What counts as a “paying subscriber”?

Only subscribers with an active token on a paid tier count toward your plan’s paying subscriber limit. Free-tier listeners — subscribers on a free membership level — do not count toward this limit. Subscribers in a free trial period count — they’re on a paid tier with an active token and a scheduled first payment.

Each plan also has a total subscriber cap covering all active tokens, paying and free combined (Free: 250, Starter: 500, Growth: 2,500, Pro and above: unlimited). Free-tier subscribers count toward this secondary cap but not the primary paying limit. The total cap exists to keep free-tier usage proportionate to the plan — a podcaster with hundreds of free marketing-list subscribers and a handful of paying ones is getting real value and should be on an appropriate plan.

Churned subscribers are removed from both counts immediately on cancellation. Both counts are based on currently active tokens, not your historical high watermark.