Arcads (arcads.ai) is a studio for AI UGC video ads: you pick one of its 1,000+ AI actors, or create an avatar of your own, and it produces a short creator-style video to upload to your ad accounts. People searching for its price usually find secondhand figures, because Arcads does not publish dollar prices on the open web.
On 2026-10-19, arcads.ai/pricing answered 404, and Arcads' own help centre said the current prices are on the pricing page inside the app. What the help centre does publish is the unit that decides the bill: monthly credits, and how many credits each kind of video uses. This page lists those, with the date and the page each came from, and leaves the dollar figures to the in-app pricing page.
Arcads plans by monthly credits, read 2026-10-19
| Plan | Monthly credits | When credits run out | Unused credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 8,000 | Generation stops and an upgrade offer opens | Reset each cycle |
| Creator | 16,000 | Generation stops and an upgrade offer opens | Reset each cycle |
| Pro | 48,000 | Extra usage billed on the next invoice | Roll over, no cap and no expiry |
| Scale | 96,000 | Extra usage billed on the next invoice | Roll over, no cap and no expiry |
| Business | 192,000 | Extra usage billed on the next invoice | Roll over, no cap and no expiry |
| Enterprise | Custom, through sales | Agreed with sales | Agreed with sales |
What things cost in credits, from Arcads' help centre
| What you make | Credits |
|---|---|
| A talking-actor video | 800 per started minute, per actor |
| A custom actor | 1,600, once |
| A voice clone | 80 (free on Pro and above) |
| Translate a video | 240 per started 30 seconds, per language |
| Replace or animate an actor | 500 |
| Captions | 8 (Insta/TikTok style), 80 (Classic), 48 per started minute (Animated) |
| Trim, stitch, resize, text overlay, change voice | 0 |
| Images on paid plans | Free up to 100 per rolling 24 hours, then typically 8 to 32 |
How to read those numbers
The talking actor is the line that decides most bills, and it is charged per started minute. A 20-second ad and a 60-second ad with one actor cost the same 800 credits; a two-actor ad costs that twice. On those rates, Starter's 8,000 credits cover ten one-actor talking minutes in a month if nothing else is spent, and every caption style, translation or custom actor comes out of the same pool.
Partial units are rounded up everywhere the help centre quotes a time: per started minute for talking actors and animated captions, per started 30 seconds for translation. Failed generations are refunded automatically.
Arcads also says it tests new pricing, so an account may see different rates, and that the Generate button shows the actual cost before you spend it (How does Arcads pricing work?, read 2026-10-19). Treat the table as the published standard, not a quote.
The trial, the cycle and the year
A three-day trial with a card
The trial runs exactly three days from sign-up with 1,000 credits and every feature unlocked. A card is required and held, not charged; a reminder arrives 24 hours before the end, and the Starter monthly plan starts automatically unless you cancel (How the free trial works).
Starter and Creator stop at the limit
Starter and Creator accounts are blocked from generating once the month's credits are used, until renewal or an upgrade, and their credits do not roll over (How to buy more credits?).
Pro and above keep going
Pro, Scale and Business bill extra usage per credit on the next invoice, and their unused credits accumulate while the subscription stays active.
Yearly billing
The help centre says yearly billing is 20% off. The dollar amounts it applies to are on the in-app pricing page.
Why we do not print a dollar price
Several third-party guides quote monthly dollar prices for Arcads, and they disagree with each other, partly because Arcads has run time-limited promotions on top of its list prices. Arcads itself publishes none on the open web, and its help centre points to the in-app pricing page. A price we cannot point at on Arcads' own site does not belong on ours.
If you are budgeting, the honest method is: sign in, read the plan price for the credit tier you need, and divide it by the number of talking-actor minutes you will really make in a month, rounded up per started minute.
Four questions that decide the bill
How many talking-actor minutes a month?
Count started minutes, per actor. That number times 800 is most of your credit need.
Will you translate or caption?
Translation is per started 30 seconds per language, and animated captions per started minute, both from the same pool.
Do you need a custom actor?
1,600 credits once, per actor you create.
Can you afford to stop at the limit?
On Starter and Creator generation stops when credits run out; on Pro and above it continues and bills the overage.
A note on what an AI actor may say
Arcads' own guidance on testimonial-style ads says AI actors are not real customers, that scripts should rest on real customer feedback you can stand behind, and that ads should follow each platform's rules on AI-generated content (AI testimonial-style ads). That matters for the bill too: an ad that has to be taken down is the most expensive one you made. The rules are covered in the FTC, the EU AI Act and AI UGC ads.
Empyre is a different kind of product: it builds and operates a whole company with eight AI executives, rather than selling ad creative by the credit. Its plans are on empyre.dev/pricing for contrast, not as a substitute for a studio.
Common questions
How much is Arcads per month?
Arcads did not publish dollar prices on the open web on 2026-10-19; its help centre says current prices are on the pricing page inside the app. Plans are sized by monthly credits: Starter 8,000, Creator 16,000, Pro 48,000, Scale 96,000 and Business 192,000, with Enterprise custom.
How many credits does an Arcads video use?
A talking-actor video is 800 credits per started minute, per actor, so a 30-second one-actor ad uses 800 credits. Captions, translation and custom actors are charged on top.
Does Arcads have a free trial?
Yes: three days with 1,000 credits and a card held but not charged. It becomes the Starter monthly plan unless you cancel.
Do Arcads credits roll over?
On Pro, Scale and Business, yes, with no cap and no expiry. On Starter and Creator they reset each cycle.
Is there an annual discount?
The help centre says yearly billing is 20% off.
Try Empyre free for 3 days
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Last updated 2026-10-19. Competitor descriptions reflect each product's publicly documented capabilities at that date; they change often, so check the source before relying on a detail.