# Pricing — Pencel.ai

> Free with your own model API keys (local only), Pro Desktop with managed AI credits and no key setup, and Enterprise for teams that need shared workspaces, SSO/SCIM, approval workflows, and audit export.

Canonical: https://pencel.ai/pricing

Pricing

# Start free. Scale when ready.

Start with $5 of managed credits and no card. Upgrade when Rooms are running every day and you would rather not think about API keys.

Solo is $20/month, Pro is $99. Cancel anytime.

### Free

See it work on your own data

$0 forever

No card. Enough managed credits to get a real result, then keep going on your own key.

Download Free

$5 of managed AI credits to start — no API key needed

Then bring your own key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) and keep going

One Program, running on its own schedule

Every editor: documents, spreadsheets, slides, dashboards

Rooms, knowledge, to-dos and the full command center

Runs on your machine — workspace and documents stay local

30 days of run history

The starter credits are enough for roughly half a dozen real agent runs — enough to watch one Program finish something. After that, your own API key costs you provider rates and nothing to us.

### Solo

One Program, no API keys

$20 /month

or $200/year — two months free

The low-commitment way to put one Program on real work and see what it does.

Get Solo

Everything in Free, plus:

80 AI credits a month — around ten agent runs

Managed Claude, GPT and Gemini — no keys, ever

One Program on its own schedule

Web search and premium APIs included

Memory and run history with no expiry

Sized for a Program you run a couple of times a week, or a month of asking a room questions — not for one scanning every day. If you get there, Pro is the tier that keeps up. Credits reset monthly and don’t carry over.

Most popular

### Pro

Programs running every day

$99 /month

or $990/year — two months free

Managed AI with no keys to manage, sized so a working day never stops for a top-up.

Get Pro

Everything in Solo, plus:

450 AI credits a month — around a hundred agent runs

Three Programs on their own schedules

Claude, GPT and Gemini, managed — no API keys anywhere

Web search and the premium APIs your agents use, included

Three agent runs at once

Memory and run history with no expiry

Your own key still works, for a model we don’t manage

450 credits covers three Programs scanning daily with room left for drafting. Credits reset each month and don’t carry over. If you run out, top up 40 credits for $19 or switch that work to your own API key — nothing stops mid-run.

### Teams

Built with our first team customers

Talk to us

pilot pricing

Pencel is a single-user desktop app today. We’re building the team layer with the people who need it.

Talk to Us

Everything in Pro, plus:

Pooled credits and one invoice for the team

A local audit trail on every run, retained as long as you need

Your own provider accounts, if your policy requires them

Named onboarding and a direct line to us

In the pilot: shared workspaces, pooled approvals, and SSO

Shared workspaces, role-based access and SSO are not shipped yet — they are what we are building with pilot teams now. We would rather tell you that than sell you a roadmap.

## Compare plans

| Capability | Free | Solo | Pro | Teams |

| Managed AI credits | $5 to start | 80/month | 450/month | Pooled |

| Roughly how many runs | ~6, once | ~10 a month | ~100 a month | By agreement |

| Credits roll over | | No | No — they reset monthly | By agreement |

| Programs on a schedule | 1 | 1 | 3 | Unlimited |

| Agent runs at once | 1 | 1 | 3 | Custom |

| Managed models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) | Starter credits, then BYOK | | | |

| Bring your own API key | | | | |

| Web search & premium APIs | | | | |

| Credit top-ups | | $19 / 40 credits | $19 / 40 credits | Pooled |

| Documents, spreadsheets, slides, dashboards | | | | |

| Rooms, knowledge & to-dos | | | | |

| Memory | 30 days | No expiry | No expiry | No expiry |

| Run history & evidence trail | 30 days | No expiry | Full | Full + retention you set |

| Runs on your own machine | | | | |

| Shared workspace | | | | In the pilot |

| Role-based access & SSO | | | | In the pilot |

| Billing | | Card | Card | Invoice |

| Support | Community | Email | Email | Named contact |

## Download Pencel.ai

Available for macOS, Windows and Linux. Free forever, and your workspace stays on your machine on every plan.

macOS

Apple Silicon & Intel

Windows

Windows 10+

Linux

.deb &.AppImage

Mobile

iOS & Android (coming soon)

v0.6.12 · Requires 8GB RAM · Free tier included

## Frequently asked questions

What is a credit, in plain terms?

