What are credits?
Instill Credits are the units used to pay for all AI processing on the platform — uploading and parsing documents, asking the Agent questions, auto-filling Collection columns, and generating insights.
One credit is a small, abstract unit. Most individual operations cost tens to hundreds of credits, so plans include thousands of credits per month.
How credits work?
Each plan includes a monthly credit allowance.
Credits are consumed when files are processed (uploaded and parsed) and when the Agent performs AI operations (chat, autofill, insight generation).
Credit cost varies by operation type and complexity.
When monthly credits are used up, behaviour depends on your plan: Free plans stop, paid plans can continue with on-demand credits.
Two categories of credit usage
1. File processing credits
When you upload a file, the system reads, parses, and indexes it. The credit cost depends on the file type:
File type | Cost | How it scales |
Document (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) | 100 credits per page | A 10-page PDF costs 1,000 credits |
Image (PNG, JPG, TIFF, etc.) | 100 credits per image | 5 images cost 500 credits |
Audio (MP3, WAV, FLAC, etc.) | 300 credits per minute | A 5-minute recording costs 1,500 credits |
Video (MP4, MOV, MKV, etc.) | 300 credits per minute | A 3-minute video costs 900 credits |
These costs cover document parsing, structure extraction, and indexing so the content becomes searchable.
Examples:
Upload a 25-page lease agreement → 25 × 100 = 2,500 credits
Upload 10 product images → 10 × 100 = 1,000 credits
Upload a 12-minute meeting recording → 12 × 300 = 3,600 credits
2. AI operation credits (chat, autofill, insights)
When you ask the Agent a question, auto-fill a Collection column, or generate insights, the credit cost varies by the complexity of the operation. Credit usage is tracked and displayed automatically under Settings > Usage.
Typical costs per operation:
Operation | Typical credits |
Simple question (short answer) | 50–150 credits |
Medium question (analysis across documents) | 200–400 credits |
Complex question (multi-collection comparison) | 400–1,000 credits |
Auto-fill one column cell | 50–300 credits |
Generate Collection insight | 200–500 credits |
Credit types
Your workspace may hold credits from several sources. They are consumed in this priority order:
Credit type | Source | Expiry | Priority |
Included | Monthly plan allocation | Expires at end of billing cycle | Used first |
On-demand | Pay-as-you-go beyond included credits | Billed at end of cycle | Used last |
Referral | Referral rewards | Expires after a set period | Used second |
Included credits come with your plan and reset each billing cycle. Unused included credits do not roll over.
On-demand credits are charged at your plan's on-demand rate and billed via Stripe at the end of the billing cycle.
Referral credits are earned by inviting others and expire after a set number of days. They are consumed after included credits are used up.
Monthly allowances
Plan | Price | Monthly credits | On-demand rate |
Free | $0/mo | 1,000 | Not available (stops when credits run out) |
Plus | $10/mo | 25,000 | $4.50 per 10,000 credits |
Pro | $25/mo | 100,000 | $3.00 per 10,000 credits |
Team | $75/mo | 300,000 | $3.00 per 10,000 credits |
Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Volume discounts |
What happens when credits run out?
Free plan: AI operations stop until the next billing cycle.
Paid plans (Plus, Pro, Team): If on-demand credits are enabled, you can continue working and the additional usage is billed at the on-demand rate. If on-demand is not enabled, AI operations pause until the next cycle.
Do credits roll over?
Monthly included credits expire at the end of each billing cycle (no rollover).
Referral credits expire after a set period.
Billing categories
Credit usage appears on your invoice grouped into three categories:
Category | Covers |
Chat | Agent conversations and question answering |
Collection | Auto-fill, column suggestions, column enhancements, insights |
File processing | Document upload, parsing, and indexing |
You can see a breakdown of your usage under Settings > Usage at any time.