (1 credit = 1 chapter analysis) | $2.00 |
| Creator Pack | $25 | 15 (1 credit = 1 chapter analysis) | $1.67 |
| Series Pack | $50 | 35 (1 credit = 1 chapter analysis) | $1.43 |
Workspace tiers
Storage and bible limits scale with the tier. Creator is marked “most popular” on the marketing site.
| Tier | Credits | Series bibles | Storage | Price label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 free credits | 1 series bible | 5 MB storage | $0 |
| CreatorPopular | 15 credits | 3 series bibles | 30 MB storage | $25 |
| Series | 35 credits | Unlimited bibles | 100 MB storage | $50 |
| Studio | 150 credits | Unlimited bibles | 500 MB storage | $150 |
What it actually costs us
Every manuscript analysis pays for model usage, context size, and the infrastructure around jobs—not just “a button click.”
Claude API (Anthropic)
- Typical chapter (~5,000 words): roughly $1.50–$2.50 in API costs for a full multi-agent pass (varies by prompt, retries, and output length).
- Full manuscript (~60,000 words): often roughly $18–$28 if analyzed at scale—again, highly dependent on structure and settings.
- Nine agent passes × large context windows × current Sonnet-class token pricing.
- Illustrative Anthropic list pricing (check Anthropic for live rates): on the order of $3 / million input tokens and $15 / million output tokens for recent Sonnet models— your invoice moves with token counts.
Infrastructure per analysis
- Supabase (database / storage): on the order of ~$0.50 per meaningful analysis window.
- Netlify / edge compute and functions: on the order of ~$0.25.
- File processing (uploads, conversions): on the order of ~$0.10.
These are ballpark allocations—not literal line items on every job.
Rule of thumb: a 12-chapter manuscript run can land around $20–$30 in combined model + infra cost at typical chapter sizes—before we pay for support, improvements, or payment processing.
Our pricing math (credit packs)
Below, “our cost per chapter” uses the ~$1.80–$2.50 chapter band from above. Margins are therefore directional: short chapters cost less; long chapters cost more.
Starter Pack ($10 for 5 credits)
- Cost per credit: $2.00
- Our cost per chapter (typical): ~$1.80–$2.50
- Implied margin per chapter: roughly break-even to a small surplus on short chapters; tighter or negative on very heavy chapters—especially at the entry pack.
Why we offer it: a low-friction way to try the workflow. Pricing is intentionally close to cost.
Creator Pack ($25 for 15 credits)
- Cost per credit: $1.67
- Our cost per chapter (typical): ~$1.80–$2.50
- Implied margin per chapter: roughly break-even to a small surplus on short chapters; tighter or negative on very heavy chapters—especially at the entry pack.
Why we offer it: the pack most writers buy for steady drafting—balanced price per credit for repeat use.
Series Pack ($50 for 35 credits)
- Cost per credit: $1.43
- Our cost per chapter (typical): ~$1.80–$2.50
- Implied margin per chapter: roughly break-even to a small surplus on short chapters; tighter or negative on very heavy chapters—especially at the entry pack.
Why we offer it: best per-credit value for authors running multiple chapters or books.
Twelve-chapter manuscript
Your cost: 12 credits (one per chapter). Depending on which pack you buy, effective price per chapter moves with the per-credit price ($2.00 down to ~$1.43). Our internal cost for the full run often lands around $20–$30 for the stack above—so full-manuscript economics are volume-sensitive and honesty requires acknowledging variance.
Comparison to alternatives
| Option | Rough cost (60k words) | Turnaround | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human developmental editor | ~$4,800–$9,000 | 2–4 weeks | Often ~$0.08–$0.15 / word (market varies). |
| Human copy editor | ~$1,800–$3,000 | 1–2 weeks | Often ~$0.03–$0.05 / word. |
| Beta readers | Free–$200+ | 4–8 weeks | Quality and coverage vary widely. |
| Editorial Conductor (Series Pack) | $50 for 35 credits | Minutes to hours | 12 chapters = 12 credits (~$1.43 / chapter at this pack). Not a substitute for a human—different job. |
Why not free?
Honest answer: inference bills are real. At current public pricing, smaller packs tend to hover near break-even depending on chapter size; larger packs can produce a modest surplus that pays for shipping improvements, support, fraud/chargeback overhead, and taxes—not “infinite margin.”
- Ongoing product development
- Customer support
- Infrastructure and reliability work
- A sustainable business without selling your manuscripts or training on them without permission
Why we charge after completion
Most AI tools charge upfront. We do not want you paying for a spinner and a prayer.
Our guarantee
- Credits are deducted only after a successful analysis.
- Job fails? You keep your credits.
- Partial completion? No charge.
- No hidden fees. You are paying for results, not attempts.
If you ever see behavior that does not match this, that is a bug—tell us at support@editorial-conductorai.com.
What one credit buys
For roughly $1.43–$2.00 per credit depending on pack (Series → Starter), you get a structured chapter review across nine agents—not nine separate SaaS subscriptions.
- Series Continuity Keeper — Checks the chapter against the series bible or existing story facts so continuity does not quietly drift.
- Structural Architect — Evaluates whether the chapter is doing the right job at the right moment in the book.
- Line Editor — Works at sentence and paragraph level to sharpen rhythm, clarity, and prose energy.
- Copy Editor — Handles the technical correctness of the draft without flattening intentional style choices.
- Voice Consistency Agent — Protects the authorial voice so the chapter still sounds like this project and not a generic draft.
- Thematic Coherence Reader — Tracks the larger thematic conversation beneath the chapter-level events.
- Emotional Truth Validator — Tests whether the emotional beats feel earned, believable, and psychologically grounded.
- Literary Agent Simulation — Looks at the chapter like someone deciding whether the book is compelling enough to champion.
- Award Jury Reader — Measures the chapter against a higher bar of originality, ambition, and literary impact.
- The Conductor — Reads all nine specialist reports and resolves conflicts, deduplicates findings, and issues one authoritative editorial brief.
Output per chapter includes scoring, categorized findings, and actionable notes—structured for revision, not vanity metrics.
Storage costs
Free tier: 5 MB — enough for a compact bible plus a working manuscript slice. Creator: 30 MB for multiple bibles and drafts. Series: 100 MB for larger archives.
Supabase storage pricing is modest at our scale (~$0.10/GB/month order of magnitude). We still tier storage to keep workspaces healthy, encourage cleanup, and protect performance—not to nickel-and-dime you on megabytes.
Questions?
Still deciding? Email support@editorial-conductorai.com. Want to feel the workflow first? Try a chapter on the Free tier (includes 5 free credits).