Both plans include the whole workspace on every supported sport and both sites: the Player Pool, the optimizer, the simulator, entries, export, late swap, single-contest Replay, and Film Room. Power raises the lineup cap from 500 to 10,000 per build and adds the parts that run without you or think with you: Playbooks, cloud builds, Hero Chat, Hero IQ, and Replay across past slates.
Before you start
- Make an account first. See Create your account.
- Plans are managed in Settings. See Manage your subscription.
The two plans side by side
| Feature or limit | Essential | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Lineups per build (optimizer, simulator, Build & Sim) | 500 | 10,000 |
| Sports and sites | 14 sports on DraftKings and 11 on FanDuel (FanDuel has no F1, tennis, or League of Legends) | Same |
| Player Pool, Game Sim, StackIQ, projections upload, Contest Simulation | Yes | Yes |
| Entries upload, Contest Setup, Fill, export | Yes | Yes |
| Late swap | Yes, on classic NFL, CFB, NBA, WNBA, CBB, MLB, NHL, and soccer slates, no lineup cap | Same |
| Playbooks (create, edit, run in the browser, library) | No. The Playbooks page shows an upgrade view | Yes |
| Cloud builds (the When row, Automate builds, scheduled builds) | No. The When row is absent | Yes |
| Auto-schedule a default Playbook when you upload entries | No | Yes |
| Run Playbook on the Day View slate menu and the Playbook selector in the workspace | Hidden | Shown |
| Replay of your entries or a build against one contest | Yes | Yes |
| Replay of a Playbook across past slates (up to 20) | No | Yes |
| Hero Chat, including its late swap and build proposals | No. The chat button is absent | Yes |
| AI agents: connect Claude, ChatGPT, or a coding tool to your account | No. Settings > AI agents shows an upgrade prompt | Yes. See Connect an AI agent |
| Hero IQ on the Dashboard and in Film Room | No. The Dashboard shows a teaser card | Yes |
| Hero Insights in the workspace toolbar | No | Yes |
| The Hero AI sentence filter in FilterIQ | No | Yes |
| Hero Academy lessons | Three tracks: First slate, Reading the results, Week one | Adds the Power tools track |
| Contest Analyzer, Film Room, Dashboard, notifications, custom alerts, push, themes, two-factor sign-in, Hero Jump | Yes | Yes |
| Billing periods | Weekly, Monthly, 6 Months | Weekly, Monthly, 6 Months |
| The $1 for 5 days trial | No | Yes, on the monthly plan, once per person |
| Hero Streak loyalty credit | No | Monthly plan, when the program is live |
Essential costs $24.95 per week, $79.95 per month, or $399.95 per 6 months. Power costs $44.95 per week, $149.95 per month, or $749.95 per 6 months. Six-month plans cost 20% less than paying monthly. Prices can change; the plan step and the pricing page show the current ones.
What the lineup cap means
The cap is the most lineups one build can produce: 500 on Essential, 10,000 on Power. A typed count above the cap is set back to it. The simulator is capped the same way. Late swap works on your entries, not on a pool, so the cap does not apply to it.
A deeper pool gives the Selection and the simulation more to work with. For a 3-entry cash slate 500 is plenty. For 150 entries in a large tournament the difference shows.
What Power adds, in plain words
- Playbooks. A saved plan that builds, simulates, selects, fills, and exports in one run. See What is a playbook.
- Cloud builds. The same plan, scheduled 5 to 30 minutes before lock and run with the app closed. See Schedule a cloud build.
- Hero Chat. The assistant that changes settings, builds, fills, exports, and swaps after you confirm each card. See Meet Hero Chat.
- Hero IQ. Coaching written from your own builds and results. See Hero IQ.
- Playbook Replay. Score a Playbook across up to 20 past slates against the real contests before you trust it with money. See Replay.
The $1 for 5 days trial
- You pay $1 for 5 days of every Power feature on the monthly plan, then it renews at the monthly price unless you cancel.
- Each person gets it once. The $1 for 5 days chip shows on the Power row under the Monthly tab only while the trial is available to you.
- A trial cannot be paused. Cancelling during the trial ends access at once.
Pausing, cancelling, and switching
- Pause is available on monthly plans. A paused plan keeps its lineup cap and loses every Power feature until the pause date you picked (1 month at most) or until you click Resume earlier; billing resumes on its own on that date. A scheduled cloud build does not fire while paused, and DFS Hero does not track your contests for Film Room.
- Cancel keeps your access until the end of the paid period, then the account drops to no plan. With no plan you can open only Settings.
- Switching between plans or billing periods happens on the Subscription page. An upgrade applies at once. See Manage your subscription.
On Essential, Power features either hide (the Hero Chat button, the When row) or show an upgrade view (the Playbooks page, the Hero IQ card).
Tips
- Start on the trial. Five days covers one full NFL week with Playbooks and Hero Chat before you decide.
- Pick Essential to build one slate at a time by hand. Pick Power to play many slates a day, enter large tournaments, or build while you are away.
- Check the lineup count in Build Settings after a downgrade. A saved 10,000 count becomes 500 on Essential.
- For a break of a month or less, pause instead of cancel. A paused plan keeps your builds and history, and billing resumes on its own when the pause ends.
Troubleshooting
"This build requests N lineups, but your plan supports up to M per build. Upgrade to Power for a higher per-build cap." : the build count is above your plan's cap. Lower the count, or upgrade.
"Scheduling requires a Power subscription." : a lead time is selected on an Essential account. Pick Now.
"AI features require the Power plan. Upgrade from your subscription settings." : Hero Chat, Hero IQ, or the Hero AI filter was reached from an Essential account. Upgrade from Settings.
"Your subscription is paused. Resume it to access this feature." / "Your subscription is paused. Resume it to access AI features." : the plan is paused. Click Resume on the Subscription page.
"Playbooks are available on the Power plan" : the Playbooks page on an Essential account. Click Upgrade to Power.
"No playbooks for this slate type yet." in the Replay dialog on Essential : Playbook Replay needs Power. Replay your entries or a saved build instead, which works on both plans.
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