Membership and Points
What This Solves
A lot of learning apps lock their core features behind a paywall. Aelano is different — the core learning features are essentially free forever: you can keep using Practice (word preview / blind listening / focused listening), My Words & Sentences, spaced review, segment study, and so on. You can run the complete study loop without membership. Membership mainly expands how many points you get each month, and additionally unlocks two capabilities the free plan does not have (see “What Else Membership Includes” below). Everything that needs AI compute — generating subtitles, AI translation, AI explanations, shadowing scores, and so on — is paid for in points. Free users get a basic monthly allowance; members get more.
Aelano’s Product Principles
- No ads, no splash screens, no interruptions to your studying
- Core features are free forever: you can study completely without membership
- The price is the same on every platform: Aelano absorbs the store fees on iOS, Android, Windows, and elsewhere, so you do not pay more for buying on iOS
- Membership mainly expands your allowance: it does not lock core learning features away, and it does not degrade the free experience
If you are willing to support Aelano’s long-term operation, buying a membership helps us a lot — but not buying one does not affect your study workflow.
What Points Are
Points are the single unit Aelano uses to measure what AI features consume.
Different features consume different amounts:
| Type | Cost |
|---|---|
| AI transcription (subtitle generation after importing from YouTube / Bilibili / podcasts / cloud drives / text / Douyin / Xiaohongshu / local files) | About 1 point per minute of content |
| AI features (translation, AI summaries, smart Q&A, AI sentence analysis, shadowing scores, key expressions) | Charged per use |
| Core learning (Practice / sentence splitting / study aids / My Words & Sentences / spaced review / vocabulary practice) | Free forever, costs no points |
In other words: content you have listened to, studied, or reviewed costs no points at all. Points are only spent when you import new content and when you ask AI to do something for you (such as scoring your shadowing, translating, or explaining a sentence).
Membership Tiers
Aelano’s memberships are tiered by monthly points allowance:
| Tier | Monthly points |
|---|---|
| Free plan | 30 points / month |
| Basic | 500 points / month |
| Pro | 2,000 points / month |
| Max | 5,000 points / month |
Points reset automatically each month — you can see your next reset date under Settings → Points.
What Else Membership Includes
Beyond a larger monthly points allowance, membership includes two features the free plan does not have:
- Local files across devices: audio and video that members upload from their device goes to the cloud, so you can keep studying it from any device you sign in on; local files uploaded on the free plan stay only on that one device and are not visible after you switch
- Batch import: select several local audio and video files at once and let Aelano transcribe them in a queue, instead of waiting for one at a time
Content imported from links (YouTube / Bilibili / podcasts, and so on), My Words & Sentences, review progress, study time, and similar data sync across devices for everyone — the two benefits above are differences that only apply to the locally uploaded files case.
Add-On Point Packs
If you import an unusual amount in a given month and your monthly membership allowance is not enough, you can buy an add-on point pack (extra points):
- Members only
- Points from an add-on pack are valid permanently and are not cleared each month
- Add-on points are only spent after your monthly allowance runs out — the monthly allowance is used first
Good for a temporary burst of importing (for example, planning to work through an entire 30-episode podcast in a week).
Duration Options: Monthly, Yearly, Lifetime
The available durations depend on the tier: Basic is monthly, Pro offers monthly, yearly, or lifetime, and Max is yearly.
There is also one important product difference worth spelling out:
Aelano does not use auto-renewing subscriptions.
What you buy is access for a fixed period:
- Monthly: one month, and it simply ends when it expires
- Yearly: one year, and it simply ends when it expires
- Lifetime PRO: a one-time purchase that never expires
When it expires you go back to the free plan automatically — nothing is charged automatically, there is no subscription to cancel, and no card to unlink. If you want to keep going, just buy again around the time it expires.
The upside of this model is that it is clean: no worrying about forgetting to cancel and getting charged, no figuring out how to cancel, no fear that a deleted account keeps renewing. The trade-off is that if you want to keep using it long term, you have to remember to buy it yourself. Lifetime PRO exists to remove that hassle — buy once and be done.
