Most “free vs paid” comparisons are quietly designed to push you to paid. This one isn’t. Plenty of people should stay on Vexlynk Free forever, and forcing an upgrade you don’t need is a bad way to earn trust. So here’s an honest, use-case-first guide to Vexlynk Free vs Plus — what actually separates them, and how to tell which one fits your situation right now.
The two numbers that matter
Ignore the feature grid for a second. The real difference comes down to two limits and one convenience:
- Sources: Free connects up to 5 data sources; Plus connects up to 12.
- AI turns: Free gives you 50 assistant turns a month; Plus gives you 250 a month. Usage resets at the start of each calendar month (UTC); here is what counts as a turn.
- Cloud sync: Plus adds syncing your board across devices; on the desktop app, Free keeps it local to one machine.
The board, the source cards and the assistant that reads them work the same on both. Plus also lifts some smaller limits: unlimited workspaces (Free has 1), unlimited Vlynks (Free has 3), 80 live research actions a month, 25 generated files instead of 5, 25 generated images, and Instagram analytics. Plus is more room and more convenience, not a different product.
Free vs Plus, line by line
Every row below comes from the pricing page (as of September 2026).
| Free | Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | See pricing |
| Workspaces | 1 | Unlimited |
| Connected sources | 5 | 12 |
| AI turns | 50 per month | 250 per month |
| Vlynks | 3 | Unlimited |
| Cloud sync | No | Yes |
| Live research | No | 80 actions per month |
| Generated files | 5 per month | 25 per month |
| Generated images | No | 25 per month |
| Social analytics | No | |
| Multi-step agent goals | No | No (Pro only) |
| Templates | All | All |
On Plus with your own key there’s no turn cap (Vexlynk doesn’t count BYOK turns), and generated files and images are unlimited, all billed to your key. Hitting a limit never removes anything: it stops the next workspace, source or Vlynk, and what you already have keeps working.
Links checked September 28, 2026.
The current plans, limits and prices are always on the pricing page.
Stay on Free if…
Free is genuinely enough for a lot of solo founders and creators. Pick Free if:
- You’re running three or four core sources. If Stripe, YouTube, and Google Analytics cover your whole picture, 5 slots is comfortable headroom.
- You check in a few times a week, not all day. Fifty turns goes a long way if your rhythm is a focused Monday review and the occasional mid-week question.
- You work from one computer. On the desktop app, local-first means your board lives on your machine. If you never need it on a second device, cloud sync isn’t a reason to pay.
- You’re still deciding if this fits your workflow. Free is the right way to find out. Don’t pay to evaluate.
If that’s you, use Free without guilt. You can always move up the day you actually hit a wall.
Upgrade to Plus if…
Plus earns its keep when the limits start shaping your behavior instead of the other way around. Go Plus if:
- You’re rationing your questions. The clearest signal to upgrade is catching yourself thinking “I’ll save my turns.” An assistant you hesitate to use isn’t doing its job. 250 turns removes that friction.
- Your business has outgrown five sources. Add a calendar, Notion, a second revenue stream, and a couple of analytics properties and you’re past 5 fast. 12 slots lets the assistant see the whole board instead of a slice.
- You work across a desktop and a laptop. Cloud sync keeps the same board with you, which is the practical reason most people cross over.
The pricing, plainly
Plus comes two ways: with hosted AI included, or for less if you bring your own API key (BYOK) and cover the model usage yourself (see current pricing). BYOK is the better deal if you already have an OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek or xAI (Grok) key and don’t mind managing it; hosted is simpler if you’d rather not think about keys at all. Same plan either way; on BYOK the AI usage, files and images are billed to your key instead of metered by Vexlynk.
Vexlynk’s BYOK guide is blunt about the trade-off: BYOK is cheaper if you use a lot of AI and more expensive if you use very little, because you pay a subscription plus usage. To estimate the usage side, check your provider’s API prices (for example Anthropic or OpenAI) and set a spending limit on your provider’s dashboard.
Try Plus before you decide. There’s a 7-day Plus free trial. It needs a card, becomes a paid Plus plan when the seven days end (see current pricing), and you can cancel anytime before then from Settings (Settings → Plan → Manage or cancel plan, which opens Stripe’s billing portal). If you cancel, the plan moves to Free at the end of the period and nothing you built is deleted; if you have more than Free allows, it keeps working and you just can’t add more.
Other ways to pay. Annual billing gives you one month free, and if you’d rather subscribe now than trial, check the pricing page for any launch offer (offers can’t be combined with the free trial). And if you outgrow Plus, Pro adds unlimited sources and AI turns, multi-step agent goals, and Facebook and TikTok analytics on top of Instagram. Current prices for every plan are on the pricing page.
The honest decision rule: don’t upgrade on ambition, upgrade on friction. If you’re not bumping into the source cap or rationing turns, Free is the right seat. The moment those limits change how you use the product, Plus pays for itself in one unblocked morning. You can compare the tiers line by line on the pricing page and start on Free either way.
One last note: there’s no trap in starting small. Nothing about Free is a crippled demo — it’s the full board with smaller limits. Begin there, let your actual usage tell you when you’ve outgrown it, and upgrade because you hit a real wall, not because a comparison table told you to.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vexlynk Free actually usable or just a trial?
It’s a real, permanent tier — the full board with 5 sources and 50 AI turns a month, no card required, not a countdown trial. For a solo founder running a few core sources and checking in a few times a week, it’s often all you need.
When should I upgrade from Free to Plus?
Upgrade when the limits change your behavior: you’re rationing your 50 turns, you’ve outgrown 5 sources, or you need your board synced across two devices. If none of those bite yet, stay on Free.
What’s the difference between hosted Plus and Plus with your own key?
The plan is the same. Hosted, the AI is included; with your own API key (BYOK) the plan costs less and you pay for model usage yourself (see current pricing), and generated files and images become unlimited, billed to your key. BYOK wins if you already have a key and use AI a lot; hosted wins if you’d rather not manage one.
Is there a free trial of Plus?
Yes. Plus has a 7-day free trial. It needs a card, becomes a paid Plus plan when the trial ends (see current pricing), and you can cancel anytime before then from Settings. The Free plan is separate: it has no time limit and needs no card.
Vexlynk
Vexlynk Team