Credits & top-ups
Credits meter SMAQ's AI usage. Every chat message, automation run, and report generation consumes credits. Your tier includes a monthly allowance; you can buy top-ups if you run out.
A credit is the unit of AI usage in SMAQ. Different actions consume different amounts.
Each tier includes a monthly credit allowance. Usage shows live in the org's Usage tab. If you exhaust your monthly allowance, you can either upgrade tier or buy a top-up.
[Screenshot needed] Org Usage page showing monthly allocation, used credits, remaining credits, and a per-project breakdown chart.
What consumes credits
Simple chat question (single fact)
Low
Chart-generating chat question
Low–Medium
Multi-step analysis ("why did X drop?")
Medium
Playbook execution
Medium (depends on number of datablocks)
Daily Brief automation run
Medium
Dashboard Summary automation run
Medium
Generate Report AI
Medium–High
Search Term Analysis run
High
Media Plan Intelligence run
High
Creative & competitor intelligence runs
High
Pre-signup audit
Medium (counts toward the org's allowance once claimed)
Exact costs vary slightly. The app shows credit cost before any heavy action runs, so you can cancel if needed.
What doesn't consume credits
Browsing dashboards
Viewing snapshots
Viewing automation logs
Managing connections
Building datablocks
Inviting team members
Anything that doesn't involve AI
Monthly reset
Credit allowance resets at the start of each billing cycle (monthly subscriptions: every 30 days; annual: every 30 days from your subscription start).
Unused credits do not roll over. Use them or lose them.
Top-ups
If you exhaust your monthly allowance:
Settings → Billing → Top up credits.
Pick a top-up bundle (small, medium, large).
Pay via Stripe.
Top-up credits:
Don't reset. They stick around until used.
Are consumed first when you'd otherwise hit your monthly limit, before SMAQ blocks any actions.
[Screenshot needed] Top-up dialog showing three credit bundles with prices and a Pay button.
What happens when you run out
If your monthly allowance is exhausted and you have no top-up balance:
Automations pause. They resume next billing cycle or when you top up.
Chat shows a "credits exhausted" message when you try to send a message.
Reports and heavy AI actions are blocked until credits return.
Email notifications fire at 80% and 100% of monthly usage so you're not blindsided.
Usage by project
The Usage tab in the org settings shows credit consumption per project. Useful when:
You're an agency tracking which client is consuming most credits.
You're identifying a runaway automation.
You're trying to forecast next month's usage.
Tips for credit-efficient use
Use playbooks for repeated analyses. Re-running a playbook is cheaper than asking the AI to figure out the same thing from scratch every time.
Tighten automation schedules. Daily Brief is fine daily. But running heavy agentic automations daily is wasteful — weekly is usually right.
Keep KB rich. Better KB means shorter AI reasoning chains.
Watch the Usage tab the first month. You'll discover which automations are heavy and can adjust schedules.
Tier credit allowances
Each tier includes a different monthly credit allowance — Starter is small, Agency is large. Specific numbers shown live in app.smaq.io/billing.
Related
Tiers explained.
Trial & restricted mode — note restricted mode has a much lower credit floor.
Upgrade or downgrade — tier change is usually cheaper than constant top-ups.
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