Umeed to Shaheen: the plan ladder, explained

Shaheeno's plans run Umeed, Parwaaz and Shaheen. Umeed is free at 8% commission; Parwaaz (Rs 2,500 a month) drops it to 5% and Shaheen (Rs 5,000 a month) to 3%, while raising how many gigs you can run and proposals you can send. Commission is charged only when an order is released from escrow, and your first-ever released order is free of it. The plan sets your limits and your rate — the delivery record is what wins repeat orders.

The ladder is three plans, not a ranking

Umeed is the free plan: 3 active gigs and 5 proposals a month, at 8% commission on each released order. Parwaaz is Rs 2,500 a month for 7 active gigs and 20 proposals, at 5%. Shaheen is Rs 5,000 a month for 15 active gigs and unlimited proposals, at 3%. The gig figure is how many can be live at once; the proposal figure resets each month.

Nobody earns their way onto one of these. They are subscriptions: you pay for the plan you want and you can change it. Paid plans are charged from your Shaheeno wallet for 30 days at a time, moving down is free and keeps the term you already paid for, so trying Parwaaz for a busy month costs exactly one month.

What each plan changes

Upgrading does three things, and it is worth being clear that it is only three:

• Limits rise. The gig and proposal caps are why most creators upgrade — Umeed's 3 active gigs run out the month a fourth brand replies.
• The commission falls. 8% on Umeed, 5% on Parwaaz, 3% on Shaheen — taken only when an order is released from escrow, never on listing, never on a proposal, never on a payout. Your first-ever released order is charged nothing on any plan.
• The logo comes off your live streams. On Umeed, browser Go Live streams carry a small Shaheeno logo in a corner; Parwaaz and Shaheen stream without it.

The arithmetic, out loud

Both upgrades are a trade: a fixed monthly fee against a lower rate on everything you release. The point where the trade turns in your favour is the fee divided by the rate you save. Parwaaz costs Rs 2,500 and saves 3%, so it pays for itself once you release about Rs 84,000 of work in a month. Shaheen costs Rs 2,500 more than Parwaaz and saves a further 2%, so it overtakes Parwaaz at about Rs 125,000 a month.

Below those figures the cheaper plan is genuinely cheaper, and upgrading early costs you money. Above them the caps usually matter more than the rate anyway. Run your own last three months before deciding — the numbers are on your earnings page.

What the plan does not do

It does not vouch for you, and it does not market you. A brand that hired you last month comes back because the work arrived on time and closed without a dispute. The creators who stall are almost never the ones with small audiences; they are the ones who accept more gigs than they can deliver in a week, miss two deadlines, and spend the next month rebuilding trust. Taking one gig at a time until the rhythm is established is dull advice that works on any plan.

Your plan is billing, and brands do not see it. What they see is your profile: which accounts you have connected, and what your reviewed orders say about how you deliver. A creator on Umeed with a clean record and a creator on Shaheen with two disputes are not a close contest, and the search results do not put a thumb on the scale for either.

Which plan to start on

Umeed, until the caps bite. When a 4th gig is ready to list, or a 6th proposal in a month is worth sending, that is the signal to move to Parwaaz — and by then the commission saving is probably arguing for it too. Shaheen is for creators running a full slate, where the higher caps (15 active gigs and unlimited proposals) and 3% are both doing real work.