Account
How sign-in, the trial, the subscription and AI credits work inside BetterLibrary.
Nothing in BetterLibrary works without a live trial or subscription for BetterLibrary. The AI features also spend credits from your account. This page says where all of that shows and what each feature costs.
Sign in
Sign-in happens in your browser, never in the app. The app opens the dashboard's connect page, you sign in or sign up there, and the page hands a one-time code back to the app. The app keeps a credential file on this Mac at ~/Library/Application Support/BetterApps/account.token.
BetterLibrary and BetterEdits share that file. Signing in to one app signs in both. Signing out of one signs out both.
The trial and the subscription
Each app is its own product. BetterLibrary has its own subscription, its own trial and its own credit balance.
| Trial | 7 days, 300 credits, one per account, card on file, nothing charged until the trial ends |
| Plan | 2,400 credits a month, added to your balance on each billing date |
| Credits | Never expire. Packs bought from the app land in the same balance. |
If the trial or subscription ends, the app locks and shows the offer again. Your libraries stay on disk untouched.
The app checks your account now and then. It stays unlocked for up to three days without a successful check, so a flaky connection does not lock you out. Past that it shows a Couldn't reach BetterApps panel with Try again.
Where the account shows
The account is at the bottom of the sidebar and on the welcome screen: your name, and one line with the trial's days and your credits, for example "Trial · 6 days left · 300 credits". In a clip window it is a button in the toolbar.
Click it for the account popover: your email, the plan line, the credits line with a Buy credits link, Manage account, and Sign out. Opening the popover refreshes the account.
A small dot appears on the badge only when something needs attention: amber when the trial or subscription ends within three days, red when a payment failed or the app has been offline for more than a day. A banner across the top of the window says the same once per session, with one button (Manage account, Update card, or Resume). Close it with the x.
Settings › Account
Settings › Account shows the same as the popover, as a page, plus:
- This Mac: the name the dashboard lists this Mac under.
- What a credit buys: the rates for this app, read from your account.
- See usage and Connected Macs, which open the dashboard.
- Buy credits, which opens the checkout for a pack.
Cards, invoices and cancelling live in the dashboard at dashboard.usebetterapps.com. Manage account opens it signed in as this account.
What charges credits
| Feature | Charge | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Tag a clip with AI | A base charge plus a per-minute charge, by the clip's length | The estimate in the import sheet, on the Tag with AI button, and in the confirmation |
| Ask for clips | One credit per question | Settings › Account, What a credit buys |
| Propose properties in the New Library sheet | Free | The button's help says "not charged" |
Everything else is free: importing, statuses, properties, highlights, search, filters, views, export and the command line.
The exact rates come from your account and show in Settings › Account. On a guest pass nothing is charged and the credits line reads Unlimited.
Before a big job
The app asks before a paid job only when it is big: more than 100 credits, or more than a tenth of your balance. The confirmation names the cost and your balance, for example "About 380 credits; you have 1,240."
The import sheet shows the estimate for the whole batch before you import. Over half your balance the line turns orange and suggests a smaller batch. Over your balance it names the shortfall. See Importing.
When credits run out
A tagging request that cannot be paid fails with the number of credits missing and a way to buy more. In a batch, tagging stops there. The clips that were not tagged stay New in In Progress, where you can tag them later or after adding credits.
Ask shows the same error under the field.
Sign out
Sign out is in the account popover and in Settings › Account. The app asks first and says that BetterEdits will be signed out too. Your libraries stay where they are.
The command line uses the same credential and refuses to run while the app is locked. See The command line.