Added for comparison · sintra.ai

Sintra

A team of 12 cartoon 'AI employees' (social media, SEO, sales, copywriter, support, data…) sharing one 'Brain AI' business memory, sold to small-business owners.

Why it's here: Sells AI marketing employees (Soshie the social media manager, Penn the copywriter, Seomi for SEO) to SMB owners: the most direct 'AI marketer you hire' competitor to Kite, and a pay-first funnel to contrast with free-tier products.

Full flow29 steps

How they turn free users into paying ones

Sintra runs an e-commerce-style direct-response funnel: no free CTA anywhere on the site, a permanent 'sale' with auto-applied coupons, long-commitment plans priced as the obvious deal (70% off a year), and a money-back guarantee standing in for a trial. The free 20-credit account exists but is hidden behind the login page, so it mostly serves people who already intended to buy or who churned. Inside the app, monetization is credit-based: prices sit on expensive buttons ('Generate video · 51'), the meter escalates from a small counter to 'Low' warnings to 'out of credits' toasts, and the plan picker translates credits into concrete outputs (posts, images, videos) with bonus credits 'on us'.

Sharpest tactic

Price the expensive action on its own button ('Generate video · 51') after the free credits have been spent on the setup steps, so the top-up prompt lands when the user has a half-finished deliverable they want.

The flow, step by step

Click any screenshot to enlarge; use ← → to page through. Viewport 1440×900; tall pages are full-page captures. Steps marked docs come from public help pages, not the live app.

Step 1 — Sintra landing: 'Finally, AI that knows you and your business.' AI employees (social media, SEO, sales, copywriter…) for business owners. Both 'Get started' and 'Get Sintra AI' link straight to /pricing, so there's no free sign-up CTA

Step 2 — Pricing: no free tier or trial. 'The sale you've been waiting for': 1-month $97→$48.50 (Save 50%), 12-month $52→$15.60/mo (Save 70%, 'Most popular'), 3-month $23.60/mo. Every plan has the same features (12 helpers, 250 credits/mo); only commitment length varies. '14-day money-back guarantee' replaces a trial

Step 3 — Pay-first checkout (STOPPED: no card entered). The account itself is created at checkout ('1. Enter your email, 2. Select payment method'). 12-month plan $187.20 + 18% IGST = $220.90 with coupon W70 auto-applied; fine print: 'auto-renew annually on Oct 28, 2027 for $624.00', so the 70% off is first-year only

Step 4 — Monthly checkout: $48.50 first month (W50 auto-applied) then 'auto-renew monthly on Nov 28, 2026 for $97.00'. In-checkout upsell box: 'Lock in 70% off with the yearly plan… Add yearly plan'

Step 6 — Email: 'Your OTP for Sintra' one-time login code

Step 7 — Onboarding step 'workspace': your name + workspace name

Step 8 — 'Good, now let's fill the Brain AI with your business information!': explains that every AI employee's reply draws on Brain AI (context first, value later)

Step 9 — 'Business fundamentals': industry (20 options), business description, business goal (free text)

Step 10 — 'Details about current business situation': ideal customer, monthly revenue band (No revenue yet … 100k+), acquisition channels (doubles as a qualification/segmentation survey)

Step 11 — 'Brand Kit': upload logo + brand colors (manual, unlike Native which scraped them from the URL); skippable

Step 12 — 'Brand voice': describe how your brand sounds + value proposition (free text)

Step 13 — 'Detailed information about your business': paste 2–3 writing samples + upload files (up to 20MB). Seventh setup screen before any output

Step 14 — Another required free-text page: 'Walk us through what you sell…' (8th setup screen)

Step 15 — Setup screen 15 of 15: 'Where would you like to start?' (website / video / social post manager / visuals / strategy / leads / build AI employees). Before it: 6 more required free-text pages (pricing, customer problem, why you, repeat questions, refunds, new-customer setup)