How to Buy
You will find it under Settings → Upgrade Membership in Aelano, or through the membership entry point on the home page.
Which payment methods are actually available depends on your platform and region — open the purchase page inside the app and you will see them.
No matter which platform you buy on, membership follows your account — a membership bought on iOS works just the same when you sign in to the same account on Mac, Android, or Windows.
Checking Your Allowance
Settings → Points shows you:
- Points available: how many you have left right now
- Total points this cycle: how many you have for the month
- Next reset date: when the allowance refreshes
- Membership expiry date (for monthly or yearly)
When it expires you return to the free plan automatically — nothing more is charged, and points you already used are not clawed back. If you want a larger allowance again, buy again.
A Few Practical Tips
- Run the whole study loop on the free plan first: 30 points a month is enough to try the core features and see whether the app fits your study rhythm. Upgrade once you find it genuinely useful and need more importing capacity.
- Look at where your points actually go: Settings → Points tells you which operations consumed them. If you find that 80% of your points go to translation, moving up a plan for the larger monthly allowance usually makes more sense than repeatedly buying add-on packs.
- Check your allowance before a big import: if you plan to batch-import a dozen or so podcast episodes, check whether you have enough points first, so transcription does not get cut off halfway.
- Use add-on packs for temporary needs: if 80% of the time your usage is normal and only occasionally you have a lot to import, a membership plus an add-on pack may work out better than jumping straight to Max.
- For long-term use, pick Lifetime PRO: buy once and you never have to remember to buy again each month or year.
Common Questions
Can I switch between tiers?
Yes. If you are currently on Basic monthly, Pro monthly, or Pro yearly, the purchase page shows upgrade packages — you pay only the difference instead of buying a full membership again:
- Basic monthly → Pro yearly / Max yearly / Lifetime PRO
- Pro monthly → Pro yearly / Lifetime PRO
- Pro yearly → Max yearly / Lifetime PRO
If you already have Lifetime PRO, no upgrade packages appear — you are already on the top tier.
There is no downgrade action. Each purchase is a one-time buy for a fixed period, so it simply ends when it expires and you return to the free plan; if you want a lower tier after that, just buy it then. The purchase page is the authority on what is actually available to you.
Can I get a refund on a membership I bought?
Refunds are not supported. Before buying, make sure you fully understand Aelano’s product principles and what you actually need.
Will I lose my data when membership expires?
No. All of your study data — library, My Words & Sentences, review progress, study time — is kept. Expiry only stops the new monthly points; content you already studied stays usable.
What if I run out of points?
Three options:
- Wait for the next reset date and the allowance refreshes automatically
- Buy an add-on point pack (members only) for extra points
- Move up to a higher membership tier
Which is better value, Lifetime PRO or monthly / yearly?
It depends on how long you plan to use it. For a short trial, buy monthly; if you are sure you are in it for the long term, go straight to Lifetime PRO. Aelano’s purchase page shows roughly how many months it takes for Lifetime PRO to pay for itself.
Is the price the same on every platform?
Exactly the same. Aelano absorbs the payment processing fees on iOS, Android, Windows, and elsewhere, so you pay the same wherever you buy.
Are there member-only features?
Two: local files across devices and batch import. Beyond those, all the core learning features (Practice, My Words & Sentences, review, subtitles, translation, and so on) are available to free users too. What membership mainly expands is still the monthly points allowance.
Is it really true that Practice, My Words & Sentences, and review cost no points?
The first three Practice steps (word preview / blind listening / focused listening), My Words & Sentences, and review are free forever and cost no points. But step 4, shadowing, does cost points — shadowing uses AI to score your pronunciation word by word, which is an AI feature charged per use.
If you only use the first three steps and skip shadowing, the whole Practice flow is free for you.
Related Features
- Want to check your points and membership status? See App settings
- Which features cost points? See Import from a link / AI bilingual translation / Sentence explanations
- Which features are free forever? See Practice (LS100) / My Words & Sentences / Review
- Cross-device sync and accounts? See Account and cross-device sync