---
title: AI credits
description: What uses AI credits, how many each plan includes, where to see your balance, and how to top up or cap spending.
---

> Source: https://www.heyarchetype.com/docs/billing/credits

Archetype runs some AI work for you, such as describing uploaded files, making designs and generating images. That work is paid for with AI credits. Credits belong to the brand, so the whole team spends from one balance.

You don't need your own AI account or API key: the cost of the model is in the credit.

## What uses credits

| Action | Cost |
| --- | --- |
| Describing an uploaded asset, which runs on its own after each upload | 1 credit per file |
| Drafting a guideline rule from feedback on a design | 1 credit |
| Checking a page or an image against the brand | By the size of the check |
| AI edits to components, artifacts, templates and Knowledge documents | By the work it took |
| Drafting a voice document from your website | By the work it took |
| Designing a template from a prompt | By the work it took |
| Making a design from a template, or on the **Create** page | By the work it took |
| Planning a campaign (each piece is then priced as a design, image or video) | By the work it took |
| Rewriting a campaign piece's brief for another kind | 1 credit |
| Editing a design you made | By the work it took |
| Generating an image | By size and quality |
| Generating a video | By the second |

Most actions are priced by what they actually took, so a ten-slide carousel costs more than a single post, and a long document costs more than a short one. If an AI action fails without producing anything, its credits are given back.

### What is free

Everything else, including:

- Everything your agents read over MCP with `get_brand` and `search_brand`, and changes they make with `update_brand`.
- BRAND.md, DESIGN.md, the tokens file, the bundle and the CLI.
- Importing your brand from a website, Figma or code.
- Editing anything by hand.
- Checking code against the brand. Only checks that look at a rendered page or an image use credits.

When an agent calls `check_against_brand` on a page, `generate_media` or `create_campaign`, those spend the brand's credits like the same action in the app.

## How many you get

| Source | Credits | How long they last |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Trial | 1,000 to start, once per person | 90 days |
| Pro | 5,000 every month, on monthly and yearly billing | Until the end of that billing month |
| Enterprise | As agreed, every month | Until the end of that month |
| Credit packs | 1,000 to 100,000 | 12 months |

Pro's monthly credits don't roll over: each billing month starts again at 5,000. On yearly billing they still arrive 5,000 a month, not all at once.

## See your balance

The credit counter sits at the foot of the sidebar: orange coins, the number of credits left, and a bar showing how much of what you started with is left. With the sidebar folded, the bar becomes a ring around the coins. For the Owner and Admins, the counter links to **Settings → Plan**.

On the **Plan** tab, the **AI credits** tile shows the balance against what you started with, and when the credits reset (on Pro) or expire (in the trial). The Owner and Admins can select **Details** on that tile to open the **Credit history**: every grant, purchase and spend, grouped by day and by kind, such as "Image generated" or "Design created".

If you have a monthly limit of your own (see below) and it leaves you less than the brand has, the counter shows what is left of your month instead.

## Top up with credit packs

Credit packs are for a brand that runs short before the month does. Any open brand can buy them, in the trial, on Pro or on Enterprise. Only the Owner and Admins (or a custom role with billing) can buy.

| Pack | Price | Per 1,000 credits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 credits | $25 | $25 |
| 5,000 credits | $110 | $22 (save 12%) |
| 20,000 credits | $380 | $19 (save 24%) |
| 100,000 credits | $1,600 | $16 (save 36%) |

:::steps
### Open Settings → Plan
Scroll to **Top up credits**, or select **Buy more credits** on the **AI credits** tile.

### Pick a pack
Select **Buy** on the pack you want. Stripe Checkout opens for a one-off payment, with VAT worked out from your billing address.

### Pay
The credits are added once Stripe confirms the payment, and Checkout makes an invoice for it.
:::

Bought credits last 12 months. A locked brand can't buy packs until it has a plan again. See [Plans and trial](/docs/billing/plans).

## When you run out

When the balance can't cover an action, Archetype stops before it starts and says "You're out of AI credits." Nothing is charged. Everything that doesn't use credits keeps working, including your agents reading the brand.

When the balance drops below 10% of what the period granted (the trial's 1,000, or the month's credits on a paid plan), the Owner and Admins get an email, once per period, so there is time to top up.

## Limit what each person spends

The Owner and Admins can cap how many credits a person spends in a month, so one busy teammate can't use up the whole brand's balance. Limits are counted from the 1st of each month.

- **Per role:** in **Settings → Team**, set the limit along the bottom of the **Roles** table, or under **Credits a month** when you edit a custom role. It applies to everyone with that role.
- **Per person:** in the member list on the same page, select the credits figure on someone's row. It shows what they have spent this month. A limit set on a person replaces their role's.

The Owner is never limited, and Viewers can't spend credits at all. Someone who reaches their limit sees "You've used your AI credits for this month. An admin can raise your limit in Settings → Team."

## Next steps

:::cards
- [Plans and trial](/docs/billing/plans): What each plan includes, and how to upgrade.
- [Images and video](/docs/create/media): Generate media with your brand.
- [Members and roles](/docs/workspace/team): Who can spend credits, and who manages them.
:::