Step 16 — Dropped into a chat with 'Soshie' (social media AI employee) that auto-runs 'Help me set up my Social Media Manager'. It reads the Brain AI answers back ('focused on growing sign-ups from B2B SaaS founders') and routes to connect LinkedIn/Instagram. Sidebar: 'Earn $45 Invite friends', Sintra Academy videos. No credit meter or plan badge visible

Step 17 — First task done on the free account, no paywall: researched Jasper / Copy.ai / HubSpot Breeze and drafted a LinkedIn post ('AI marketing tools give you a powerful assistant. Kite gives you a CMO.'), ending 'Nothing posted.' Still no credit meter visible

Step 18 — Settings > Plans (only place usage shows): 'Credits remaining this month 17 / 20' after one research+draft task (3 credits). 'Your plan: Free, 20 monthly credits, all AI employees, unlimited team members'. Nudge: 'Sintra 300 and 500 are the common next steps. Upgrade credit plan'

Step 19 — In-app 'Choose your plan': credit slider 150 → 10k per month, with bonus framing ('150 plan credits + 100 credits on us') and outcomes instead of credits ('Up to 2,500 chat messages / 250 social posts / 140 images / 50 scheduled tasks / 5 videos'). Monthly $37.50 for 250 credits (vs the website's $48.50 'sale'); Tri-monthly −36%, Annual −60%; 'Get support' + 'Maybe later'

Step 20 — Annual on the in-app modal: 250 credits/month for $180 billed annually ($15/month equivalent, −60%), charged today; still no trial

Step 21 — Settings > Credit usage: a line-item ledger with fractional credits per model call (Soshie Chat 2.51, 0.33, 0.21…; 'Generate Recommendation: Free'), with CSV export. Transparent, but you only see it if you dig into settings

Step 22 — Home: 'We meet again' with AI-employee carousel, quick actions (Create a video NEW / image / presentation / post / email), a marketplace of 'Featured AI Employees to extend your team' with 'Hire' buttons, and a small '17 / 20' credit meter by the prompt

Step 23 — Video request: Sintra pitches a concept + narration and shows a picker (format / style / length) before spending credits

Step 24 — Video flow keeps the user in the loop on spend: 6-shot storyboard table, then 'Each picture step costs a small number of credits; the video itself is the larger spend and you start it with Generate on the board.'

Step 25 — Pre-render board: storyboard + character + location sheets (spent free credits on images), and the price is shown on the button: 'Generate video · 51' credits ('Render cost: 51 credits'), with only ~10 of the 20 free credits left

Step 26 — Clicking 'Generate video · 51' with the free credits nearly spent: a small toast, 'You're out of credits — top up to generate this video.' No modal or plan picker opens; the user has to find Settings > Plans themselves

Step 27 — Settings > Plans after the image sheets: '3 / 20' credits left, plus a new banner: 'You're reaching included usage limits. Upgrade this workspace to avoid performance restrictions' with 'Upgrade'

Step 28 — Home when low: the meter turns into a warning pill 'Low · 3 / 20 · Increase monthly credits' and the composer shows 'Monthly credits running low · Adjust plan'. Escalating, in-context nudges

Step 29 — Clicking the 'Low' pill opens a credits popover: 'Monthly credits 3 / 20, resets Nov 28' with 'Increase monthly credits' + 'Billing settings'

