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Guide

Understanding the Credits System

Apr 22, 2025·4 min read

What are credits?

Credits are the currency for AI features on Spinini. Every AI action — agent tasks, chat assistance, code suggestions — uses credits. Container usage (running your app) is free and doesn't use credits.

How credits are calculated

Credits map to the number of tokens the AI processes:

ModelApproximate credits per 1K tokens
Haiku1 credit
Sonnet3 credits
Opus5 credits

A "token" is roughly 4 characters of text. A typical agent task that writes a 200-line app uses about 20,000–80,000 tokens depending on how many files the AI reads and writes.

What uses credits

  • AI Agent tasks — building features, fixing bugs, writing code
  • AI Chat — asking questions about your code, getting explanations
  • Larger responses cost more (more output tokens)
  • Complex tasks where the AI reads many files before writing cost more (more input tokens)

What doesn't use credits

  • Running your containers
  • File edits you make yourself
  • Terminal commands
  • Publishing your app
  • Preview loading
  • Dashboard, settings, everything except AI features

Monthly plan limits

PlanCredits/monthRollover?
Free100No
Core ($20/mo)2,500No
Pro ($95/mo)10,000No
EnterpriseCustomYes

Credits reset on the 1st of each month.

Top-ups

Need more credits mid-month? Buy a top-up from the billing page. Top-ups don't expire and stack on top of your monthly allocation.

Making your credits go further

Use Haiku for simple tasks. Haiku is 5× cheaper than Opus and handles most everyday coding tasks (adding a button, fixing a typo, writing a test) perfectly well. Switch to Sonnet or Opus only when you need deep reasoning.

Be specific in your prompts. Vague prompts make the AI read more files and iterate more — both cost credits. "Add a delete button to the todos list in src/App.jsx that calls DELETE /api/todos/:id" is 10× cheaper than "make it so I can delete todos".

Use the chat for questions. If you want to understand a piece of code, use the AI Chat sidebar — it's lighter than the full agent and costs fewer credits.

Check your usage. The billing page shows a breakdown of what used your credits. You'll quickly learn which tasks are expensive and optimize accordingly.

Low credit warnings

When your balance drops below 20 credits, you'll see a warning banner in the editor. When it hits 0, AI features pause until the next reset or a top-up. Your containers and code stay intact — nothing is deleted.

Ready to start building?

Free account includes 100 AI credits/month. No credit card required.

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