Account, plans & AI credits
Premium & gated features
Most of Popcorn Editor is open to everyone. A small, clearly marked set of features need a paid plan or AI credits — this article lists exactly which ones, and what you'll see when you reach a gate, so you can decide whether upgrading is worth it.
Most things are free
Designing, saving to the cloud, exporting and every kind of manual editing are available to everyone, on any plan. You can build a full print-ready document — text, shapes, color, images, layout — and export it without ever paying. The gates below are specifically about AI usage and premium content, nothing else.
AI credits are the core gate
The AI Assistant and AI image generation both run on credits, and credits only come with a plan. Manual work never touches them — they're spent only when the AI does something for you.
When a turn would need more credits than you have, the app shows the You're out of AI credits dialog — "Upgrade your plan to keep designing with the assistant." — with two buttons: See plans (opens the Pricing page) and Maybe later. Your design is completely untouched; only that one AI turn is blocked, so nothing is lost. For how fast credits are spent and how to stretch them, see How credits are used.
AI on a shared link
When you open a design that someone shared with you through a link, the Assistant is available only to signed-in subscribers with credits. This keeps the cost of AI tied to the person actually running it, not the person who shared the design.
What you'll see depends on where you stand:
- Not signed in — you're prompted to sign in before you can use the Assistant.
- Signed in without a paid plan or credits — you get the same You're out of AI credits upgrade dialog described above.
Everything else on a shared link — viewing, and editing by hand if you have edit access — works normally. Only the AI is gated. See Share by link for how shared links work.
Premium templates
Some templates are marked premium by an admin. A premium template carries a Premium badge with a lock icon, and while it's locked it shows a neutral placeholder instead of a live preview — the actual design isn't handed to your browser until you're entitled to it.
Open a locked one and you'll see the note "This is a premium template. Subscribe to open and edit it." alongside an Upgrade to use button. You can still browse premium templates freely; you just can't open or edit one without a subscription. Free templates have no such lock. See Premium templates for the full walkthrough.
What is not gated
To be clear about where the line sits, here's the full split:
| Needs a plan or credits | Free for everyone |
|---|---|
| AI Assistant turns | Manual text, shapes, color, layout |
| AI image generation | Exporting — including print-ready PDF |
| AI on a shared link | Sharing a design by link |
| Premium templates | Browsing and using free templates |
If it doesn't involve AI or premium content, you can do it on the Free plan. That includes the whole print pipeline: bleed, marks, CMYK, spot colors and a print-ready PDF all export in-browser at no cost.
Deciding to upgrade
If you keep bumping into these gates — the out-of-credits dialog, or a premium template you want to open — upgrading is quick. From the Pricing page, press Choose plan on a paid plan and you're handed to Stripe to finish. A paid plan raises your monthly AI credits and unlocks premium templates and AI on shared links in one step.
Tip: run out mid-project? Press Maybe later, keep editing by hand, and upgrade when it's convenient. Nothing you've made goes away.
Where to go next
See Plans & AI credits to compare what each plan grants, then Upgrading & managing billing for checkout and managing your subscription afterward.