--- title: Vellum pricing — free forever tier, $59.99/year description: Every prompt free forever. 100 photos on the free tier. $59.99 a year for the whole household — every kid, both parents. No ads on any tier. url: /pricing --- Pricing # Pricing Free isn't a trial that runs out. It's a real tier you can stay on. Here's exactly what the paid plan costs so it isn't a surprise later. *Everything in both tiers. There is no third one, and no add-ons.* | Feature | Free | Vellum Plus | | --- | --- | --- | | Daily question and mission | Every one, forever | Every one, forever | | Written entries | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Did-it entries | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Voice recordings | Up to 2 minutes each | Up to 2 minutes each | | Photos | 100, lifetime | Unlimited | | Video | — | Unlimited | | Children | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Parents on one archive | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Full export | Free and complete | Free and complete | | Ads | None | None | | Price | $0 | $59.99/yr or $5.99/mo | *Ships with the App Store launch. Waitlist members will hear the price before it goes live, not after.* ## Why the free tier is generous about prompts and strict about photos The prompts cost us almost nothing and they're the actual product, so they're never metered. Some apps in this category charge you per question per day, and that's the thing worth not doing. Storage is the real cost, and it runs for eighteen years, so that's where the line is. 100 is lifetime rather than monthly on purpose: a monthly reset lets a free archive grow forever against no revenue, and the honest version of this is a number that doesn't move. A cap can always be raised. It can never be lowered. ### One price, one household Not per child. Having another kid shouldn't cost more, and neither should the second parent wanting to write things down. ### Fourteen days free Annual is preselected because it's two months cheaper, not because it's stickier. Cancel in Settings on your iPhone, in two taps, like any other subscription — we don't get to make that hard, and wouldn't want the version of this business that did. ### No ads on any tier Including the free one. That's the row people assume is the catch, so it's stated plainly here and [at length on the promise page](/promise.md). If you stop paying ## What happens to the archive Most apps handle this badly, so here it is in full, on the pricing page, before you've given anybody a card number. --- ### Nothing is locked If you stop paying, Vellum drops to the free tier. Your whole archive stays readable. You keep answering the daily question — text and did-it entries never stop. New photo and video uploads pause. --- ### After ninety days, photos get cheaper to store Original photos move to cold storage. Thumbnails stay instant, search still works, and pulling a full-resolution original back takes about an hour. That's a property of the storage, not a penalty, and it's described that way because that's what it is. --- ### We never delete a word you wrote unless you ask us to. And if media is ever going to be removed, you get warned three times — ninety days out, thirty days out, seven days out — each with a free one-click export of the whole archive. Sign in once during that window and it's cancelled outright. If we can't reach you, we keep it. **We have never deleted a word a parent wrote.** --- ### The export is free on the free tier A zip of ordinary files in date folders plus an `index.html` that opens in any browser, offline, with no account. Free, complete, always — even if you stopped paying years ago. [The whole promise, including what happens if we go away.](/promise.md) ## Questions about the money The rest are on [the FAQ](/faq.md). ### Is the free tier a trial? No. It has no end date and no countdown. Every question and every mission is uncapped on it, forever. The only line is 100 photos, lifetime. ### What happens when I hit 100 photos? New photo uploads stop. Nothing already in the archive changes, and you keep answering questions, writing entries, recording voice and completing did-it missions exactly as before. ### Do I pay more for a second child? No. One price covers the household — every kid, both parents. Having another child shouldn't cost more. ### Why isn't the price live yet? Vellum hasn't opened on the App Store. When it does, $59.99 a year or $5.99 a month is what it will be, and waitlist members hear about any change to that before it goes live rather than after. ### How do I cancel? Settings on your iPhone, two taps, like any other subscription. Apple handles it and we don't get to make it harder. ## The prompts are free either way One a day, by email, starting tomorrow. No card, no tier, no app required yet. [Get tomorrow's prompt](/waitlist.md) One a day, by email. A note when it opens and when the price goes live. Nothing else.