Credits and packs

How audience testing is metered: one credit is one dollar, a test quotes by sample size and targeting, and sending it to your own viewers is free.

Audience testing is metered in credits, kept separate from your monthly plan so a test only ever costs what it draws. The rule is a simple one to hold in your head: one credit is one dollar.

How a test is priced

When you set up a test, you see the credit cost before you launch, and two things drive it:

• How many people watch. Every real participant is paid for their time, so a bigger sample costs more credits than a small one.
• Who you target. A general-population test sits at the base rate. Narrowing to a specific age band or gender competes for scarcer people, which costs more per person. See Choosing an audience.

You always see the quote first. Nothing is charged until you launch, and the number you approve is the number you spend.

Screenshot: testing-credits-1
The quote shows the credit cost before you launch: nothing is charged until you approve it.

Recruiting your own viewers is free

If you send the test to people yourself, with a share link to your own list, mailing list, or community, that recruiting costs zero credits. You only pay when HoldFast brings you an audience. A test run entirely on your own viewers can go out without spending a credit at all.

The per-test minimum

A paid test has a floor of 25 credits. Small tests still cost real money to field, because the people in them are still paid, so the minimum covers that. Below the floor a test would not gather enough people to tell you anything, so the minimum and a meaningful sample tend to arrive together.

Buying credits in packs

Credits are bought in packs: 100, 250, 500, 1000, or 2500 credits at a time. Because one credit is one dollar, that is the pack in dollars too. The larger packs include bonus credits on top of what you pay for: 25 bonus credits on the 500 pack, 75 on the 1000 pack, and 250 on the 2500 pack. Buy the pack that covers the tests in front of you; unused credits stay in your wallet for the next one.

If a single test needs more than you hold, the buy window also offers to add exactly the missing credits in one click. Exact top-ups are charged at one dollar per credit and carry no bonus; bonus credits reward the larger packs.

Your credits wallet

Your balance lives in a credits wallet inside HoldFast. It shows what you hold, what each test drew, and every top-up, so the spend is always traceable back to the test that used it. When a quote is larger than your balance, you top up first, then launch.

The short version

• One credit is one dollar.
• A test quotes by how many people watch and who they are.
• Sending it to your own people is free.
• Paid tests start at 25 credits.
• Packs come in 100, 250, 500, 1000, and 2500; the three larger packs include bonus credits.