The best alternative to Intro and Clarity.fm for paid expert calls is hello.fan: people call you live when you're online and pay by the minute, or book a fixed-price consultation, by video, voice or text chat. Intro is built around premium sessions booked ahead; Clarity.fm around requested, mostly phone calls on business topics. hello.fan combines both styles and works for any kind of expertise.
Disclosure: this site is published by the team behind hello.fan. Intro and Clarity.fm are described from their public websites as of October 2026; check their current terms.
What do Intro and Clarity do well?
Both proved that people will pay for good advice in small doses.
- Intro is a marketplace for booking video sessions with experts and well-known names. Sessions are scheduled ahead at a set length and price, with a curated, premium feel that suits high-ticket advisors.
- Clarity.fm pioneered paying experts by the minute for startup and business advice. Callers request a call and propose times, and the conversation happens mainly by phone.
If you only take a handful of premium consultations a month, or your audience is founders who already know Clarity, either can work.
Why would an expert look for an alternative?
Most experts we talk to run into one of three limits:
- Everything has to be planned. A question that needs ten minutes today waits days for a slot — or never gets asked.
- One format. Some clients want video, some prefer voice, some would rather type. A tool built around one format loses the others.
- A narrow audience. Not every expert advises startups. Nutrition coaches, career mentors, designers, lawyers explaining general concepts, engineers, music producers — they all sell know-how by the minute.
How does hello.fan work for experts?
You create a page at hello.fan/yourname and set a per-minute price for each call type — from 50 to 5,000 credits a minute (100 credits = $1). Then you choose how people reach you:
- Instant calls. Go online when you have a free half hour. People call; your phone rings like a normal call. Billing runs in 15-second steps and starts only once both of you are connected, so nobody pays for a ringing phone.
- Booked consultations. Offer fixed-length sessions at a fixed price, paid up front, with reminders. A client who cancels at least 24 hours ahead is refunded; if you cancel or miss it, they are refunded automatically.
- Weekly sessions. Regular clients pick the same times every week; each session is booked and paid by itself.
You keep 60% of what clients pay (70% with an active store.fan shop), with no monthly fee. Payouts go to your bank through Stripe from $50. A one-time ID check before your first payout also gives your page the blue Verified badge — a real trust signal when people are paying for advice.
Per minute or per session: which should an expert offer?
Both, for different moments:
| Situation | Best format |
|---|---|
| A quick question before a decision | Instant call, per minute |
| A second opinion on something already prepared | Instant call, per minute |
| A full review that needs preparation | Booked session |
| Ongoing mentoring or accountability | Weekly sessions |
Per-minute pricing is also the easiest way to meet new clients: a ten-minute call is a small commitment, and a good one often turns into a booked session. We wrote more about this in pay per minute or paid bookings?
What would an expert earn?
Illustrative examples at the standard 60% share:
| Example | Client pays | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| 10-minute advice call at 500 credits/min | $50 | $30 |
| 60-minute consultation at 15,000 credits | $150 | $90 |
| 5-minute follow-up at 500 credits/min | $25 | $15 |
Plug in your own rate and hours in the earnings calculator.
Clients abroad?
Expertise travels; language often doesn't. On hello.fan either person can switch on live translated subtitles during a video or voice call — 30 languages — and text chat in a call is translated too, with the original one tap away. Nothing is recorded.
How do you set up an expert page that converts?
People pay for advice when they can see quickly what they'll get. A few practical rules:
- Say what a call is for. "Ten minutes on your pitch deck", "a second opinion on your training plan", "career questions for junior designers". One clear line beats a long biography.
- Price chat lower than voice, and voice lower than video. Some clients only want to type a question; let them.
- Offer one bookable session type. A single 45- or 60-minute consultation is easier to choose than five options.
- Be online at predictable times. Working hours on hello.fan drive your online status automatically, so regular clients learn when to find you.
- Verify your ID early. The blue Verified badge reassures people paying for professional advice, and you need it before your first payout anyway.
Questions experts ask
Can I take calls from my phone?
Yes. The hello.fan Android app rings like a normal call even when it's closed; the iPhone app is on its way, and everything also works in the browser.
Are calls recorded?
No. Video, voice and chat exist only while the call is live, and your phone number and e-mail stay private.
Do I have to be listed in the public directory?
No. Unlisted mode keeps your page out of the directory and search, so only clients with your link can reach you.
Our pick
Intro and Clarity each cover one way of selling advice. hello.fan covers instant calls, booked consultations and weekly sessions in video, voice and chat, for any field. See hello.fan vs Intro, hello.fan vs Clarity.fm and the page for experts.
