How credits work

Last updated: October 14, 2026

ScoreStarling has one credits wallet. Scores, band transcriptions, Starling Refine and Starling chat all use it. Every piece starts with a free 30-second preview, so you can check it before you pay. The same rules apply in the workspace, in ChatGPT and in Claude.

What uses credits

A score from a recording of one instrument or voice, from solo piano, or from a PDF or photo of sheet music uses 10 credits a piece. 1 credit is about 1 US cent.

A band recording, with every instrument written out on its own staff, uses 30 credits for each minute of audio, rounded up to the next 10 seconds: a two-minute song uses 60 credits, three and a half minutes use 105 and six minutes use 180. Our partner Mirelo transcribes it.

Starling Refine, which you switch on when you upload, has Starling proofread the finished transcription. It uses 20 credits for a piece up to two minutes, 25 up to four minutes and 30 for a longer one, the transcription included.

Opening your own MusicXML, MIDI, Guitar Pro or ABC file is free.

The free 30-second preview

Every piece starts with a free preview of its first 30 seconds. A recording or sheet music is transcribed in full, and you see the first 30 seconds; pay 10 credits to see the whole piece, with nothing to transcribe again. A band or Starling Refine makes only the first 30 seconds, then shows the price for the whole piece.

An account can start about 10 free previews a day, at most 3 of them band or Starling Refine. Previews can’t be downloaded. Without an account you can try the 30-second preview only; a band, Starling Refine and Starling need an account.

Starling chat

Starling, on its own page and beside an open score, uses credits by how much each reply does: about 1–5 credits, never more than 10. A short answer uses 1 or 2; rewriting a long passage uses more. When Starling starts a transcription, a band or a refine for you, it asks first and that uses its own price.

Nothing is spent without your consent

Before a piece is paid for, ScoreStarling shows the price: the exact credits and how much of the recording it covers. In the workspace you confirm it yourself; in ChatGPT or Claude the assistant shows you the same price and asks before it confirms. Confirming reserves those credits, and a finished task uses exactly that amount. A price is valid for ten minutes, and if our rates change you are asked again.

How long a piece can be

Up to six minutes, for every account and plan. A longer recording is transcribed from its start up to that limit, and the price says so before you confirm.

Downloads

Downloads follow your account. A free account downloads PDFs, page images, MP3 and WAV, and its PDFs and page images carry a small footer line, “Made with ScoreStarling”. With Plus, or once you have bought a credit pack, every format downloads, MusicXML (and its compressed MXL), MIDI, Guitar Pro, ABC and MEI included, without the footer line.

A score you opened from your own file always downloads in its original format. Every PDF has page numbers. Scores made before these rules keep what they had.

Where credits come from and when they expire

Every account receives 100 free credits every month, 50 a month from 2027, on its first visit that month. They expire at the end of the month, counted in China Standard Time (UTC+8), and do not add up; an account with Plus receives its Plus credits instead. A limited number of new accounts are given their first monthly credits each day, so a new account may receive them on a later visit.

When a friend joins with your invitation link and finishes a first transcription of a recording, you both receive 100 credits, valid for 30 days; up to five friends earn rewards for you. A beta code gives 300 credits, valid for 30 days, and each account can use one. Plus credits are added for each month of Plus and expire at the end of that month; they do not roll over. Credits you bought expire 90 days after purchase. Credits are bought only on the ScoreStarling website. In ChatGPT and Claude, ScoreStarling uses the credits you already have and can redeem an invitation or beta code you give it; nothing is sold there.

When a task spends credits, the credits of a Plus subscription go first, then the credits that expire soonest.

A free account can run one transcription at a time, an account with Plus five. Scores from an account with Plus, or one that bought a credit pack in the last 90 days, go first in the transcription queue. Free scores still run after them, and one that has waited ten minutes joins them in order of arrival.

When credits come back

A transcription or Starling Refine that fails, finds no notes, or stops because of a problem on our side returns its credits automatically, to the same allowance with its original expiry. If the result is uncertain because a band transcription may have finished, the credits stay reserved until it is checked; contact support rather than trying again. Transcribing the same recording again is a new task with its own price.

What never uses credits

Editing notes and rhythm, undo and redo, saved versions, re-engraving, listening, downloads, downloading a file again, opening your own score file, notation text, the 30-second previews and instrument suggestions.

Refunds and disputes

If a payment is refunded, its credits are removed; while a payment is disputed, its credits are on hold, and they return if the dispute is resolved without a chargeback. If credits from that payment were already spent, paid features pause until the account is reviewed; everything free keeps working. Questions about credits or payments: visit the help center.