# Usage and credits

Credits are the fuel for anything that calls AI. They are a **workspace pool**: everyone
draws from the same balance, not from a personal allowance.

**Administration → Usage Details.**

## What spends credits

| Spends credits | Free |
|---|---|
| Analyzing an uploaded file | Browsing and searching |
| A chat reply | Organizing, albums, tags |
| Generating an image | Downloading |
| Generating a design, deck or infographic | Editing a design by hand |
| Writing website content | Sharing and share links |
| A widget or voice agent answering | Viewing anything |
| A workflow step that calls a model | Uploading itself |

The general rule: **producing something with AI costs credits; organizing what already
exists does not.**

Some actions report the cost before you run them. Applying a brand kit with **AI
restyle** states that it runs one pass per page, and **Generate all empty** on a website
reports how many pages it is about to write.

## Where credits went

The usage screen covers one billing period at a time, the current one by default, with
earlier periods a click away. It breaks spend down by:

- **Date**, at day, week or month granularity
- **User**, who spent them
- **Service**, which kind of work

Each row opens into the entries beneath it, down to the individual call with the agent
that made it. The trend chart runs over the period; click a day to drill into it.

Use this screen to answer "why did we spend the month's credits in a week". The usual
causes are an unmetered bulk generation or a widget without a daily cap.

## Running low

Two warnings appear in the header:

> **Credits running low.** Only *n* credits are left on your plan.

> **You're out of credits.** AI features are paused.

Administrators see a top-up link; everyone else is told to contact their administrator.

## What happens at zero

AI features pause. Everything else keeps working: browsing, searching, downloading,
organizing and sharing.

Topping up resumes AI immediately. Nothing is lost while paused, and nothing is queued
to run later: the actions are refused until there is a balance.

## Keep spend under control

Four practices prevent most credit surprises:

1. **Set daily caps on widgets and voice agents.** They are the only unbounded consumers,
   because their volume is set by people outside your organization.
2. **Prefer palette rules to AI restyle** when applying a brand kit. The rule-based
   option is instant and free.
3. **Set up [Media Analysis](/guide/media/tags-and-descriptions) before a bulk import**
   rather than after. Reanalyzing a large library costs as much again.
4. **Review usage by user monthly.** A spike is usually one workflow rather than general
   growth.

## Top-ups

Choose **Buy Credits** on the billing screen. Top-up credits never expire and are
consumed only after the plan's own credits run out, so buying them early is not wasteful.
See [plans and modules](/guide/admin/plans-and-modules).