Credits
How PowerPost credits work — when they're charged, refunded, and checked.
Credits are the unit of billing for the API. You buy them in packs (they don't expire). New accounts get free credits on signup for writing and posting. Image, video, and audio generation need at least one credit purchase first. Buy more from the pricing page or the dashboard.
Credits are account-level: one balance across all workspaces. See Workspaces.
What spends credits
| Action | What drives cost |
|---|---|
| Caption generation | Research mode (regular vs deep), number of unique platforms, image/video analysis, optional source_urls |
| Video caption rendering | Flat per-render charge |
| Image generation | Model and quantity |
| Video generation | Model, duration, and audio settings |
| Audio generation | Speech text length; effects/music duration |
| Publishing | Which platform you publish to, per item that succeeds |
Exact amounts show up on responses as credits_used where applicable. Current rates live on the pricing page.
When charges happen
- Generations — Charged when you start the job. Failed generations are refunded.
- Video caption rendering — Charged when you start the render. Failed renders are refunded.
- Audio generation — Charged when you start the job. Failed generations are refunded.
- Image generation — Partial refunds if only some images fail.
- Publishing — Charged in the background per successful item after publish runs. Failed items aren't charged. The publish/schedule response doesn't include a cost figure because nothing is charged yet.
- Schedule — Credits aren't checked when you schedule. They're charged when the post actually publishes, so keep the balance funded before
scheduled_at.
Checking your balance
curl https://powerpost.ai/api/v1/account/credits \
-H "x-api-key: pp_live_sk_YOUR_KEY"{ "balance": 47 }Requires the account:read scope. Full endpoint details: Get Credits.
Running out of credits
Operations that need credits return 402 with code INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS. Image, video, and audio generation also need a credit purchase first (MEDIA_REQUIRES_PURCHASE). See Errors.
Related
- Get Credits — Endpoint reference
- Research modes — How research affects generation cost
- Publish & schedule — Publishing charges