AI Credits
How AI usage is measured, what your plan includes, and how to buy more.
AI Credits
Credits are how AI usage is billed. Every AI action in Kestrio — a Copilot answer, a generated brief, a drafted summary — costs credits based on the work it actually did.
Navigation
Open Billing from the app, or go to /billing. Your balance, included allowance, and top-up packs are in the AI credits section.
Two Balances
You have two pools, and they are spent in a fixed order.
| Pool | Where it comes from | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly allowance | Included with paid plans | Yes — unused allowance does not roll over |
| Purchased credits | Top-up packs you buy | No — they roll over indefinitely |
The Free plan carries no allowance, so AI features there run entirely on purchased credits.
Your allowance is always spent first. Purchased credits are only touched once the included allowance for the period is used up, so a top-up is never consumed while you still have plan credits left.
What a Credit Costs
Different AI models cost very different amounts, so the same amount of text can cost different numbers of credits depending on what the work required. A short classification is a fraction of a credit; a long multi-step Copilot run costs more.
You are charged for work that actually completed. A failed request that produced nothing costs nothing.
Buying Credits
- Open Billing.
- Find the AI credits section.
- Choose a pack and select Buy.
If you have a saved card, the purchase is charged directly and the credits appear immediately. If you do not, you are taken to a secure checkout page first.
Larger packs may include bonus credits — the pack shows this as a percentage when it applies.
Buying credits requires the billing:manage permission. Anyone can see the balance, so people using AI features can tell when they are running low.
Running Out
When both pools reach zero, AI features stop until either:
- you buy a top-up pack, or
- your next billing period starts and the allowance resets, or
- an administrator raises your plan's allowance.
Nothing else in Kestrio is affected. Only AI actions are paused.
Seeing Where Credits Went
The AI usage page at /settings/ai-usage breaks usage down by person and by feature, so you can see which parts of the product are consuming the most.
Purchases appear in Billing history on the billing page. Credit charges themselves are recorded against your account rather than invoiced individually.
Refunds
If a credit purchase is refunded, the credits are removed from your balance.
Credits already spent cannot be returned — the AI work behind them has already been done. If you spent part of a pack before it was refunded, only the unused remainder is reclaimed.