Subscriptions, plans, and quotas
Overview
Your subscription determines what's available to you in Whisperer: how many recognition minutes you can use, whether the knowledge base is open, whether advanced modes work (multi-screenshot, System Design), and whether you can choose the most powerful frontier models. There are four levels: Free, Start, Pro, and Max.
This page explains subscriptions conceptually — what they give you, how the plans differ in capabilities, how minutes are counted, and what happens when the quota runs out. The specific prices, periods, and currencies are on a separate plans and pricing page, so this page can focus on the essentials.
When to use
- You're choosing a plan and want to understand the difference between levels by capability, not just by price.
- You're on Free and don't understand why sessions or the knowledge base are unavailable.
- You want to know how minutes are spent (including in no-logs mode) and what happens when they run out.
What a subscription gives you
Whisperer is a pairing of the macOS client and the web dashboard, and a subscription lifts the limits on both. The free plan introduces you to the product, but Whisperer's core — persistent sessions with history and the knowledge base (RAG) — opens only on a paid subscription. The paid level also includes unlimited minutes and advanced AI modes.
Capability comparison
| Capability | Free | Start | Pro | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recognition minutes | 60 / mo | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ |
| Basic LLM suggestions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sessions with history (core) | ❌ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Knowledge base (KB / RAG) | ❌ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-screenshot (vision) | ❌ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| System Design mode | ❌ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Frontier models | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✓ |
- Free — getting to know the product: 60 minutes per month and basic suggestions. No knowledge base, multi-screenshot, System Design, or frontier models; the core (persistent sessions, KB) is unavailable.
- Start — short paid access to the whole core: unlimited minutes, knowledge base, multi-screenshot, System Design. A good way to try the full product before a longer subscription.
- Pro — the same core as Start, but for long periods (month, half-year, year). Optimal for regular use.
- Max — everything in Pro plus frontier models (flagship Claude Opus, top-tier GPT, and equivalents). For those who care about the highest answer quality.
For prices, period durations, and currencies, see the plans and pricing page.
How minutes are counted
- The unit of accounting is recognition minutes in a session. A session's time counts toward your quota.
- On Free the quota is 60 minutes per month. On Start, Pro, and Max minutes are unlimited.
- No-logs mode also spends minutes. Although in no-logs the transcript and answers aren't saved, the recognition time is still deducted (counted by a separate counter,
no_logs_minutes_used). - Bonus minutes/days. Promo codes of type
bonus_daysadd subscription days; the referral program and promotions can top up your balance. Bonuses and discounts are not subject to the currency markup.
What happens when the quota runs out
The minute quota on Free is a soft limit:
- The current session is not interrupted — you'll finish the call you've started.
- You can't start a new session until the quota is restored (a new month) or you switch to a paid unlimited plan.
- Whisperer doesn't "cut you off" mid-conversation and doesn't charge you automatically — the decision to upgrade stays with you.
Screenshots
📸 [Screenshot: plan selection page in the web dashboard]
📸 [Screenshot: remaining-minutes indicator on the Free plan]
📸 [Screenshot: minute-quota exhausted notification]
Common mistakes
- Expecting sessions and the knowledge base on Free. The core (persistent sessions with history, KB, RAG) requires an active paid subscription. On Free only 60 minutes and basic suggestions are available.
- Thinking no-logs doesn't spend minutes. Minutes in no-logs are spent as usual — what's saved is data storage, not the quota.
- Looking for frontier models on Pro. They're available only on Max.
- Treating the limit as a hard cutoff. The quota is soft: the current session finishes correctly, and you'll start a new one after the quota is restored or you upgrade.
Best practices
- If you regularly hit the 60-minute limit — switch to a paid plan for unlimited minutes and the core.
- For a one-time check of all capabilities, take Start for a short period.
- Enable no-logs only for sensitive conversations, keeping in mind that minutes are still spent.
- Before a long subscription, look at the plans page — it has the price in your currency and the available promo codes.