Subscribe vs one-time purchase — what's the difference?
Updated 2026-08-15
Question
The pricing page has Subscribe and One Time tabs. Which should I pick?
The pricing page offers two ways to get Premium:
- Subscribe — monthly or yearly, billed automatically by Stripe until you cancel. Cancel anytime; your Premium stays active until the end of the paid period.
- One Time — a single lifetime payment. No renewal, no cancellation, Premium forever. This is the Founding Member offer and includes extra credits.
Which should you pick?
- Visiting China once this year? A monthly subscription is the lightest option.
- Planning repeatedly, or you simply hate managing subscriptions? One Time pays for itself and locks in the founding-member terms.
How your current plan shows on the page:
- Recurring subscriber → your billing column reads Subscribed.
- One-time buyer → in One Time mode the column reads Subscribed (in Subscribe mode it reads Your Plan).
- Free account → the Free column reads Your Plan, and the other columns show upgrade buttons.
Note: One-time purchases never auto-charge. If you see an unexpected charge, see I paid but Premium features aren't unlocked or contact us — most cases are a second Stripe attempt, refundable.