Monthly subscription or pay-as-you-go: which costs a small academy less?
A worked comparison at 30, 200 and 1,000 learners, and a simple way to check which pricing suits your academy.
Last updated 16 October 2026
Most course platforms charge a monthly subscription: a fixed fee every month, often in tiers by number of students or features, whether anyone studies that month or not. Pay-as-you-go platforms such as Paatya charge for what is used — the students who actually study, and the video they store and watch — from a prepaid balance.
Which costs less depends on one thing: how steady your usage is.
What pay-as-you-go costs on Paatya
As of October 2026 there are three charges, and nothing else:
| What | Rate |
|---|---|
| A student active in a month | ₹25, once per month |
| Video stored | ₹5 per GB per month |
| Video streamed | ₹20 per GB |
No setup fee, and no charge for courses, registered students or admins. The pricing page always shows the live rates.
Three example academies
| Academy | Active learners | Video stored | Video streamed | Cost that month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo trainer | 30 | 5 GB | 40 GB | about ₹1,575 |
| Coaching institute | 200 | 40 GB | 300 GB | about ₹11,200 |
| Growing academy | 1,000 | 150 GB | 1,500 GB | about ₹55,750 |
A month with no classes — a holiday, the gap between batches — costs only the storage: ₹25 for the solo trainer above.
When a subscription is cheaper
A subscription can work out cheaper when you have many students studying heavily every single month and your plan's limits fit you well. Compare the two by taking a typical month:
- Write down how many students study in that month, how much video you keep, and roughly how much they watch.
- Work out the pay-as-you-go cost with the rates above or the calculator.
- Compare it with the subscription tier you would actually need — including GST, any per-student charges above the tier's limit, and payment-gateway fees.
- Do the same for your quietest month. A subscription charges the same in both; pay-as-you-go does not.
When pay-as-you-go is cheaper
- You are starting out, with tens of students rather than hundreds.
- Your batches are seasonal: exam months, summer courses, weekend workshops.
- Many registered students are inactive most months — alumni, or students between courses. On Paatya they cost nothing until they log in.
Try it
Your academy is live at ₹0: sign up, set it up and look around before you recharge. Your first recharge, from ₹1,000, earns 20% extra credit — ₹1,000 becomes ₹1,200.