How do credits work?

Credits are the currency for every AI generation on TubeAI: scripts, thumbnails, titles, reports and Hugo messages. Your plan gives you a monthly allowance, and you can top up with extra credits that never expire.

Your two credit pools

• Plan credits arrive with your plan. At each renewal your plan credits are reset to your plan's monthly amount, so unused plan credits do not roll over. Trial credits and the extra credits added when you upgrade also expire at your next renewal.
• Purchased credits (top-ups) are yours permanently. They carry over every month and survive downgrades and cancellation.

When you generate something, plan credits are used first, then purchased credits. Your total balance is shown on the account card at the bottom of the sidebar, with a "monthly · purchased" split when you have both.

Free plan credits

On the Free plan, your credits refresh every 30 days, counted from the day you created your account.

What each action costs

• Hugo message: 3 credits, plus 2 credits for each research specialist Hugo calls
• Script (long-form or Short): 25 credits; with Swarm research: 1,000 credits
• Script rewrite of selected lines: 3 credits
• Thumbnail: 4 credits each (Pro mode: 44); variation: 2 (Pro mode: 42)
• Magic Edit on a thumbnail: 5 credits
• Titles and description set: 10 credits; title variations: 3 credits
• Quick Ideas run: 50 credits
• Video Insight report: 15 credits
• Channel Audit: 200 credits
• Board Auto-ideate: 5 credits; Google Trends: 1; X posts: 2
• Audience report: free

Browsing the Explorer, folders, history, PDF exports and your Dashboard are always free.

When credits are charged and refunded

Credits are deducted when you start a generation, so your balance drops straight away. If the generation fails, the credits are refunded automatically; you do not need to contact support.

Credits are not refunded when:

• the result was delivered but you don't like it;
• you press Stop on Hugo after it has started writing;
• a Channel Audit completes with some sections missing (a partial report);
• a Board data source (Google Trends or X posts) runs but finds nothing relevant.

If a generation says it "timed out", it has usually not failed: the job keeps running and the result appears in that tool's history. Check there before running it again, so you don't pay twice.

Buying more credits

On plans that include credit top-ups, go to Settings > Credits:

• 500 credits for $25
• 1,000 credits for $50
• Custom: any amount from 2,000 to 100,000 credits at $0.05 per credit

Payment is by card, and the credits are added to your balance immediately.

Seeing your credit history

Settings > Transactions lists every credit movement: plan credits, purchases, spending by tool and refunds. Use the Refunds and Purchases filters to narrow it down. Invoices and receipts are in the billing portal (Manage billing on the Billing page).