Manage your subscription and buy Creative Units

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Change your workspace's monthly Creative Units (CUs), and pay for added units or a one-time pack without leaving Layer.

Before you start

  • You need a role with billing access. If Workspace Settings is missing from the workspace menu, or the buttons on Billing do nothing for you, ask a workspace admin.

  • Prices, plan sizes and what each pack includes are on the pricing page.

  • Enterprise plans are invoiced, not self-serve: a page that says You are on a custom Enterprise Plan has Contact Sales to change your allowance or buy more units.

  • Payments are processed by Stripe inside Layer. With a card on file, a purchase is one confirmation: the card, the tax and the total, then Pay. Without one, Stripe's card form opens in a window over the page. Either way the card you pay with is kept for your next purchase.

Steps

  1. Click your workspace name at the bottom of the sidebar, choose Workspace Settings, then Plan & Billing, and select Manage Subscription. If your workspace has no subscription yet, the button reads Subscribe Now and the page that opens is Start a New Subscription.

  2. In Plan Builder, use + and - to set the Creative Units your workspace gets each month. Review and Pay shows Due today and the Next payment; choose Monthly or Yearly under Billing cycle.

  3. To use the added units straight away, switch on Top up ... CU now. Top-up CUs don't expire when your plan renews. Leave it off and nothing is charged today; the new amount applies from your next payment.

  4. Select Update Subscription. With the top-up on, a payment window shows the card it is charged to, the tax and the total due today. For a new subscription the button is Subscribe, and the window shows the first month or year.

  5. Select Pay. The new allowance is your plan, and the added units arrive on Usage a moment later.

  6. For units outside your plan, open Plan & Billing again and select Buy Creative Units to see the one-time packs.

  7. Select Purchase on a pack, check the card, tax and total, and select Pay. Payment received confirms it, and the units are added to the workspace balance.

Result

A subscription change keeps your billing date. Units you pay for today, a top-up or a one-time pack, are added to the workspace balance as soon as the payment goes through, and Available Creative Units on Usage shows the new balance. One-time packs and top-ups don't renew, and their units don't expire when your plan renews. Every payment appears under View invoices on Billing.

Paying without a card on file

The first time your workspace buys, or when you select Use another card, Stripe's checkout opens in a window over the page: enter the card, your billing address and any promo code, tick the Terms of Service box and pay. You stay in Layer the whole time, and the card is kept, so your next purchase is a single confirmation.

Production tips

  • Size the plan from real spend. Check what your workspace has spent over the last few months, grouped by model, and set the monthly allowance to your steady-state production rather than your busiest week. Cover peaks with a one-time pack.

  • Top up before a content drop, not during it. If a live-ops event or a trailer will spend more than the month's allowance, raise the plan with the top-up switched on, or buy a pack, a few days ahead so nobody's generation stops mid-session.

  • Let auto-reload cover the gaps. The Auto-reload card on Billing tops the balance up with the same saved card whenever it runs low, so a long batch or an agent run never pauses. Select Turn on to choose when it tops up, how much it buys and a monthly limit.

  • Use a promo code before you pay. Enter it under Have a promo code? on One-Time Purchases, or in Review and Pay when you start a subscription or pay for a top-up. The total in the payment window already includes it.

  • Pay with the company card. Select Use another card in the payment window to pay with a different card; it becomes the card your next purchase uses. To change the card your subscription renews on, select Update Payment Method on Billing, or Update Billing Information on Manage Subscription.

  • Get receipts for finance. View invoices on Billing lists every payment and subscription charge, ready to download. Edit billing details sets the name, address and tax IDs printed on them; set them before the purchase finance needs the receipt for.

  • Give each team its own budget. Cap a team's monthly spend with a group usage limit instead of buying a separate plan.

  • Cancel cleanly. Cancel subscription on Manage Subscription asks you to confirm. The plan runs to the end of the period you paid for, and Current Plan shows the date it cancels on.

If something goes wrong

  • Your bank asks you to confirm the payment. Your bank's check opens over the page. Complete it to finish paying; if you close it, nothing is charged and you can try again.

  • The card was declined. The payment window says why. Select Pay again once the card is sorted, or Use another card.

  • Review and Pay says the top-up wasn't paid. The plan change went through but the top-up payment did not. Select Pay top-up to pay for the added units without changing the plan again.

  • Yearly or Update Subscription is greyed out. Annual billing needs a larger monthly allowance: hover over Yearly to see the minimum, or raise the units in Plan Builder. Update Subscription stays greyed out while the units and billing cycle match your current plan; change one of them first.

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