Is Topicly Free? What Each Plan Includes, Plan by Plan

Yes. Topicly has a Free plan, and it is a real one: you follow one topic, get one discovery a day at a time you pick, can ask for one extra read on demand, and keep 15 days of history. The paid plans (Basic, Advanced and Professional) raise those limits and, from Advanced up, add AI review of every draft before you see it.

We have not settled prices yet, so this post does not mention any. What we can tell you precisely is what each plan allows, because those limits are already built into the app.

#The four plans side by side

A few of these rows need translating into what you actually see on screen.

Delivery times per topic is how many moments in the day a topic can reach you. On Free, your one topic arrives once, at the minute you set, say 07:40. On Basic, that same topic could arrive at 07:40, 12:30 and 21:15.

Related discoveries are what happens when you tap one of the 3 to 5 concepts under "Keep pulling this thread" at the bottom of an article. Each tap writes a fresh discovery about that concept. Free has none of these, which is the most noticeable gap between Free and Basic.

On-demand discoveries come from the "New discovery on this topic" button, for when you finish your read and want another one right away.

History is how far back your library goes: all discoveries, favorites, and the ones you marked Interested or Not interested.

#What is the same on every plan?

Quite a lot, and it is the part we care about most.

Every plan gets the full reading experience. You still choose your depth (Light, Balanced, Deep, or All) and a reading time of 1, 3 or 5 minutes per topic. You still get the "In brief" summary and can open "The full story". Articles still carry the "Timeless fact" or "In the news" label.

Quizzes are on every plan too, and they never touch your quota. After each article you get "Three quick questions" drawn only from what you just read. Each topic also has "Today's questions", a set of 10 from your recent discoveries in that topic, new every day. On Free that is still a daily 10-question review of your one subject. For a free tier, that is the feature we would point to first, because retrieval practice is one of the better-supported ideas in learning research (Roediger and Karpicke's 2006 work on the testing effect is the usual reference).

#Who is the Free plan for?

Someone with one clear interest. If you want to understand space a little better, or follow Liverpool FC, or get to grips with how AI models work, one topic at one daily moment is a complete habit on its own. You can pick from the catalog (see /topics for the full list) or write your own in the "What interests you?" box, something like "I want to improve my Swift skills".

It is also the honest way to find out whether a daily discovery suits you. Some people discover they like it. Some find one notification a day is one too many. Better to learn that for free.

The limit you will likely feel first is related discoveries. Free has zero, so "Keep pulling this thread" is where curiosity hits a wall. If you notice yourself wanting to tap those concepts most days, that is a real signal.

#Who is Basic for?

People with a few interests who want some variety across the day. Four topics covers a lot of ground: maybe finance, health, a football league and one custom topic about a work skill.

Three delivery times per topic is where the schedule gets interesting. You can keep one topic to a single morning read and give another a morning, lunch and evening slot. We wrote more about that in how to pick the best time to learn each day.

Basic does not include AI review. The discovery you read was written by OpenAI and stored as is, with the same disclaimer shown on every plan: "This discovery was generated by AI and may contain errors. Check original sources for important decisions."

#Who is Advanced for?

Advanced is the plan we would suggest to someone who reads Topicly as a genuine learning tool rather than a pleasant morning habit.

Fifteen topics is enough to build a small curriculum. Ten related discoveries a day means you can follow a thread several levels deep when something grabs you. Ninety days of history means your library becomes something you can search back through months later.

The other difference is quality control. On Advanced, one independent AI reviewer (from Anthropic or Google) checks each draft before it is stored, and if it rejects the draft, the article is rewritten. We want to be careful about how we describe this. It is a second model reading the first model's work. It catches some errors and some weak writing. It is not a person checking claims against original sources, and we do not describe it that way. The disclaimer stays on every article for that reason.

#Who is Professional for?

Heavy users, and people who use Topicly close to work. Thirty topics, ten delivery times per topic, fifty on-demand reads and thirty related reads a day are generous enough that most people will never touch them. Unlimited history means nothing ages out.

Professional uses two independent AI reviewers instead of one. That is still AI review, with the same limits described above.

If you cannot tell if Professional is for you, you probably do not. Advanced covers almost every pattern of use we have designed for.

#A few things plans do not change

Some questions come up often, so here is the short version.

• Your privacy is the same on every plan. Personal preferences are not sent into OpenAI prompts, OpenAI calls are made with storage off, and you can delete your account in the app, which removes your profile, topics, history, reading days and custom topics.
• Delivery is daily on every plan. There is no weekly option. The discovery is prepared about 30 minutes before your chosen time and the notification arrives at that time.
• You can try before signing up. As a guest you can pick a catalog topic and read the opening of a discovery. After you sign up, that same article is delivered to you.

#Our honest recommendation

Start on Free with the one topic you are most curious about, and set it for a time you are reliably free for three minutes. Use it for two weeks. If you find yourself tapping "Keep pulling this thread" and hitting the limit, or wishing a second subject were there, that tells you more than any comparison table can. Most people who want more will be well served by Basic. Advanced makes sense once Topicly is part of how you learn, rather than something you glance at.

For a wider tour of what the app does, see the features page.

Next step: write down the one topic you would pick if you could only have one. That is your Free plan. Topicly is coming soon to iPhone and Android, and the download page will have the store links at launch.