The scariest moment in any big job is the middle. You have started something large, and you suddenly wonder: what happens if the money runs out halfway?
On Scriptube the answer is simple and fair. You keep everything already transcribed. The rest is cancelled and never charged. Here is how that works and why we built it this way.
The principle: you only pay for what you get
Scriptube charges for transcripts you actually receive. That one rule covers several situations:
- A video has no captions at all? No transcript, no charge.
- Credits run out partway through a large batch? What is finished is yours. What was not started is cancelled and not charged.
- A video is waiting to be retried? Nothing is charged until its transcript arrives.
The common thread is that a charge always matches something you can actually use.
What happens when credits run out mid-batch
Say you submit a channel with a thousand videos and your credits cover most of them but not all. Here is what you will see:
- The batch runs as normal and transcripts land in your library as they finish.
- When the credits are used up, the batch stops.
- Everything already transcribed stays with you. You can read it, search it and export it, and reading or exporting transcripts you own is free.
- The videos that were not processed are marked as cancelled. You are not charged for them.
Nothing is thrown away, and nothing is billed for work that did not happen.
A batch never fails silently
This matters as much as the billing. A big job that quietly stops with no explanation is the worst kind of failure, because you find out days later. On Scriptube, you can open the batch page and see exactly where things stand. The status tabs separate videos into Failed, Waiting, Completed and Skipped, with 50 per page, and the batch map shows one coloured square per video. A cancelled batch is visible, not hidden. For a tour of those views, read watch your batch live.
How to avoid running short in the first place
The best way to handle a credit shortfall is to see it coming.
- Read the estimate. Before you confirm, Scriptube shows the cost of the batch. For channels, the estimate includes the video count and the credits. Compare it with your balance on the credits page.
- Top up first if you are close. If the estimate is near your balance, add credits before you start and the job will run straight through.
- Split by priority. If you only need the creator's best material, you can sort and choose accordingly. See sort a whole channel by views, likes and comments.
Our guide to credits and estimating before you pay goes deeper on the estimate itself.
After a shortfall: picking up where you left off
If a batch ended because of credits, you do not have to redo anything. The finished transcripts are already in your library. Add credits and submit the remaining videos. If you paste the same channel again, duplicates are removed automatically, so you are not asked to redo work you already have.
For videos that failed for other reasons, the batch page lets you retry failed ones with one click. Our article on retrying failed transcripts covers that flow.
Why we think this is the right design
We could have charged up front for the whole batch and made you chase a refund when something went wrong. We could have run the batch to the end and left you with a bill you did not plan for. Neither feels right.
The design we chose keeps one idea in front: you should never pay for something you did not get, and you should never lose something you already paid for. That is true when a video has no captions, true when a job pauses, and true when credits run out.
Quick answers
- Do I lose finished transcripts if credits run out? No. They stay in your library.
- Am I charged for the cancelled part? No.
- Am I charged for videos with no captions? No.
- Is there any other limit on batch size? No. Credits are the only limit.
Ready for a big job? Open your dashboard to see your estimate before you confirm, or check plans and credits.