What Are Credits?

What Are Credits?

Credits are Buda's unit for measuring AI usage. Every time your Agent runs a task, it consumes a certain number of credits. The more complex the task or the longer it runs, the more credits it uses.

Credits are not currency and not tokens — they're a composite unit that covers all the resources needed to run an Agent.

What Do Credits Cover?

Each time an Agent works, credits are consumed across two areas:

• LLM Tokens: The cost of calling AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) for thinking, planning, and generating responses
• Third-party APIs: External services called by the Agent (e.g., search, data feeds)

Three-Pool Credit System

Each workspace has three separate credit pools, consumed in this order:

1. Daily Credits — Automatically reset at UTC 00:00 every day
2. Monthly Credits — Automatically reset each subscription cycle
3. Balance Credits — Manually topped up, may have an expiry date for promotional credits, otherwise do not expire

When all three pools are exhausted, AI features pause until credits reset or you top up.

Do Credits Expire?

• Daily Credits: Reset every day; unused credits don't carry over
• Monthly Credits: Reset each subscription cycle; unused credits don't carry over
• Balance Credits: Generally do not expire — top up once and use whenever you need (promotional credits may have an expiry date)

What Doesn't Consume Credits?

• Browsing files or viewing conversation history
• Storing and accessing completed tasks
• Managing team members or changing settings

Credits are only consumed when an Agent is actively executing a task.

Models & Credit Multipliers

Different AI models have different capabilities and costs. Buda uses a Multiplier system to show how much each model costs relative to the baseline:

• 1x = baseline cost
• > 1x = more powerful, uses more credits (e.g. 3x means ~3× the credits)
• < 1x = lighter and cheaper to run

Example: the same task on a 3x model costs about 3× more credits than on a 1x model.

Multipliers are for relative comparison only. Actual usage also depends on input length and output size.

You can switch models in Agent settings. Choosing a lighter model for simple tasks is the most direct way to save credits.

👉 View full AI model credit comparison →

• Be specific about your task: Vague instructions make the Agent iterate more before understanding what you want. "Sort this Excel by revenue descending and export as PDF" uses fewer credits than "process this file".
• Batch related tasks: Combine several related requests into one instead of sending them separately.
• Review intermediate results: For multi-step tasks, check each stage before continuing to avoid wasting credits on a wrong direction.
• Choose the right model: Use lighter models for simple tasks, reserve powerful models for complex ones. Adjust the default model in Agent settings.

How to Monitor Usage?

In the billing page of your dashboard, you can see:

• Current balance: Real-time balance across all three credit pools

• Usage history: How many credits each task consumed

• Spending insights: Which task types consume the most credits

• Upgrade your plan: Plus and Pro plans include more monthly credits automatically

• Purchase Balance Credits: Top up anytime from the billing page — they generally do not expire (promotional credits may have an expiry date)

• Redeem codes: Codes from courses, events, or partners are added directly to your Balance Credits

What Happens When Credits Run Out?

When all three pools are exhausted, Agents pause until:

• Daily Credits reset at the next UTC 00:00
• Monthly Credits reset at the next subscription cycle
• You top up Balance Credits from the billing page (takes effect immediately)

FAQ

Q: Are credits the same as tokens?

No. Tokens are a model-level unit. Credits are Buda's composite unit that includes model calls, compute resources, and more.

Q: Do all Agents in a workspace share credits?

Yes. All Agents in a workspace share the same credit pools — credits are not tracked per Agent.

Q: How many credits does the Free plan include?

The Free plan includes 30 Daily Credits per day, with no Monthly Credits. It's designed for light exploration.

Q: Where can I check my current credit balance?

Your credit balance is visible at the top of the dashboard and in the billing settings page.