AI NativeCredits are the currency for live scans. Demo scans cost nothing. The billing section shows your current balance and the full history of every transaction, with the math for each charge visible in the ledger. Nothing is hidden behind an opaque monthly flat fee.
Your credit balance
Your current balance appears at the top of Workspace > Billing. It changes when credits are added via a top-up or consumed by a live scan. Every transaction records the balance after the change.
How the credit estimate works
Before a live scan starts, an estimated cost appears on the product page as a credit chip. The tooltip discloses the full calculation: prompts measured multiplied by active surfaces equals answer count, at a per-answer rate. The basis for that rate is always shown: the median cost per answer from your own recent live scans of this product. If no product history exists, it falls back to recent scans across your workspace. If no workspace history exists, it uses the platform default.
As you run more live scans, your estimates become more accurate because they calibrate from your own data.
The credit hold
When you start a live scan, the estimated amount is held from your balance immediately - a reservation, not a final charge. The hold appears in the ledger as "credit hold for live scan" with the estimated answer count, rate, and basis. Two concurrent scans cannot both overdraft the balance because the hold is applied atomically: only the scan that successfully debits the hold proceeds.
Settlement: how the final bill is calculated
When a scan finishes, the hold is reconciled against the scan's real measured cost, accumulated call by call during the run. The final bill reflects the scan's real measured cost. If the real cost is lower than the hold, the difference is returned to your balance in the same transaction. The ledger row for settlement shows the real cost, the hold released, and the credits consumed.
Refunds on failed scans
If a scan errors, the full hold is returned as "full refund: the scan failed, you were not charged." Settlement fires exactly once per run, so you will not see multiple refund rows for the same scan even if a transient issue caused internal retries.
Reading the ledger
Each ledger row shows: what happened (human-readable), when, which scan it links to, and the delta with balance after. Final-bill rows show the real cost and the calculation. Hold rows show the estimated answer count, rate, and basis. You can trace any charge back to its source and verify the math.
Low-balance behavior
When your balance is below a scan's estimated hold, the Live scan button switches to amber showing the shortfall. Scheduled auto-scans also check balance before running: if insufficient, the scan is skipped and the low-credits warning appears on the product page.
Questions
Is the estimated cost the amount I will be charged?
No. The estimate is the hold ceiling. Your actual charge is the real measured cost of the scan, reconciled at settlement. If the real cost is lower, the difference is returned immediately.
What happens if I run two scans at the same time?
Each hold is applied atomically. The second scan can only proceed if the remaining balance covers its hold. If it does not, it shows the insufficient-balance message and does not start.
What happens to my credits if a scan fails?
The full hold is refunded. The ledger records "full refund: the scan failed, you were not charged" and the balance is restored.
How do I see the full math behind a specific charge?
Find the ledger row in Workspace > Billing. The real cost, hold released, and credits consumed are shown inline. The row links to the scan run for additional context.
Who can add credits?
Only workspace admins can top up credits from the Billing section. Team members can view the balance and ledger.
Does auto-scan consume credits?
Yes. Scheduled scans run live and use credits exactly as manually triggered live scans. If the balance is insufficient when a scheduled scan is due, it is skipped.