Buy and manage AI credits

AI credits are a workspace-level balance for AI actions

AI credits let a workspace run AI-powered actions in ALLO. They are workspace-scoped, so credits bought or granted in one workspace do not automatically move to another workspace under the same user account.

The AI balance can contain free, promotional, subscription, and purchased credits. These are different from billing credits, which reduce financial charges or invoices, and referral credit, which can transfer into an eligible workspace's billing balance. Billing and referral value never becomes spendable AI credit.

AI credits are separate from plan seats, file storage, payment account credits, and referral credit shown in your profile. If a file upload fails because storage is over quota, AI credits will not fix it. If an AI action cannot run because the credit balance is too low, buying storage will not fix it.

Availability

Where to see and buy AI credits

Open Workspace settings and select Usage. The AI credits section shows credits used, total credits, the current balance, and the last update. Workspace admins can select View history for workspace-wide activity or Buy credits to continue into Billing. You may also see an insufficient-credit message when an AI action cannot run. Admins can open the credit purchase flow from that message. Non-admins should ask a workspace admin to buy credits or change Auto-reload settings.

For general AI usage concepts, see Understand AI credits. For the AI workspace itself, see Use AI Studio.

Where credits are used

AI credits are spent when ALLO performs AI work for the workspace. The exact amount can depend on the action, input size, output type, selected model, provider work, and workspace configuration.

Credits can be used by AI Studio generation, Object Chat, AI comments, supported voice or transcription flows, and other AI-powered actions that show credit-aware access in the product. In a comment, each @ALLO reply charges the model-backed response; research or canvas-edit actions can add more billable model calls. If a credit gate blocks a gated action, ALLO stops before provider processing begins. For AI comments, the queued worker re-checks the workspace gate before context and model work; a race can still make a request fail before provider processing, while a final charge that exceeds the remaining balance can be recorded as an unbilled shortfall.

Deleting a generated result does not return credits. Credits represent AI work that already ran, not whether the final object stays on the canvas.

Estimated examples

These ranges are for planning, not a fixed price. Actual usage varies with input size, selected model, context, and the work a response performs. The Pricing page shows the same estimates; Usage and credit history show what the workspace actually spent.

Types of AI credits

When ALLO spends credits, it can draw from different credit buckets in an order designed to use limited-time credits before permanent purchased credits. You do not need to choose the bucket manually.

Basic allowance for Free and trialing workspaces

When an eligible Free or trialing workspace has no credits left, a workspace member's AI request can grant a 500-credit basic allowance before the request runs. During the workspace's first 30 days, the allowance is available once per calendar day. After that, it is available once per calendar week.

The allowance belongs to the workspace, not to each member. If one member triggers it, another member cannot trigger another 500 credits during the same day or week. A daily allowance expires one day after it is granted; a weekly allowance expires one week after it is granted.

One-time credit packs

AI credit packs are one-time purchases. They add credits to the workspace balance and do not create a recurring subscription by themselves.

Workspace admins can buy one-time credit packs upfront and spend them without starting a subscription. This includes Free workspaces when AI purchasing is available.

These prices match the public Pricing page, which is the latest public source for pack prices. Before buying, open Billing to confirm the selected pack, price, payment method, credit amount, and any active promotion.

Credit-pack checkout can save an eligible payment method for future Billing use. Saving a payment method does not turn a one-time pack into a subscription; it only helps later purchases or Auto-reload where the product offers that path. If the saved method fails, use Fix a payment issue.

AI credit packs and AI credit balances are non-refundable. Deleting generated output does not return credits, and turning off Auto-reload stops future automatic purchases but does not undo charges that already completed. For policy and duplicate-charge questions, see Refunds and duplicate charges.

Subscription credits

Eligible Business subscriptions include 2,000 AI credits per paid seat for each month in the billing cycle. A monthly subscription receives 2,000 credits per paid seat at renewal. A full annual subscription receives the full 24,000 credits per paid seat upfront for the annual billing cycle.

Subscription credits reset when the subscription renews, and unused subscription credits do not roll over into the next billing cycle. Purchased pack credits remain until spent.

If paid seats are added or removed during a billing cycle, the subscription credit adjustment can be prorated to match the billed part of that cycle.

Trialing subscriptions may not receive the same subscription credit grant until the subscription becomes paid. If you expected subscription credits and they do not appear, check the workspace plan, paid seat count, billing state, and trial status.

Subscription credits are not the same as purchased credits. Subscription credits are tied to the billing cycle. Purchased credits remain until spent.

Auto-reload

Auto-reload can automatically buy more credits when the workspace balance falls below a threshold. It is designed for teams that run AI workflows often enough that repeated manual purchases would interrupt work.

Auto-reload settings can include:

The monthly cost cap resets at the start of each month in UTC. Manual pack purchases do not count toward the Auto-reload cap. Turning Auto-reload off stops future automatic purchases, but it does not undo credits or charges that already happened while the setting was enabled.

Auto-reload needs a saved payment method that can be charged. If the payment method fails, Auto-reload cannot resolve an insufficient-credit state until payment is fixed. If an admin turns Auto-reload on while the balance is already below the threshold, ALLO completes an initial top-up before the enabled setting is saved.

Insufficient-credit messages

If an AI action cannot run because credits are too low, ALLO may show an insufficient-credit message.

If you are an admin and the purchase flow fails, check payment status in Fix a payment issue.

AI credits versus billing and referral credits

AI credits are for AI usage inside ALLO. Payment account credits, invoice credits, or billing adjustments are financial account items. They do not become AI credits unless ALLO grants or purchases AI credits through the AI credit flow.

If support says there is a billing credit or invoice adjustment, do not assume your AI credit balance will change. Ask whether the adjustment affects AI credits or only the invoice balance.

Referral credit is also financial value, not AI usage. It is earned through your personal referral link. ALLO automatically links available referral value to one eligible workspace where you are an admin and transfers it into that workspace's billing balance. It can then reduce eligible billing charges, but it never becomes AI credit or moves between workspace AI balances.

This also applies to proration. If a plan, seat, billing interval, or storage add-on change creates a prorated invoice credit, that credit belongs to Billing. It does not refill the AI credit balance. See Fair billing and proration for how mid-cycle billing credits work.

AI credits versus storage add-ons

This distinction matters because each problem has a different recovery path:

Use Buy storage add-ons for file quota. Use this article for AI usage.

Troubleshooting AI credit billing

When to contact support

Contact support when a credit purchase was charged but credits did not appear, Auto-reload charged unexpectedly, subscription credits are missing for an eligible paid workspace, a billing adjustment or duplicate charge is involved, or an AI action spends credits in a way you cannot explain. Include the workspace name, purchase time, pack name, amount, AI action attempted, and screenshots of the credit balance before and after if available.