A credit is a tenth of a dollar of model usage, and we pass model costs through at what they cost us. A full agent run — reading a set of sources, reasoning over them, writing something up — usually lands between 4 and 20 credits depending on how much there is to read and how many steps it takes. So Solo's 80 credits is about ten runs a month and Pro's 450 is about a hundred, which is three Programs working every day. The app shows what each run actually cost, so you never have to guess.

How far do the credits actually go?

A daily scan of procurement portals runs about 220 credits a month; an overnight inbox review about 140; asking your books questions and closing the month about 40. So Pro's 450 covers all three with room left over, and Solo's 80 covers one Program run a couple of times a week, or a month of asking a room questions. If you outgrow a tier you can top up or point that work at your own API key — you are never stopped mid-run.

Do unused credits roll over?

No, on either paid tier. Credits reset at the start of each billing period and unused ones do not carry forward. We would rather say that here than have you find out at the end of a quiet month.

What happens when I run out of credits?

You are warned before it happens. When they are gone you can top up 40 credits for $19, or add your own Anthropic, OpenAI or Google key and keep working at provider rates. A run already in progress is never cut off mid-way.

Which tier should I start on?

Free, with the $5 of starter credits — it costs nothing and it is enough to watch one Program finish something real. Take Solo when you want that Program on a schedule without setting up an API key. Move to Pro when you have two or three Programs running every day and topping up has started to feel like a chore.

What does "bring your own key" mean?

You paste in an API key from Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, and Pencel talks to them directly — you pay the provider, we take nothing. It is how the Free plan works once your starter credits are spent, and it stays available on Pro for a model we do not manage or for volume beyond your included credits.

Which premium APIs are included?

The paid third-party services your agents reach for during a run — AI web search, page fetching, and the procurement data sources the RFP Program uses — are covered by your subscription on Solo and Pro. There is a fair-use ceiling on search volume; you will only meet it by running something unusual.

Can I try it before paying?

Yes, and without a card. Verify your email and you get $5 of managed credits — enough for roughly half a dozen real agent runs on your own data. After that the Free plan keeps working with your own API key, indefinitely.

Does Pencel run when my laptop is closed?

No. Pencel runs on your machine, so scheduled work happens while the app is open and the computer is awake; anything it missed is caught up the next time you open it. There is no cloud execution today — we would rather be straight about that than sell you an uptime promise we cannot keep.

What about my team?

Pencel is a single-user desktop app today. Shared workspaces, pooled approvals and SSO are what we are building with our first team customers, so if that is you, talk to us — you will get pilot pricing and a say in how it works, not a waiting list.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. No contracts and no cancellation fees. You keep access through the end of the period you have paid for, then move to the Free plan, where your workspace and every document you made stay on your machine exactly as they were. Annual plans can be cancelled for a prorated refund.

Is my data secure?

Your workspace — rooms, documents, knowledge, memory and run history — is stored on your own machine on every plan. When you use managed credits the prompt for that request is routed through Pencel's proxy to the model provider over an encrypted connection, and we do not log prompt content. Prefer nothing in between? Use your own key and prompts go straight from your machine to the provider.

Is there a mobile app?

Not today. Pencel is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. Mobile is on the roadmap and is not part of this release.

## Ready to see the difference control makes?

$5 of managed credits to start, no card. Then keep going on your own API key for as long as you like, or move to Pro when Rooms are running every day.

Download Pencel.ai