Credit units differ between products. Compare the usage covered and the charges deducted from the balance, rather than comparing credit counts alone.
Plans and included Credits
Monthly allowances represent US$100, US$250 and US$750 of metered usage respectively. Trial allowances represent US$10, US$25 and US$75. These amounts cover all applicable usage components together.
Personal provides one person’s private workspace, Agents, Apps and work, with 1 GB storage. Pro includes two seats and Company and Personal spaces. Team includes 50 seats, custom Teams, advanced analytics, multiple workspaces and 10 GB storage. The subscription pays for these platform features as well as the included usage.
The allowance is shared across the account’s workspaces and people. A second workspace does not create a second allowance. An agreed account override can change the allowance; use Settings → Usage for your actual balance and period dates.
What consumes Credits
A multi-step Agent can make several model and tool calls to complete one request. Each billable call contributes to its cost. Long conversations carry more context into later calls, and large outputs or complex research can consume more Credits.
Tool-call and Action counts are available for visibility. Actions are advisory and do not create an extra automatic overage invoice or independently block work. There is no universal flat Credit charge for every connector call.
A model-only example
Suppose a managed model call costs Erstan US$0.03:- The 5% model markup makes its model component US$0.0315.
- The 5% orchestration fee adds US$0.001575.
- The total is US$0.033075, or 6.615 Credits at US$0.005 per Credit.
Using your own provider key
Where your account permits Your API key, the provider bills your model tokens directly. Those eligible calls have no managed-model Credit charge. The Erstan orchestration fee still uses the model’s marked-up reference cost, and paid services still consume Credits. Your provider bill is separate from Erstan billing. See AI providers and models for credential modes and model readiness.When Credits refresh and expire
Your trial allowance becomes available after Erstan verifies the Stripe trial subscription. The paid monthly allowance starts when the paid subscription begins and refreshes for each eligible billing period. Renewal dates follow your subscription, rather than a universal first-of-month reset. Unused included Credits expire at the end of their period. They do not stack with the next month’s allowance. Purchased Credits are separate grants and currently have no expiry date; they can carry into later billing periods. Cancelling a subscription does not turn Credits into a cash refund or keep a cancelled account’s paid features active. An allowance change applies to new period grants. An existing period keeps the allowance already granted; a catalogue update does not rewrite past usage or repeatedly grant the new amount.Low balances and running out
New metered work requires a positive available Credit balance. Budget controls and any service-specific minimum can also prevent admission. Work already admitted settles its actual cost and can leave a negative net balance. Further work then needs funding. Erstan does not automatically turn excess usage into a postpaid overage invoice. To continue, buy a prepaid top-up or use auto-recharge if you have chosen to enable it. When money is owed against the balance, a top-up first covers that amount.Prepaid top-ups
Open Settings → Usage and choose the available Credit purchase option. Personal supports 1,000-Credit increments; Pro and Team use 10,000-Credit increments. At the standard rate these represent US$5 and US$50 respectively. Stripe shows the checkout currency, total and applicable tax before payment. Top-ups are charged immediately, including during a trial, and Credits are granted after successful payment verification.Auto-recharge
Auto-recharge is optional and off by default. If you enable it, configure the available threshold, amount and spending controls carefully. Reaching the threshold can charge the saved payment method. You can turn it off in Usage settings.Review and reduce usage
Open My usage in your profile menu for your own activity. Settings → Usage shows account balances and funding controls; authorized owners and admins can inspect broader account activity. Run history and traces help identify the Agent, model and tool calls behind a cost. Use a smaller suitable model, focused requests and only the connections the Agent needs. Start a fresh conversation for a new topic to reduce repeated context. Review long-running Agents before enabling frequent schedules.Subscription management
Trial timing, invoices, discounts and cancellation.
Rate limits
Request limits, queued work and provider capacity.