Monetization mechanics

Trial / free offer	No free trial on the website: buy first with a '14-day money-back guarantee'. A free 20-credit/month account exists but is only reachable from the login page.
Card required	Yes on every marketing CTA (pay-first checkout); No via the hidden login-page sign-up
What free actually allows	20 credits/month. One competitor-research + LinkedIn-draft task cost about 3 credits; three 2K reference images for a video took it to 3/20; a 15-second video costs 51 credits, so it cannot be generated on Free.
How usage is shown	A small 'x / 20' meter on Home and a ledger in Settings > Credit usage (fractional credits per model call, CSV export). Near the limit the meter turns into a 'Low · 3 / 20 · Increase monthly credits' pill and the composer shows 'Monthly credits running low · Adjust plan'. Expensive actions show their price on the button ('Generate video · 51').
Discounts & annual nudges	Permanent 'sale' framing with coupon codes auto-applied in the checkout URL (W50/W70): 50% off month one, 70% off year one (renewal fine print: $97/mo or $624/yr). In-app: Tri-monthly −36%, Annual −60%, and bonus credits ('+100 credits on us').
Sales assist	'Book a Demo' in the site header; 'Not sure which plan fits? Get support' in the plan picker; 24/7 support listed as a plan feature; Sintra Academy onboarding videos.
Time to value	~12 minutes: 15 setup screens (mostly required free-text business questions) before the first chat; the first real task (competitor research + LinkedIn draft for Kite) returned in about a minute after that.
Aha moment	An 'AI employee' that already knows your business from the Brain AI answers (it quoted the ICP and goal back) and returns a finished, on-voice draft with 'Nothing posted' reassurance.
Account used	Email OTP via app.sintra.ai/login ('Create account') with throwaway sintram1j0ef@maxxspace.com (mail.tm). No card.
Geo note	Checkout adds 18% Indian IGST from the India IP. The Vercel bot checkpoint blocked checkout until WebGL was enabled in the test browser.

Plans

Plan	Price	Billing	Includes
Free (hidden)	$0		20 credits/month, all AI employees, unlimited team members; reachable only via the login page
Sintra X 1-month (website)	$97 → $48.50 first month (coupon W50 auto-applied)	monthly, renews at $97	All 12 helpers, 250 monthly credits, 15+ integrations, 24/7 support, 14-day money-back guarantee
Sintra X 3-month (website)	$59 → $23.60/mo (Save 60%)	quarterly	same features
Sintra X 12-month (website, 'Most popular')	$52 → $15.60/mo = $187.20 first year (W70), renews at $624/yr	annual	same features
In-app credit plans	250 credits $37.50/mo monthly, $180/yr annual ($15/mo); slider 150 → 10k credits	Monthly / Tri-monthly (−36%) / Annual (−60%)	'150 plan credits + 100 credits on us'; shown as up to 2,500 chat messages / 250 social posts / 140 images / 50 scheduled tasks / 5 videos

Paywall triggers

Every marketing-site CTA goes to /pricing then checkout (steps 1-4)
Video render needing 51 credits → toast 'You're out of credits — top up to generate this video.' (step 26)
Low balance → banners 'You're reaching included usage limits. Upgrade this workspace to avoid performance restrictions' and 'Monthly credits running low · Adjust plan' (steps 27-28)

Upgrade prompts & copy

Website: 'Get Sintra AI' / 'Get started' → pricing with struck-through prices and 'The sale you've been waiting for' (steps 1-2)
Checkout upsell box: 'Lock in 70% off with the yearly plan… Add yearly plan' (step 4)
Settings > Plans: 'Sintra 300 and 500 are the common next steps. Upgrade credit plan' (step 18)
Home pill 'Low · 3 / 20 · Increase monthly credits' + popover (steps 28-29)
Sidebar 'Earn $45 Invite friends' referral offer (always visible)

Lifecycle emails

Your OTP for Sintra (verify, 2026-10-28 20:31 UTC)

What Kite could take from it

Translate credits into outcomes at the point of purchase ('up to 250 social posts / 5 videos'); nobody can reason about '250 credits'.
Show the cost of big actions before they run and escalate the meter (counter → 'Low' pill → blocking toast) rather than surprising users at zero.
Avoid Sintra's 15-screen typed questionnaire: Native got further with only a URL. Infer the brand brain from the website and ask later.
Hidden-renewal discounting (70% off, then $624/yr) converts short-term but invites refund and chargeback pain; if Kite uses intro pricing, show the renewal price as plainly as Native does ('first year, then $63/mo').

Caveats: In-app plan prices ($37.50/mo for 250 credits) differ from the website's 'sale' ($48.50/mo first month for 250 credits); both were captured as shown. No lifecycle email arrived beyond the OTP during the ~30-minute run. The referral offer ('Earn $45') did not open in the test browser.