Credits

Credits are used for AI-powered features like summaries and comment analysis. Subtitle extraction uses rate limits, not credits.

Overview

The SubKit API uses two separate systems for managing usage:

Rate Limits — Control how many requests you can make per day. Used for subtitle extraction.
Credits — Consumption-based units for AI-powered operations. Reset monthly with your billing cycle.

Key Difference: Rate limits reset daily at midnight UTC. Credits reset monthly on your billing date.

Credit Costs

Different operations consume different amounts of credits based on their computational cost:

Operation	Credits	Notes
Extract Subtitles	0	Uses rate limits instead
AI Summary (≤10 min video)	2	Based on video duration
AI Summary (10-30 min video)	4	Based on video duration
AI Summary (30+ min video)	6	Based on video duration
Download Comments	1 per 500	Rounded up (501 comments = 2 credits)
Comment Analysis (AI)	3	Fixed cost per analysis
Pre-flight Validation	0	Free, no rate limit impact

Tier Allocations

Your monthly credit allocation depends on your subscription tier:

Tier	Monthly Credits	AI Features
Free	0 credits	Not Available
Pro	5,000 credits/month	Full Access
Business	25,000 credits/month	Full Access

Billing Rules

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Charged on Success Only

Credits are only deducted when an operation completes successfully. Failed requests are never charged.

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Monthly Reset

Credits reset to your tier allocation on your billing cycle date. Unused credits do not roll over.

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Cached Results are Free

AI summaries and analyses are cached for 24 hours. Subsequent requests for the same video return cached results at no credit cost.

No Partial Refunds

If you downgrade tiers mid-cycle, remaining credits are forfeited. Upgrade to add more credits immediately.

Checking Your Balance

You can check your current credit balance in multiple ways:

Dashboard — View your balance and usage history at /dashboard
API Responses — AI operations include credits_used and credits_remaining in the response

Insufficient Credits

When you don't have enough credits for an operation, the API returns a 402 Payment Required error with the INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS code:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS",
    "message": "Not enough credits for this operation",
    "details": {
      "credits_required": 4,
      "credits_available": 2
    },
    "docs_url": "/docs/errors#insufficient-credits"
  },
  "request_id": "req_abc123"
}

See the error reference for troubleshooting guidance.