Usage & credits
Understand where credits go and how to investigate a change in your balance.
credits usage balance quota rollover ledger tokens costsOn this page
Credits are shared workspace usageTwo credit balancesInspect usageCredit alertsUnderstand renewalsWhen credits run outPay as you goCredits are shared workspace usage
Credits represent the usage value available to your workspace. One credit is worth $0.002 of usage value, so 500 credits are $1. The number of credits a task consumes depends on the models and operations it uses, rather than simply the number of messages you send.
Model work, media generation, browser research, and other metered capabilities can have different costs. An app tool marked as free does not make the agent’s surrounding model work free.
Two credit balances
Plan credits are the allowance included in your subscription. They refill to the plan quota at the applicable monthly cycle and unused credits do not carry forward.
Extra credits are a separate persistent balance, such as credits granted by support or bought before credit packs were retired. They are consumed after plan credits run out and do not expire. Credits are not sold separately from a plan; on Growth and Embedded, pay as you go covers usage past the plan (see below).
Inspect usage
Open Settings → Usage with the required usage-reporting permission. Select the reporting period and agent filter to focus on the work you are investigating. Review the displayed breakdown and credit ledger to understand usage and balance changes.
Example balance: 2,400 credits = 2,000 plan credits + 400 pack credits. This month’s example usage: 720 for models and 280 for metered tools. These are fictional balances, not plan allowances or prices.
For a quick check, the account menu shows Monthly usage with the share of the plan’s monthly credits used. Its breakdown lists when the allowance resets, the plan credits left this cycle, any extra credits, and a Manage usage shortcut to the full report. The row appears with the same usage-reporting permission.
The percentage uses the same colors as the Usage page: amber from 75% and red from 90%. Extra credits do not change plan usage. Once the plan reaches 100%, the menu shows Using extra credits and the extra balance left until those credits run out or the plan refills. The low-credit banner stays hidden while extra credits are available and returns when all credits run out. Credits becoming available again resets a previous dismissal; dismissing a low-credit warning does not hide a later out-of-credits warning.
A busy automation or a media-heavy task can consume more than a short text conversation. Inspect the underlying conversation or run history when a total is unexpected.
Credit alerts
Administrators are alerted by email and in the Inbox as credits are used. In the Credit alerts card on Settings → Usage, an administrator can set:
- Usage alerts: an alert each time usage crosses one of these thresholds, as a share of the plan's monthly credits. The defaults are 75% and 90%; a workspace can keep up to five, from 1% to 99%, or none.
- Out of credits alert: an alert when credits run out and agents pause. It is on unless turned off. While pay as you go covers usage, administrators instead hear when it takes over and when it reaches its cap.
Each alert goes out once per threshold per monthly cycle. Each administrator can still turn off its email in their notification settings.
Understand renewals
For card-billed subscriptions, renewal credits depend on a successful monthly payment. Free and negotiated plans use the cycle appropriate to their configuration.
Use the next refill and billing dates shown in your workspace rather than assuming every plan resets on the first day of the calendar month.
When credits run out
New metered work can be blocked when there is no available balance. Check whether the plan is due to refill, whether payment failed, whether a different plan is appropriate, and, on Growth or Embedded, whether pay as you go is on. Storage limits are separate from credit balance.
See Subscriptions and payments for billing issues and Plans for included allowances.
Pay as you go
On Growth and on Embedded contracts billed through Stripe in USD, pay as you go keeps agents running after the plan credits run out. It is off until an administrator turns it on in the Pay as you go card on Settings → Usage, or from the out-of-credits card in a chat. Where it can't be turned on yet, the card offers the step that allows it: the plans on Free, card payment setup for an Embedded contract, or the payment method after a failed payment.
While it is on, usage past the plan costs the same $0.002 per credit. That month's extra usage is billed in whole credits with the next monthly Growth invoice. Once that invoice is paid, the credits it covered are back in the balance.
On Growth, pay as you go always has a monthly cap: by default 1,000,000 credits ($2,000), and an administrator can set a lower one. An Embedded contract can set a cap or turn it off and run without one. When the month's extra usage reaches the cap, work stops as it does when credits run out, until the cap is raised or the plan refills.
Administrators are notified when the plan credits run out and pay as you go takes over, and again when it reaches the cap. Turning it off stops new extra usage; what was already used is still billed. Pay as you go needs a monthly subscription billed through Stripe in USD whose last payment went through. If a payment fails, extra usage pauses until it is paid. If the subscription ends, any extra usage not yet billed goes on a final invoice.