Question 1

What’s the Founding 100 offer?

Accepted Answer

The first 100 churches to join PealCast get 50% off their plan for their first year (the founding rate shown, with the standard rate struck through). After that first year your price rolls to the standard rate — but it’s locked at today’s rate for the life of your account, so you’re protected from any future price increases as long as you stay with us. Once 100 founding churches are in, new churches pay the standard rate.

Question 2

What counts as a “watcher”?

Accepted Answer

Under the hood we bill by the total minutes of video delivered (streamed) to your viewers’ devices each month, pooled across your whole church. To keep plans easy to understand, we describe that as “watchers” — one watcher is based on an 80-minute average view across four services a month (roughly 320 minutes a month). Each plan lists roughly how many watchers it covers (see the plans above) — those counts assume a 90-minute service, so if yours regularly runs much longer, expect proportionally fewer. Your notification list is always unlimited — you only pay for actual streaming, and if you go past your plan’s minutes, extra viewing is billed in simple flat blocks (how that works is just below).

Question 3

Do you bill by minutes watched or minutes streamed?

Accepted Answer

By minutes streamed (delivered) — the minutes of video actually sent to your viewers’ devices, pooled across your whole church. You’re only ever billed for video your church truly sent to real people — never for a thumbnail impression, a click that never played, or a name sitting on your notification list. In everyday use “streamed” and “watched” are nearly identical, with one honest difference: if someone opens the watch page and the video loads but they step away, those already-sent minutes still count — because the video reached their device. We also measure true watch time for every viewer, so your dashboard always shows both numbers side by side: minutes delivered (what’s billed) and minutes watched.

Question 4

Is our notification list really unlimited?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Notify as many people as you like on every plan — email, plus text and Church Center push through Planning Center. Reaching people is the point, and it costs us almost nothing, so we don’t cap it.

Question 5

What is a channel?

Accepted Answer

A channel is a recurring program your church streams — like your Sunday Service, a midweek Bible study, a youth service, or a Spanish-language service. Each channel has its own RTMP/SRT connection, its own go-live notifications and subscribers, its own watch page, its own recordings, and its own Shepherd’s Report. Most churches need just one. Every plan includes at least one and larger plans include more, so you can run separate services or congregations side by side. There is a full explanation — including how to tell how many you need — on the “What is a channel?” page.

Question 6

What’s the “pooled viewing”?

Accepted Answer

Each plan includes a shared pool of streaming minutes, pooled across your whole church, so quiet weeks cover busy ones. Your minutes reset on the 1st of every month. If you go over, extra viewing is billed in flat $25 blocks, rounded up — and higher plans include more minutes per block ($25 per 250 / 500 / 750 / 1,000 minutes on Small / Medium / Large / Multi-Campus), so the more you stream the cheaper each extra minute gets. That same $25 block can also extend your recording archive. Each tier’s included minutes and block size are listed on the plans above.

Question 7

What happens if we go over — do we have to buy anything?

Accepted Answer

No. There’s nothing to buy, nothing to approve, and nothing gets cut off mid-service. If you go past your included viewing minutes or recording archive in a month, the extra is added automatically as flat $25 blocks on your next monthly invoice, covering the month that just finished. Every bill on the 1st is simply your plan for the month ahead plus any extra from the month behind — one charge, itemized, and you’ll see exactly how many blocks and why.

Question 8

Do unused minutes roll over?

Accepted Answer

No — minutes reset at the end of every month and start fresh on the 1st. That’s true for both your plan’s included viewing minutes and any extra (overage) minutes beyond them; nothing rolls over to the next month.

Question 9

How does billing work?

Accepted Answer

Month-to-month or annual (2 months free) — no long-term contract, and no setup or onboarding fee. We’ll still get on a call to configure your first stream, connect your Planning Center and train your team — that’s just part of joining. Payments are processed securely, and you can change plans or cancel anytime.

Question 10

Is there a setup or onboarding fee?

Accepted Answer

No. Nothing to pay to start, nothing to pay to upgrade, downgrade or cancel. You still get a live call where we configure your first stream, connect your Planning Center and train your whole team — from going live to capturing viewers to working the Shepherd’s Report. Want it fully done for you? Optional Concierge Onboarding is available.

