Quick Disclosure
Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you use them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend what I’m personally using and documenting as I build my first online business. You can read more in my Affiliate Disclosure.
If you are asking how much Wealthy Affiliate costs, the answer is anywhere from $0 to $99 a month, depending on how much you plan to build. There are four plans, and the numbers below are taken from the pricing page as it read on October 16, 2026.
- Starter: $0, no credit card needed
- Builder: $29 a month or $290 a year
- Premium: $49 a month or $490 a year
- Premium Plus+: $99 a month or $990 a year
What changes from one plan to the next is mostly the number of credits, the number of websites and how many messages you can send to Ace each day. Ace is the AI assistant you talk to inside your account. The free plan is a working account, not a countdown timer, so you can see how the platform behaves before you decide anything.
This article goes through each plan, shows the arithmetic on monthly versus yearly billing, explains what credits actually pay for, and lists the costs that sit outside the plan price. Later there is a section on my own path from free to paid, including a price I paid that you cannot get today.
What the free Starter plan gives you, and where it stops
Starter costs $0 and you do not enter a credit card to sign up. It includes:
- Your first Hub, which is the workspace your online business lives in
- Ace for up to 20 messages a day
- 4,000 starter credits, spent by the Agents that write and design for you
- 1 practice site
- Access to the community
That is enough to start a real conversation about what you want to build, get a first site set up, and generate some content to see whether the output suits you. If you arrive without a niche, the first conversation with Ace is the place to work one out. If you arrive with an idea, bring it.
The limits show up in three places. The 4,000 credits are a fixed starter amount, so once they are spent, new AI work waits until you upgrade or top up. The practice site is one site, which is a place to learn, not a portfolio of projects. And Ace’s 20 messages a day is a fifth of the 100 that Builder and Premium allow.
As a rough guide to credits, the paid plans work out at about 800 credits per article (explained in the credits section below). At that rate 4,000 credits would be around five articles, but the page does not state an article count for Starter, and anything the Artist makes for you draws from the same pool. Treat five as my arithmetic, not a promise.
If you are still deciding whether to build anything at all, my post on getting started with your own online business covers the groundwork that costs nothing.
Builder, Premium and Premium Plus+ side by side
Here are the three paid plans in one place, at monthly prices:
Builder Premium Premium Plus+ Monthly price $29 $49 $99 Yearly price $290 $490 $990 Credits 20,000 40,000 100,000 Websites 1 3 5 Ace messages per day up to 100 up to 100 up to 200 Articles per month (page estimate) about 25 about 50 about 125
The article counts are the pricing page’s own estimates. They assume a 1,400-word article and an average brief. A longer article, a more detailed brief or a lot of image work alongside the writing will use credits faster, so read the figures as a planning guide and not a guarantee.
Some arithmetic that the page does not do for you. Price per 1,000 credits at monthly billing:
- Builder: about $1.45
- Premium: about $1.23
- Premium Plus+: about $0.99
So the bigger plans buy credits more cheaply, and Premium Plus+ comes in just under the $1.00 per 1,000 that a top-up costs (more on top-ups below). The page’s article estimates imply the same ratio on every paid plan, roughly 800 credits per article, so the extra credits are what you are paying for in the higher tiers, not a better rate of articles per credit.
The other difference is websites. Builder includes 1, Premium 3 and Premium Plus+ 5. Ace’s daily allowance is the same on Builder and Premium at 100 messages, and doubles to 200 on Premium Plus+.
Monthly vs yearly: what two months free actually saves
Yearly billing is ten months for the price of twelve. Here is what that does to each plan:
Plan 12 months monthly Yearly You save Effective monthly cost Builder $348 $290 $58 about $24.17 Premium $588 $490 $98 about $40.83 Premium Plus+ $1,188 $990 $198 $82.50
The saving is real, but yearly means paying the full amount up front. Builder at $290 is a bigger single payment than $29, and Premium Plus+ at $990 is a serious one. If you are not yet sure the platform fits how you work, monthly billing lets you leave after a month and you have lost $29, $49 or $99 at most.
A reasonable approach is to start monthly, use the credits for a month or two, and move to yearly once you know you will keep using it. Whether that is wise for you depends on how quickly you use the credits and whether you are still building a few months from now.
What credits cover
Credits are spent by two Agents, and each one makes different things.
The Writer produces:
- Buyer guides
- Product reviews
- How-to articles
- X threads
- Facebook posts
- YouTube descriptions
The Artist produces:
- Thumbnails
- Blog covers
- Social graphics
- Logos
Some formats need both. Instagram carousels and Pinterest pins take the Writer and the Artist, because they combine text and images, so they use more credits than a plain text post.
This is why the article estimates are only estimates. A month of 25 articles on Builder assumes articles of about 1,400 words and an average brief. If you also generate a blog cover for each article, or make carousels and pins to promote them, that image work comes out of the same 20,000 credits.
Charges reflect what the work actually cost. If a run fails, it costs you nothing.
What happens when you run out
Nothing breaks. Your Hub, your sites and your Ace conversation stay where they are. New AI work waits until your credits are topped up, which can happen in two ways: you upgrade to a bigger plan, or you buy a top-up. Top-ups start at $20 for 20,000 credits and they never expire, so unused credits from a top-up carry over.
At the page’s rate of about 800 credits per article, a $20 top-up covers roughly 25 more articles. That is the same figure Builder gives for a month, at $20 instead of $29. The comparison is rough, but it shows top-ups are a reasonable way to cover a heavy month without changing plan.
Costs outside the plan
Three costs sit outside the plan price.
