Your guide to AI credits
Learn why AI credits are so popular and how they work for companies like Captions.
If you’re using AI platforms for work, you’ve probably seen terms like ‘AI credits’ or ‘AI usage’. While every company handles costs differently, there are some general concepts to help you better understand how AI costs work.
You can think of credits like currency: They track your costs across a specific platform. In this primer, we’ll cover the following:
Why companies use AI credits for billing
How credits correlate to costs
How to plan your AI credit usage for Captions
Why AI credits exist
AI can feel magical and instant. But behind every AI action is a lot of computing power. Each time you ask an AI system to create something or handle a new command, it processes your input through complex models that require energy and resources.
AI companies use credits to help translate those actions into specific costs. So, how much you spend depends on which types of AI actions you use.
Let’s say you’re making a video and you need to generate a script, generate a video and then add images into the footage. The video generator company uses a predetermined conversion rate mapping each action to a cost in credits. As you generate a video, you'll use the corresponding amount of credits.
The credit system gives companies flexibility to provide the best user experience. Everyone uses AI a little differently, and credits make it simpler for every person to prioritize what’s most important to them. They also help companies keep their costs in check, since some actions are more costly to support on the backend. In the end, both companies and users have transparency into what's being used, and how much it costs.
How AI credits work
With most platforms, you buy a specific amount of credits upfront. Sometimes it's part of your subscription plan, and sometimes you just pay for the amount of credits you want in your account. Some companies might call this “AI usage” instead of credits, but it’s the same general idea. You’re buying a certain amount of access to AI features.
For example, each Captions subscription tier includes a different amount of credits. You’ll get a sense of your monthly usage over time and you can always change plans if you decide you need more credits.
Which features use AI credits in Captions?
Captions includes both AI-powered features and editing features that don't use AI. If you use something powered by AI, we'll deduct the appropriate number of credits. This includes actions like generating images, changing an AI actor’s look or using prompt-based editing. You're also charged credits when you use AI to generate new content or refine existing content. That includes actions like generating videos from prompts, changing an actor’s look, or creating a new AI actor.
The good news is that unused credits roll over, giving you more flexibility if you don’t use your full monthly allowance. Whatever credits you don’t use move to the next month and you can save up to two extra months of credits at a time. If you'd like to learn more about the credit system within Captions, check out the detailed documentation. Our team keeps this current to make sure you always know the latest.
