You can schedule check-ins with free credits, with Kautio Full Access, or with Kautio Pro. Every plan runs the same check-in; a plan changes how many check-ins you can schedule and whether they can overlap. Subscriptions are sold and billed by the Apple App Store or Google Play. Your contacts never need a plan.

Kautio costs nothing to start: every account gets 3 free credits. After that, scheduling check-ins needs a Kautio Full Access or Kautio Pro subscription, paid monthly or yearly.

The Plans screen in the app lists each plan's benefits:

The Kautio Plans screen shows the price the App Store or Google Play charges in your country, in your currency (for example, Canadian dollars in Canada). Kautio's US dollar prices are list prices. The price on the store's confirmation sheet is the price you pay.

The Pay monthly / Pay yearly toggle at the top of the Kautio Plans screen sets the billing period shown on both plan cards, and the period you buy when you tap Subscribe or Subscribe to Kautio Pro. To change the period of a plan you already have, see Managing your subscription › Switching between monthly and yearly.

A Kautio subscription renews automatically at the same price and for the same period unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Payment is charged to your Apple Account or Google Play account when you confirm the purchase. The renewal charge is applied within the 24 hours before the period ends. To stop renewal, see Managing your subscription › How do I cancel my subscription?

Every Kautio plan, free credits included, runs the same check-in: the same "Send first check-in after" timing, the same grace window choices, the same tiers, the same texts to your contacts, the phone call option (Also call me), location sharing, and follow-up. A plan changes only how many check-ins you can schedule and whether they can overlap. It never changes what happens during a check-in or who is notified.

Your contacts never pay and never need a plan to be notified.

Kautio is not an emergency service. It contacts only the people you chose, and only when a timer you set isn't stopped.

Credits are how you schedule check-ins without a subscription. Each one-off check-in you schedule uses 1 credit.

Every new Kautio account starts with 3 free credits. The Credits & subscription screen shows them under Your membership › Credits, and the Transaction history on that screen lists them as Welcome credits (+3).

Kautio uses 1 credit when it accepts a new one-off check-in, at the moment you schedule it, not when the check-in starts. This applies to new and cloned check-ins.

Before you schedule, the new check-in screen states what will happen: "Scheduling uses 1 credit. You have N remaining.", or "Full Access active. No credit will be spent." / "Kautio Pro active. No credit will be spent." for subscribers.

No. A Kautio credit isn't returned if you cancel the check-in, dismiss it, or it ends without anyone being notified. The cancel dialog says so: "This will cancel the check-in. If it used a credit, the credit isn't refunded. This cannot be undone."

No. Kautio credits never expire; nothing time-based removes them. While you have credits, the Credits & subscription screen says "Credits never expire.", and the Plans screen says "Credits never expire. Subscribe to schedule check-ins whenever you need them."

Deleting your Kautio account forfeits any remaining credits (see Your account › How do I delete my account in the app?).

No. Kautio credits can't be bought. After your free credits are used, scheduling more check-ins needs a Kautio Full Access or Kautio Pro subscription.

No. While a Kautio subscription is active, scheduling a check-in uses no credit. Credits you already had stay in your account, and Kautio uses them again if the subscription ends. The Transaction history still lists each check-in as Check-in scheduled, with no number next to it. The Credits & subscription screen keeps showing your credits under Your membership, marked "Saved for later."

With no credits and no subscription, tapping New check-in shows "You're out of credits. See plans to keep scheduling check-ins." and opens the Plans screen. The credit badge at the top of the Check-ins tab turns red, and tapping it opens Plans directly.

Check-ins you already scheduled still run. Running out of credits only stops new check-ins from being scheduled.

Kautio Pro adds room and time-savers for back-to-back days. No Pro feature changes what happens during a check-in or who is notified: on any plan, you can schedule the same check-in by hand.

On Kautio Pro, several check-ins can be Active at the same time.

With free credits or Kautio Full Access, one check-in is Active at a time. A check-in that comes due while another is Active waits, and starts automatically when the first one ends. Kautio rechecks every 2 minutes and never drops a waiting check-in. You're told once, with the notification "[title] is waiting to start".

When you schedule a check-in that may overlap another one, the One at a time dialog explains this. Tap OK to keep it, or See Kautio Pro to open the Unlock with Pro screen. The check-in is scheduled either way.

Kautio checks your plan when the check-in starts, not when you scheduled it.

For more about overlapping check-ins, see More than one check-in.

Kautio limits how many check-ins you can schedule. Kautio Pro raises the limits; no plan removes them.

At a limit, scheduling stops with one of these messages, and no credit is used:

Contact Groups, a Kautio Pro feature, let you name a set of contacts and add them to a tier in one step. Open them from Contacts › Contact groups. See Managing your contacts › Contact Groups (Pro). If Kautio Pro ends, your groups are kept for when you subscribe again (see Managing your contacts › What happens to my Contact Groups if Pro ends?).

Presets, a Kautio Pro feature, save a check-in's contacts and timing so you can start new check-ins from them. Open them from Settings › Check-ins › Safety presets, or from the bookmark icon (Start from a preset) at the top of the Check-ins tab.

A preset keeps the tiers, the timings, follow-up, the Also call me setting, the location-sharing setting, and an optional title. It keeps no time, place, or photos. If Kautio Pro ends, your presets are kept for when you subscribe again. See Presets and repeating check-ins (Pro).

Recurring check-ins, a Kautio Pro feature, repeat a check-in daily, weekly, or monthly. Set one up with Repeat on the new check-in screen, and manage them from Settings › Check-ins › Recurring check-ins or the repeat icon (Recurring check-ins) at the top of the Check-ins tab.

What happens when Kautio Pro ends: see Managing your subscription › What happens to recurring check-ins when Kautio Pro ends? Setting one up: see Presets and repeating check-ins (Pro).

Without Kautio Pro, each of these opens the Unlock with Pro screen, which describes the feature and shows the Kautio Pro plan:

Kautio shows your credits and plan in the credit badge, on the Credits & subscription screen, and on the Plans screen.

The Kautio credit badge sits at the top of the Check-ins tab. It shows a coin icon with your credit count (amber with credits left, red at 0), or a star when you have a subscription. Tap it to open Credits & subscription; at 0 credits with no subscription it opens Plans.

The Kautio Credits & subscription screen opens from the credit badge or from Settings › Account › Credits & subscription.

The top of the screen, Your membership, shows your plan and then your credits.

Without a subscription, See plans opens the Plans screen. With Kautio Full Access, See Kautio Pro opens it. With Kautio Pro, the screen has no Plans link; to change or cancel your plan, use Manage subscription. Below the card, Transaction history lists credit and plan events. What Cancelled and Billing issue mean: see Managing your subscription › What happens after I cancel? and Managing your subscription › What happens when a payment doesn't go through?

The Transaction history on the Kautio Credits & subscription screen uses these labels:

The Kautio Plans screen opens from See plans (without a subscription) or See Kautio Pro (with Kautio Full Access) on Credits & subscription, from the credit badge at 0 credits, or when you're out of credits.

Opened from a Pro feature, the screen is titled Unlock with Pro, describes that feature, and shows only Kautio Pro. If you already have Kautio Pro, the regular Plans screen opens instead. To subscribe, see Managing your subscription › How do I subscribe?