What it costs
Everything that does not use AI is free, for everyone, for good. The AI and voice features cost real money every time they run, so those are paid for as you use them, at exactly what they cost us, with nothing added. No plans, no subscriptions, nothing that renews.
Free, always
Practice that runs without AI
Copywork typing on band-9 model essays, Reading and Listening tests with their results and answer reviews, the grammar map and lessons, collocations, the Knowledge Bank and its reviews, streaks, leagues and games.
A little AI every day
Every account gets up to $0.05 of AI a day from the Global pool, which other learners fund. The pool holds $0.00 right now and has paid for 0 learner-days this month. When it is empty, the free allowance pauses until someone tops it up.
Paid as you use it
What things typically cost
| Feature | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| A minute of live speaking with the examiner | $0.033 per minute |
| Marking an essay | $0.006 per essay |
| Judging your rewrites | — |
| Explaining a highlighted passage | — |
| A tutor explanation in a review | — |
| Transcribing a recorded answer | $0.004 per answer |
| The report on a recorded answer | $0.005 per answer |
| Live notes during a speaking test | — |
| Judging a Forge sentence | — |
| A tutor answer on the Grammar or Collocations map | — |
| Turning your file into a test | $0.005 per file |
Averages over the last 30 days. You are charged the exact cost of each use, and your Banking page lists every charge.
How you pay
Buy credit from $5 upwards: for yourself, as a gift to another learner by their username, or for the Global pool. Paddle’s fee and any sales tax come out first, and every cent that reaches us becomes credit. Credit does not expire.
Things worth knowing before you pay
Who takes the money
Orders are fulfilled by Paddle.com Market Ltd, which acts as the merchant of record and handles all order-related enquiries and returns. Charges appear on your statement as PADDLE.NET*, not as IELSPEAK — worth remembering before you report it as fraud.
Fourteen days, no questions
A full refund of unused credit within fourteen days of a purchase, without explaining yourself. The whole policy is on the refunds page and it is one screen long.
If you run out
We stop, and tell you. A speaking session is reserved at its maximum length before it starts and charged at its real cost when it ends, so it can never run past what you have. Everything free stays free with an empty balance.
Fair use
We rate-limit usage that is implausible for one person — the numbers are written down in section 7 of the Terms rather than left to our discretion. If you are a real person who hit one, write to us and we will lift it.
Open source
IELSPEAK’s code is published under the GNU Affero General Public License, so you can read exactly how every charge is calculated.
Band estimates produced by IELSPEAK are generated by automated systems for practice purposes only. They are not official IELTS scores, are not endorsed by or affiliated with the IELTS partners, and do not predict or guarantee performance on any official test.