How credits work, and why we chose them
RivalSonar plans use monthly credits instead of separate limits for every feature. Here is what costs credits, what does not, how tracking slots and credit packs work, and why we picked this model.
On this page
Research tools usually sell access in one of two ways. Some give you a fixed number of lookups for each feature, so you might have plenty of store searches left but no product views. Others give unlimited use at a high flat price, which suits heavy users and makes everyone else pay for capacity they never touch.
RivalSonar uses credits instead. Every plan comes with a monthly allowance of credits, and you spend them on whatever research you need that month. This post explains exactly what costs credits, what does not and why we chose this model. Current plans and their credit allowances are on the pricing page.
What costs credits
| Action | Cost |
|---|---|
| Search stores, products or ads | 1 credit per result row |
| Open a store, product or ad | 2 credits, then free to reopen for 24 hours |
| Export to CSV or Excel | 1 credit per row |
| Analyse a store with the Chrome extension | 2 credits |
Searches
A search costs 1 credit for each result row you load. A search that returns 20 stores costs 20 credits. Narrow filters cost less and usually give better results anyway, so it pays to filter by country, category or estimated orders before you browse.
Opening a store, product or ad
Opening a full profile costs 2 credits. After that, the same store, product or ad is free to reopen for the next 24 hours. You can go back and forth between a store, its products and its ads during a research session without paying again for the same page.
Exports
Exports cost 1 credit per row. If you export a collection of 50 stores, that costs 50 credits.
The Chrome extension
When you open the extension panel on a store and run an analysis, it costs 2 credits, the same as opening a store profile in the app.
What does not cost credits
Tracking uses slots
The sales tracker and ad tracker do not use credits. They use tracking slots. Each plan includes a number of slots, and each tracked store or advertiser takes one. Tracking runs every hour in the background, and it would make no sense to charge credits for work you did not ask for each time. When you stop tracking a store, its slot is free for another one.
How credits refresh
Monthly credits refresh at the start of each billing month. They do not roll over, so credits you do not use in one month do not carry into the next. On yearly billing you still receive your credits month by month.
Credit packs
If you run out before the month ends, you can buy a credit pack on top of your plan. Pack credits last 12 months from the day you buy them, so a pack bought for a busy launch week is not lost if the following months are quiet.
Credits that have been spent are not refundable, and credit packs expire after 12 months. Our refund policy covers payments in full.
The free plan
There is a free plan with monthly credits and no card required. It is enough to run searches, open store profiles and see how the estimates work before you decide whether to pay.
Why we chose credits
Research is uneven
One week you open fifty stores while checking a new niche. The next you only check your tracker. Fixed limits per feature force you to guess in advance which feature you will need. Credits follow what you actually do.
Costs reflect our costs
Loading result rows, building full profiles and generating exports each cost us something to serve. Charging by the row and by the profile keeps light users from paying for heavy users, and keeps prices lower for everyone.
Tracking should be predictable
Ongoing monitoring is different from one-off research. You want to know that a tracked store keeps being checked every hour without draining your balance. Slots make that cost fixed and visible.
It is easy to check
The cost of each action is fixed and listed above, so you can work out what a research session will cost before you start.
Tips to make credits go further
- Filter before you search. A tight filter returns fewer, better rows.
- Use the 24 hour free re-open. Do your deep dive on a store in one sitting.
- Save stores to collections instead of searching for them again.
- Use saved searches with a daily digest so new matches come to you.
- Export only the rows you need.
Questions
If something about credits is unclear, or a cost feels wrong for how you work, tell us. We would rather adjust the model than have you work around it.
