diff --git a/app/Actions/Ai/StartCategorizationBackfill.php b/app/Actions/Ai/StartCategorizationBackfill.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b8506b66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Actions/Ai/StartCategorizationBackfill.php
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Actions\Ai;
+
+use App\Jobs\CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob;
+use App\Models\Transaction;
+use App\Models\User;
+use App\Services\Ai\AiCategorizationGate;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
+use Illuminate\Support\Str;
+
+class StartCategorizationBackfill
+{
+    public function __construct(private readonly AiCategorizationGate $gate) {}
+
+    /**
+     * Dispatch a categorization backfill when the user is eligible and has
+     * something to categorize, seeding the progress cache the client polls.
+     *
+     * @return array{job_id: string, total: int}|null
+     */
+    public function handle(User $user): ?array
+    {
+        if (! $this->gate->allows($user)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $total = Transaction::query()
+            ->where('user_id', $user->id)
+            ->pendingAiCategorization()
+            ->count();
+
+        if ($total === 0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $jobId = (string) Str::uuid();
+
+        Cache::put(
+            CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::cacheKeyForJobId($jobId),
+            ['status' => 'pending', 'processed' => 0, 'total' => $total, 'applied' => 0],
+            now()->addHour(),
+        );
+
+        CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::dispatch($user, $jobId);
+
+        return ['job_id' => $jobId, 'total' => $total];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/Ai/AiConsentController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/Ai/AiConsentController.php
index 8e6a3fa2..792df759 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/Ai/AiConsentController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/Ai/AiConsentController.php
@@ -2,15 +2,10 @@
 
 namespace App\Http\Controllers\Ai;
 
+use App\Actions\Ai\StartCategorizationBackfill;
 use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
-use App\Jobs\CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob;
-use App\Models\Transaction;
-use App\Models\User;
-use App\Services\Ai\AiCategorizationGate;
 use Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse;
 use Illuminate\Http\Request;
-use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
-use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 class AiConsentController extends Controller
 {
@@ -18,14 +13,14 @@ class AiConsentController extends Controller
      * Record the user's broad "use AI to help understand my finances" consent
      * and kick off a backfill of their uncategorized transactions.
      */
-    public function store(Request $request, AiCategorizationGate $gate): JsonResponse
+    public function store(Request $request, StartCategorizationBackfill $startBackfill): JsonResponse
     {
         $user = $request->user();
         $user->recordAiConsent();
 
         return response()->json([
             'consented' => true,
-            'categorization' => $this->startCategorization($user, $gate),
+            'categorization' => $startBackfill->handle($user),
         ]);
     }
 
@@ -38,39 +33,4 @@ class AiConsentController extends Controller
 
         return response()->json(['consented' => false]);
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Dispatch the backfill job when the user is eligible and has anything to
-     * categorize, returning the job id the client polls for progress.
-     *
-     * @return array{job_id: string, total: int}|null
-     */
-    private function startCategorization(User $user, AiCategorizationGate $gate): ?array
-    {
-        if (! $gate->allows($user)) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        $total = Transaction::query()
-            ->where('user_id', $user->id)
-            ->whereNull('category_id')
-            ->whereNull('description_iv')
-            ->count();
-
-        if ($total === 0) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        $jobId = (string) Str::uuid();
-
-        Cache::put(
-            CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::cacheKeyForJobId($jobId),
-            ['status' => 'pending', 'processed' => 0, 'total' => $total, 'applied' => 0],
-            now()->addHour(),
-        );
-
-        CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::dispatch($user, $jobId);
-
-        return ['job_id' => $jobId, 'total' => $total];
-    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Ai/CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsTest.php b/tests/Feature/Ai/CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsTest.php
index 92aeb498..cb6dbbe3 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Ai/CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Ai/CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsTest.php
@@ -48,6 +48,24 @@ it('does not dispatch a backfill when nothing is uncategorized', function () {
     Bus::assertNotDispatched(CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::class);
 });
 
+it('does not dispatch a backfill for a user without a paid plan', function () {
+    config(['subscriptions.enabled' => true]);
+    Bus::fake();
+    $user = User::factory()->create();
+    Transaction::factory()->plaintext()->create([
+        'user_id' => $user->id,
+        'category_id' => null,
+    ]);
+
+    actingAs($user)->postJson(route('ai.consent.store'))
+        ->assertOk()
+        ->assertJson(['consented' => true])
+        ->assertJsonPath('categorization', null);
+
+    expect($user->hasActiveAiConsent())->toBeTrue();
+    Bus::assertNotDispatched(CategorizeUncategorizedTransactionsJob::class);
+});
+
 it('does not dispatch a backfill when AI categorization is disabled', function () {
     config(['ai_categorization.enabled' => false]);
     Bus::fake();