Question 11

How do we start, and what does it cost to try?

Accepted Answer

Nothing, and you don’t need a card. Every church starts with 30 days of everything — full Medium-plan access — so you have four or five Sundays to point your stream at us, connect Planning Center and watch the Shepherd’s Report fill up with real people. On day 31 you either choose a plan or drop to our free tier. You are never locked out and nothing of yours is deleted. Want us to set it up for you? Optional Concierge Onboarding is available.

Question 12

What happens after the first 30 days?

Accepted Answer

One of two things, and neither is a lock-out. Choose a plan and everything carries on as it is. Do nothing and you move to our free tier: you keep your member logins, who watched and for how long, absence reports, Planning Center sync, your toll-free number and unlimited notifications — forever. What gets smaller is the metered part: about 3 watchers, two weeks of recording archive and one channel. Most churches upgrade the first time someone asks for a sermon from last month.

Question 13

How long do you keep our recordings?

Accepted Answer

For as long as you want them. We never delete a recording — there’s no expiry date and nothing disappears on a timer. Your plan includes an amount of recording archive each month (2,400 minutes on Small, 4,800 on Medium, 9,600 on Large, 24,000 on Multi-Campus), counted just like your viewing minutes. Recordings are kept rather than used up, so whatever you still have counts again the next month, and anything past your included amount is billed in the same flat $25 blocks as extra viewing. When you want space back, you delete services yourself, one at a time, from your archive — nobody removes a sermon on your behalf.

Question 14

What do we do with our existing video archive (YouTube, Facebook, etc.)?

Accepted Answer

Leave it right where it is — nothing to move or delete. Your old library keeps working as a back-catalog. Just add a short note to those videos (and your channel or page) pointing people to your new live-stream home — something like “We now go live at [your PealCast link].” Going forward, your live services simply have a new, single destination where every viewer is captured and followed up.

Question 15

How will our people know where to watch the new live stream?

Accepted Answer

Put your PealCast link everywhere you already send people to watch — your website, social bios, the bulletin, an email, a pinned post, and in the description of your old videos (wherever your old live stream used to be). Then grow your notified audience the warm way: as you talk with people in person, get them subscribed so they start receiving an email, a text or a Church Center push the moment you go live. Between the links and word-of-mouth, your congregation quickly learns the new home, and every service adds more people to the list.

Question 16

Do we need new hardware?

Accepted Answer

No new camera or hardware. Reuse or replace whatever you use today — OBS, a hardware encoder, BoxCast, Resi, or Restream: just point its existing RTMP or SRT feed at PealCast and we host it. We become your streaming home — the single, secure destination that gets your whole live stream — not an add-on to YouTube or Facebook. (More on why one destination matters, and how to connect yours, on the Your streaming home page.)

Question 17

Can we cancel anytime, or are we locked in?

Accepted Answer

You’re never locked in. Every plan is month-to-month (or annual if you choose) with no long-term contract — cancel anytime from your account, and you won’t be billed again. There’s nothing to pay to downgrade or cancel, and your first 30 days need no card at all.

Question 18

What happens to our people and data if we leave?

Accepted Answer

They’re yours. The verified contacts and watch history you gather live in your own list and are written back to Planning Center as you go, so your records stay with you even if you cancel. You can export your data on the way out — we don’t hold your congregation hostage.

Feature	Small	MediumMost popular	Large	Multi-Campus
Everything in Core (above)
Watchers based on a 90-minute service	~12	~25	~125	~375
Viewing Minutes	4,000 min	8,000 min	40,000 min	120,000 min
Archive Minutes	2,400 min	4,800 min	9,600 min	24,000 min
Additional minutes or archive	$25 / 250	$25 / 500	$25 / 750	$25 / 1,000
Channels	2	3	4	8
Notifications	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Connect PealCast to your own tools & AI (developer API + MCP)
Support	Email only	Email + phone (call + text)	Email + phone (call + text) + dedicated rep	Email + phone (call + text) + dedicated rep

Pay for who watches.
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Large

Multi-Campus

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Pay for who watches. Notify everyone, always.