Reservation is one-time. The recurring Operator Plan begins only when your dashboard is ready. Higher ranks stack more credits, more businesses, lower platform fees, and a bonus on credit top-ups.
Either way, you pay today and the operating clock starts at activation.
The standard reservation product.
More credits, a domain allowance, priority queue.
.comWhy pay before activation? Reservation removes the brand pack from public inventory and funds the prep work. The 30-day operating period only starts when you actually take the seat. Refundable before activation if you change your mind, except for any hard costs already approved (e.g. a registered domain). Full refund policy →
After your first 30-day period, the Operator Plan keeps the business operational. The Launch Pass activates the Starter rank for the first month; you can upgrade to Business or Portfolio later from the treasury.
One business. The full credit loop.
First month included with the $49 Launch Pass. Renews after activation + 30 days, paid from earned credits or saved card.
Start the loop →Up to 3 businesses. +10% on credit purchases.
Reserve additional cabinets with separate $49 Launch Passes; each leaves public inventory the moment you reserve.
Run a portfolio →Unlimited businesses. +15% on credit purchases.
Lower minimum withdrawal on cashout. Account-level treasury across every business slot.
Scale the empire →A brand-new SaaS business, built for your audience and dropped into the arcade as your own cabinet — instead of picking from the existing catalogue.
1-week discovery, 1–4 week build, then you're in the seat. You own all the IP from day one — keep operating from your CEO Arcade dashboard.
1 credit ≈ $0.10 of platform value. Every action is quoted before it ships, and unused reserved credits return to your treasury after settlement. Stack power-ups; compound the loop.
Buy credits any time. Bigger packs include a slight bonus. Bonuses on top-ups stack with the +10% / +15% on Business and Portfolio tiers.
$10
95 credits
Simple top-up. No bonus.
$25
250 credits
Slight bonus.
$50
525 credits
Larger bonus.
$100
1,100 credits
Bigger bonus. Most-picked top-up.
$250+
Custom bonus
For multi-business operators.
Purchased credits are non-withdrawable — they're operating fuel, not stored cash. Cashout uses earned credits only. See the cashout policy →
Some actions cost CEO Arcade real cash the moment they happen. We don't let monthly credits cover those, because that breaks the loop.
| Action | Monthly credits | Purchased credits | Earned credits | Cash / card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal AI advice | Free | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Copy / branding / logo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Feature work | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bug fix from platform fault | Free | Free | Free | N/A |
| Domain registration | Allowance only | Yes | Yes | Optional |
| Paid ads / partner services | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scale Pack (infra) | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly Operator Plan renewal | No | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Cashout (withdraw to bank) | No | No | Yes | N/A |
Why monthly credits can't pay the renewal that grants them: that would make the loop circular. Renewal is paid from earned credits or your saved card, then new monthly credits are granted. See the credit economy →
Operating rights work a little like domain registration: there's a grace period, then a suspension, then a reclaim window before the cabinet returns to inventory.
Business is operating normally.
Day 30 (or activation + 30). Paid from earned credits, then card.
7 days. App stays live; treasury shows a warning.
Day 37. Dashboard limited; public app may be paused or in safe mode.
30–60 days. Restore by paying overdue + a reclaim fee.
Cabinet returns to inventory or the secondary market.
During the grace and reclaim windows, the brand pack stays out of the public catalog so a competitor can't grab your name while you're sorting payment.
Credits earned from your app's revenue are different from the credits you bought or were given. Only earned credits become cash.
| Credit class | Source | Spendable | Withdrawable | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $49 subscription | Yes | No | Rolls over up to 1,000 |
| Purchased | Top-up packs | Yes | No | Long expiry |
| Earned | App revenue, after fees & reserves | Yes | Yes | No expiry |
| Promo | Coupons, launch grants | Yes | No | Yes |
Spend order by default: promo → monthly → purchased → earned. That protects your withdrawable balance and uses the free monthly fuel first. Read the full economy →
Reservation is the strongest signal that this brand pack should leave the public inventory and go into the prep queue. We charge today so the cabinet is genuinely yours, but we don't start the 30-day operating clock until you actually take the seat. So if you reserve on May 1 and the dashboard is ready on May 4, your operating period runs May 4 to June 3.
Refundable, except for any hard costs you've explicitly approved (e.g. a registered domain). The launch pass itself comes back. After activation the launch pass is non-refundable, but support credits may be granted for service failures. Full refund policy →
No, by design. If monthly credits could pay the renewal that grants those monthly credits, the loop becomes circular and a dormant account could keep renewing itself forever. Renewal is paid from earned credits or your saved card. New monthly credits are granted after the renewal succeeds.
Because the same platform ships several different kinds of work — features, domains, infrastructure, branding — and a single unit of account makes the whole loop legible. Quotes, reserves, settlements, and revenue all live on one ledger.
It's the implied platform value of a credit, calibrated against the $49 subscription that includes 500 credits. It is not a redemption guarantee — only earned credits are withdrawable as cash, at face value.
It's fairer to take our 30% after payment processing fees and tax pass-throughs, not on top of them. Your earned-credit balance reflects what you actually keep before reserves.
If you top up credits beyond your monthly inclusion, the Business Operator tier adds 10% to every purchase, and the Portfolio Operator tier adds 15%. So a $100 top-up that gives 1,000 credits at Starter gives 1,100 at Business and 1,150 at Portfolio. The bonus only applies to purchased credits — monthly inclusions and earned credits aren't affected.
Yes — capped at 1,000 monthly credits at the Starter tier, with higher caps at Business and Portfolio. They don't accumulate forever, because that creates a liability on our side and lets dormant accounts crush margins later.
No. Only earned credits — those generated from your app's revenue, after fees and reserves — can be withdrawn as cash. This keeps the credit system from becoming a money-transmission product.
The Starter tier is the right place to be: $49/mo gets you 500 credits, the catalogue, and the advisors. There's no platform fee to pay until there's revenue to share.
When the catalogue doesn't already cover your niche and your audience needs a product that isn't there yet. Custom builds start at $5,000 and run on a 1-week discovery + 1–4 week build cycle, then you're in the seat. You own all the IP outright from day one — code, brand, domain, customers — and can keep operating from your CEO Arcade dashboard if you want.
Two paths. Custom Business Builds ship with full IP ownership from day one — no separate buyout step. Catalogue cabinets can be converted via the buyout pathway into a direct PermaShip engagement with code, asset, and customer handoff; default terms are 12× MRR.
Same engine, different brand, niche, customer, and feature trajectory. Operator decisions diverge from week one — two operators on the same starter end up with two different products inside a year.
Take the matcher to find the right cabinet, or jump straight into the catalogue. Either way, the recurring Operator Plan only kicks in when you actually take the seat.