Extra websites. Any paid tier can add websites at $9 a month each. This changes which plan is cheapest if you want several sites:
- Builder with two extra sites: $29 + $18 = $47 a month for 3 websites and 20,000 credits
- Premium: $49 a month for 3 websites and 40,000 credits
- Premium with two extra sites: $49 + $18 = $67 a month for 5 websites and 40,000 credits
- Premium Plus+: $99 a month for 5 websites and 100,000 credits
So if you want three sites, Premium costs only $2 more than Builder plus two extras and gives you twice the credits. If you want five sites and need the credits, Premium Plus+ is the natural fit. If five sites with 40,000 credits is enough, Premium plus two extras is $32 a month cheaper.
Domains. Every account includes hosting, and your first site starts as a practice site on a siterubix.com address. You can register a domain inside the platform later, or connect one you already own. The pricing page figures I am working from do not list a domain price, so check the current price at the point of registering instead of relying on a number from me.
Top-ups. Starting at $20 for 20,000 credits, as above. They never expire, so there is no pressure to use them by a deadline.
My own path
I joined Wealthy Affiliate in November 2025. I started on the free side and moved to a paid plan because I was serious about building an online business.
My first paid plan was Premium Plus+, billed monthly at $99 a month. Then Black Friday came, and Premium Plus+ was offered at $497 a year, down from the usual $697. I switched to yearly because it was a very good limited-time deal.
That price was a legacy price. New members do not get it today. If you sign up now, Premium Plus+ yearly is $990, as in the table above, and you should plan around that figure and not mine.
In the new Wealthy Affiliate, my credits cover just about everything I make. That depends on what you make, though. I am not describing a plan limit, I am describing my own usage on the biggest plan. A smaller plan will stretch differently, and someone who produces mostly short social posts will use credits differently from someone who publishes long buyer guides with custom covers.
I am not making any income claim here. What I can tell you is what I pay and how the credits have worked out for the things I make. Whether the platform earns you anything depends on the work you put in and the site you build. For the longer verdict on whether Premium was worth it, I cover that in my full review, linked at the end.
Who should stay free, and which paid plan fits who
Stay on Starter if you have not decided whether you want to build an online business at all, or you want to try the platform before spending anything. The free plan has Ace, a Hub, a practice site and the community. If you are still working through whether you are ready, you can also check your own situation first, and my post on online business readiness is a good place to do that.
Builder fits if you plan to build one website and publish a steady stream of content on it. About 25 articles a month on the page’s own estimate is a lot for one site, and it leaves room for some image work.
Premium fits if you want up to three websites, or you want more credits for one site that you publish to heavily, including social posts and graphics. The $2 comparison with Builder plus two extra sites is worth keeping in mind.
Premium Plus+ fits if you are running up to five websites, producing a large volume across formats such as carousels, pins and articles, or you expect to use Ace heavily, with up to 200 messages a day. It is the cheapest plan per credit, but only if you will use the credits. Unused volume is money you did not need to spend, and a top-up can cover a busy month on a smaller plan.
If you are unsure, the cheapest way to find out is to start free, use the 4,000 credits, and see how fast they go.
Frequently asked questions before you join
Is it really free to start?
Yes. Your first Hub, 4,000 credits for Ace and the Agents, a practice website and the community cost nothing, and no card is needed to sign up. Upgrade only when you want more credits, websites or Hubs.
Do I need experience or a niche?
No. The first conversation is for that. Bring an idea, or bring nothing.
What if I don’t upgrade?
Your Hub, your plan and your Ace conversation stay in the free account for as long as you keep it. When your starter credits run out, new AI work waits until you upgrade or top up.
Do I need my own website or domain?
No. Every account includes hosting, starting with a practice site on a siterubix.com address. You can register a domain inside the platform or connect your own later.
Is there a real person to help?
Yes. Community live chat runs 24/7, with replies usually within minutes. The founders, Kyle and Carson, are in the community daily. Account and billing questions go to support.
Do I have to recruit or sell Wealthy Affiliate?
No. You build around your own topic and audience. The affiliate program is optional.
I was a member before. Does my old account work?
Yes. Log in with your original email and your sites, blogs, classes and community history are there. A membership you pay for today keeps its current price. The platform will feel like a different company, in the best way.
If I leave mid-conversation, is it gone?
No. It is saved on your device and on our side, and it moves into your account when you sign up. If you never create an account, it is deleted 90 days after it started.
What to check on the pricing page before you pay
Prices and allowances change, and this article reflects the page as of October 16, 2026. Before you enter a card, check these points against the live page:
- The price and billing period. Confirm whether you are looking at the monthly or the yearly figure, since the yearly total is 10 times the monthly price.
- Credits and websites. Check that the plan you want includes the number of credits and websites you expected.
- Ace’s daily message limit. It is up to 100 a day on Builder and Premium and up to 200 on Premium Plus+.
- The article estimate. The page’s figures are estimates for a 1,400-word article and an average brief. Your own use could be higher or lower.
- Extra costs. Extra websites are $9 a month each. Top-ups start at $20 for 20,000 credits. Look up the current domain price when you register one.
- Sale prices. If you see a limited-time offer, note what the regular price is and whether the deal is for the first year only.
Then decide whether you need a paid plan yet. Many people will get a clear answer from the free account alone.
Open a free Wealthy Affiliate account through my link (https://www.wealthyaffiliate.com/?a_aid=8c6b78b1 ) and look at the free side yourself before spending anything. Then read my full 2026 review for the verdict on whether Premium was worth it. (The link is an affiliate link, see the Affiliate Disclosure.)