Credits and usage

Credits are how you pay for Buildliy. One balance covers everything: building and changing your apps, and running them once they're published. Your balance is always on screen, and every build shows exactly what it cost, so you're never guessing.

What uses credits

Usage falls into two groups. They're two views of the same balance, not separate wallets.

Building — creating and changing your apps with Buildliy:

• Builds & edits — asking Buildliy to create or change your app. This also covers the time your app's preview runs between builds, for example while you look at it, or after you reopen a project or restore a version.
• Chat — questions and planning that don't change your app.
• Images & video — pictures and clips Buildliy makes for your app.
• Web search — looking things up while building.

Other AI help counts as building too, such as improving a prompt or writing your site's title and description.

Running your apps — what your published apps use:

• Database — storing and reading your app's data.
• Server & traffic — your app's pages, files and server code reaching visitors.
• File storage — files kept in your app's storage, such as videos or music made for it, and visitors downloading them.
• AI in your apps — AI your visitors use, like a chatbot. Not the AI you build with.

A build's cost depends on how much work it takes. A typical build or change is about 4–6 credits — small changes cost less, big features cost more. Costs can include fractions, like 2.3 credits. Every build uses at least 1 credit, and a build that runs into an error still uses credits for the work the AI did.

What doesn't use credits

• Click-to-edit tweaks. Changing text and colors in the visual editor is free. Asking the AI for a change from the editor is a normal AI request and uses credits.
• Restoring an earlier version from version history. Restoring itself doesn't use credits; only your preview's running time counts, as above.
• Starting from a template. The copy is made without the AI, so only its preview's running time counts. On Free you need at least 1 credit available to start one. Changes you ask for afterwards are normal builds.
• Publishing. You need at least 1 credit available to publish, but publishing itself doesn't use any.
• Exporting your code to GitHub or as a download. You can still open your projects and export them when you're out of credits.

Domains you buy through Buildliy are paid for separately, not with credits.

Free hosting and app AI credits

Every plan includes free credits for running your apps each month, used before your regular credits:

Hosting credits cover running your apps; app AI credits cover AI inside your apps. Once they're used up, your regular credits take over. They refresh every month and don't roll over. Idle apps use almost nothing.

See your balance

• Sidebar — your balance sits at the bottom of the sidebar. Click it to open Plans & credits.
• Account menu — the Credits card shows your balance, with links to Usage and Manage.
• Above the chat box — when you're running low, a line shows how many credits are left and when they refill, with a Top up button (Upgrade on Free). When you're out, it says Out of credits, with Add credits (or Upgrade on Free).
• After a build — on your own projects, open the reply's ⋯ menu and choose Cost to see exactly what the build used.
• In the chat — ask a question about your credits or plan, and the reply comes with a card showing your balance. This works even when you're out of credits.

Plans & credits page

Click Plans & credits in the sidebar.

• Credits — your balance, a bar that empties as you use credits, when your Next credits arrive, and what your balance is made of, each with its expiry date. Credits that expire soon are highlighted. Click Details for a Breakdown (every credit type, when it expires, and what's available to use) and a History of credits added, expired or paused. The Free monthly usage included tip shows your hosting and app AI credits.
• Your plan — your plan, how many credits it gives you each month, when it renews, and your free hosting and app AI credits left this month.
• Usage — credits used in the last 30 days, a chart, and the apps that used the most.
• Plan cards — upgrade or change your plan. See Plans.

Usage page

Click Usage in the sidebar to see where your credits went.

• Filters — choose All, Building or Running your apps; pick one app or All apps; and choose 30 days, 90 days, All time or Custom (up to 90 days).
• Total and chart — credits used in the period, day by day, split into Building, Running your apps and AI in your apps.
• What used credits — a table of credits by category, like the ones above. Open a row to see its parts — for example, Database splits into awake time, stored data, restore history and data transfer.
• Apps — your apps with their credits, the top 10 first. Click an app to filter the page to it. Usage from deleted apps appears under Deleted apps & other.

Running usage can take up to a day to appear. Each app's Manage tab also shows its own usage, with a See all usage link that opens this page filtered to that app.

Rollover and expiry

Buildliy always uses the credits closest to expiring first. If you had money in a hosting wallet before credits were unified, it was turned into credits at full value, and those credits never expire.

Top-ups

A top-up is a one-time purchase that adds credits to your balance, on any plan. Top-up credits pay for building and for running your apps, and last 12 months from the day you buy them.

1. 1

   Open Add credits

   On Plans & credits, click Add credits on the Credits card. On Pro you can also go to Settings → Billing and click Buy a pack.

2. 2

   Choose a pack

   If you see two tabs, choose Top up once. Then tap the pack you want.

3. 3

   Pay on Stripe

   Click the Buy button, which shows the pack and its price. Stripe's secure checkout opens. Your credits are added as soon as the payment goes through.

Top-ups are non-refundable.

Auto top-up

Auto top-up buys a pack for you when your balance runs low, so a build never stops halfway. It's off until you turn it on.

1. Go to Settings → Billing (or Settings → Spending) and find Auto top-up.
2. Click Set up auto top-up. Stripe saves your card — nothing is charged yet — and auto top-up turns on.
3. Back on the card, choose which pack to buy each time.

The card shows the balance that triggers a top-up and the most it will spend in a month. Use its switch to turn auto top-up off or back on any time.

When you run out

• Building stops. You'll see "You're out of credits — each build needs at least 1 credit." Add credits, or wait for your monthly credits to refresh.
• Your work is safe. You can still open your projects and export your code.
• Live apps: AI features inside your apps pause until you add credits. On Free, your app's database pauses when your free credits run out; on Pro, databases keep running until you owe more than 10 credits. If credits still aren't added 2 days after a database pauses, published pages pause too, or sooner if you owe more than a set amount. See Hosting.
• Nothing is deleted. Once you add credits (enough to cover anything you owe), everything wakes up on its own, usually within the hour — there's nothing to restart.

If your credits run out while a build is already running, the build still finishes. If usage goes past an empty balance, the Credits card shows how much you owe. The next credits you add pay that first.

Spending controls

Settings → Spending lets you decide how many credits you use, get a heads-up before you run low, and keep credits aside for your live apps.

Spending limits

Click Add limit and choose:

• What it covers — All usage, Building, Running your apps or AI in your apps.
• Every — Day or Month, and which App (or All apps).
• Limit — a number of credits.
• When it's reached — Just tell me, or Stop usage.
• Tell me by — switches for Email and A notice in Buildliy. You're told at 80% and at 100% of the limit. A notice in Buildliy shows a line above the chat box and on your dashboard, which you can dismiss.

A Stop usage limit set for one app works on that app only: a Building or All usage limit stops building that app (your other apps keep building), and a Running your apps or All usage limit pauses that app's AI features and file uploads. Its database and published pages keep running; only a limit on All apps pauses databases.

Monthly limits reset on the 1st (UTC); daily limits reset at midnight UTC.

Balance alerts

Under Balance alerts, enter a number next to "Tell me when I have fewer than" and click Add alert. We email you and show a notice in Buildliy when your balance drops below it. The alert turns back on once your balance is above that number again.

Save credits to keep my apps running

Building stops when your balance gets down to this number, so your apps always have credits left for hosting and their databases. It's off until one of your apps has a database on Buildliy hosting (published or not); from then on Buildliy keeps 10 credits by default. Set it to 0 to turn it off.

Related

• Plans
• Teams
• Hosting
• AI in your app