Moderaty
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Quick answer

Moderaty is source-available under PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 and free to self-host. Bring your own OpenAI key for the AI scoring. Hosted costs $5 a month for 100 AI-scored comments, auto-renewed, with top-ups from 5¢ a comment when you run out. The first 1,000 users can instead pay $49 once for lifetime hosting — scoring on your own OpenAI key.

Protection, priced like a utility.

The software is free. The AI might as well be. What you can buy is not having to run it.

Three ways to use Moderaty.

Free forever

Self-hosted

$0 forever

Best for: creators who have a server, a Raspberry Pi, or opinions about Docker.

The whole product, source-available under PolyForm Shield 1.0.0. Bring your own OpenAI key for the AI scoring. On your hardware the running cost is near zero.
  • Full rules engine: KEYWORD, REGEX, and USER rules fire before the AI
  • 13-category AI scoring with your thresholds
  • Feedback digest: recurring questions, criticism, corrections, and requests, grouped
  • Review queue for the borderline, with team roles for whoever helps
  • Audit log: held and rejected comments can be restored. Deletions are permanent; author bans cannot be lifted in Moderaty
  • 1 free dry run per feature per channel
Self-host on GitHub
First 1000 users

Lifetime

$49 once, forever

Best for: early believers.

Hosted forever for one payment. Unlimited comments, no meter — AI scoring runs on your own OpenAI API key, which you provide after purchase.
  • Everything in hosted, minus the monthly bill
  • We run it, patch it, and keep it awake, forever
  • AI scoring runs on your own OpenAI API key (Terms §6.1(c))
  • Unlimited moderated comments, no meter
  • Capped at the first 1,000 users, then it is gone
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Full refund within 7 days of purchase (CDC Art. 49).

Renews monthly

Hosted

$5 a month, 100 comments

Best for: creators who want the hammer without the homework.

Same engine, our servers. 100 AI-scored comments every month, renewed automatically and shared with an enabled feedback digest. Run out and top up — a nickel a comment to start, less at volume.
  • Everything in self-hosted
  • We run it, patch it, and keep it awake
  • One-click YouTube OAuth
  • 100 comments a month; top up with comment bundles when you run out, up to 35% off
  • Automatic top-up is opt-in, off by default
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Full refund within 7 days of purchase (CDC Art. 49).

Bigger than that? Custom amounts — contact us for pricing.

Estimate your hosted month

The hosted subscription renews at $5 a month, even with no AI classifications. You get 100 credits shared by AI moderation scoring and feedback digests. One moderation score uses one credit; a digest classification uses another.

Count AI scoring work, including requested history rescans, rather than raw YouTube comment volume. Rule and protected-handle moderation decisions use no credit; digest classification of those comments still uses one. Retries of the same scan do not add another charge.

math.txt
monthly subscription $5, including zero usage
shared allowance 100 AI classifications
top-up bundles 500 / 2,000 credits: $20.40 / $64.65
$5/mo renews. automatic top-up is opt-in.

Assumes zero purchased credits and the full unused 100-credit allowance for a paid month. Assumes both published bundles are available. Shows the cheapest manual bundle combination covering your usage. Purchased leftovers stay on your balance, so later purchases can be lower. Automatic top-up depends on your chosen bundle and threshold; this is an estimate, not a bill.

Calculate your month

Enter moderation scores and digest classifications separately.

Use 0 with digests off. Otherwise enter the number you expect to classify; cadence, backlog and requested history scans affect it. Digest counts can exceed moderation scores.

Forecast a range

Enter total AI classifications (moderation + digests) for each month.

Independent monthly zero-balance scenarios; this range does not carry purchased leftovers between months.

This calculator covers the recurring hosted plan. The lifetime plan is $49 once with BYOK; self-hosting has no Moderaty subscription. Your OpenAI charges are separate and outside this estimate, as are self-hosting infrastructure costs.

Why is the free tier the full product?

Because the usual incentive rots products. Most moderation tools paywall safety and monetize anxiety: the worse your comment section gets, the more you need the expensive plan.

We sell moderated comments the way a utility sells water, metered and boring. The free tier is the whole product because protection is the product. The hosted tiers exist for people who would rather not run a server, not for people who ran out of safety.

The day Moderaty profits from your anxiety, you should uninstall it.

Pricing questions, answered.

Is there a subscription?

Yes: the hosted plan renews at $5 a month, even when you process no AI classifications. Its 100 AI classifications cover moderation scoring and enabled feedback digests together. Automatic top-up is opt-in and off by default; it charges your saved card for your selected bundle when your balance drops below your chosen threshold.

What is the $49 lifetime deal?

First 1,000 users only: one $49 payment, hosted forever, unlimited moderated comments. AI scoring under this plan runs on your own OpenAI API key, which you provide and keep valid. When the 1,000 are gone, the deal is gone.

What does BYOK mean?

Bring your own key. Self-hosted Moderaty uses the OpenAI key configured on your infrastructure, so we never see it. The lifetime plan also scores on your OpenAI API key, so the AI cost is yours at OpenAI prices instead of ours; hosted keys are stored encrypted, and the service processes them to validate the key and score comments.

Why is self-hosting free?

Moderaty is source-available under PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 and free to self-host under its terms. On your hardware, with your key, there is nothing of ours to meter. We would rather you be protected for free than profitable for us.

What happens when my 100 AI classifications run out?

Buy 500 credits for $20.40 or 2,000 for $64.65. One credit covers one AI moderation score; one more covers a digest classification of that comment. Rule and protected-handle moderation decisions use no credit, but digest classifications of those comments do. Requested history scans can charge again; retries of the same scan do not. With the full 100-credit allowance and zero purchased balance, 100 moderation scores plus 100 digest classifications need one 500-credit bundle: $25.40 including the subscription, with 400 purchased credits left. Those leftovers stay on your balance. The Usage tab shows your actual balance; automatic top-up uses your selected bundle and threshold.

Can I pay in Brazilian reais?

Yes. Comment bundles are also sold through Mercado Pago in reais, and the bundle lands on your balance once the payment confirms. The $5 subscription and automatic top-up run on your saved card through Stripe.

Which one should I pick?

If you have a server, self-host: it is free and it is everything. If you are early and have an OpenAI key, the $49 lifetime is the best deal we will ever make. Otherwise $5 a month, and if your volume dwarfs that, contact us for custom pricing. Same hammer either way.

Can I get a refund?

Yes, within 7 days of any charge. Brazilian consumer law (CDC Art. 49) gives you 7 days from purchase for a full refund of everything you paid, no deductions, no questions asked, through any contact channel.

Protect your comment section.

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Google asks for standard YouTube access. Moderaty uses it for channel setup, comment moderation, and video titles and descriptions for context. Source-available under PolyForm Shield, free to self-host.