Credits
What a credit buys, how submissions and API calls spend them, and how to top up.
Go to the live page Top up your creditsCredits are how Vilvik bills for work you pay for as you go. One credit is a small unit of compute time. The exact amount per credit is calibrated against the base CPU and memory rates and is shown on the credits page.
What Spends Credits¶
Every run paid with credits is billed the same way, whichever way you sent it: when the run finishes, the cost is worked out from the CPU seconds and memory it actually used, not from the parameters you submitted.
- API and SDK submissions are always paid with credits. That includes re-executing or continuing a submission through the API, since each one is a fresh run.
- Website submissions are covered by your plan and cost nothing, unless you choose Run with credits for a run that goes over your plan's limits. That run gets Premium limits and is billed like an API run. See Plans and Tiers.
- LEGA replies are paid with credits once your monthly LEGA allowance is used up. See LEGA and Credits.
- Reading a result does not cost anything.
Runs paid with credits get Premium limits (generations, genes, run time, runs per day), whatever plan you are on.
A run that fails for an out-of-memory or timeout reason still costs something for the time it ran. A run that fails validation before it starts does not cost anything.
Where the Balance Comes From¶
Every new account starts with free signup credit, and you earn more when friends you invite join (see Invitation Rewards). Free credit is valid for a limited time. Your welcome email and the billing tab both show the date it expires. Anything above your free credit comes out of paid credits, which you buy as a top-up.
The platform always spends free credits first. Paid credits only get touched after the free balance hits zero.
How to Check Your Balance¶
Open the credits page. The page shows:
- Free balance and when it expires.
- Paid balance.
- A history of charges and top-ups.
Topping Up¶
The same page has a Top up button. Pick an amount, follow the Stripe checkout, and the credits land in your paid balance right after the payment confirms.
Your card is safe
Top-ups are processed by Stripe. Your card details are entered on Stripe's secure checkout page and never reach Vilvik's systems. We see only the amount and the payment status.
Receipts¶
Every charge shows up as a ledger entry. Click the row to see the submission it came from and the metering numbers we used to compute the cost. Stripe also emails you a receipt for every paid top-up and subscription charge.
Related Pages¶
LEGA and Credits¶
A credit balance does not unlock LEGA. The agent requires Premium, an active trial, or granted premium access. Once you have access, each LEGA reply is paid from your monthly LEGA allowance first, then from up to $0.75 of your free credit, then from purchased credit. The rest of your free credit is for runs only. The credits page shows how much of your free credit LEGA can still use. LEGA charges appear in your history as LEGA usage, each linked to its conversation. Replies paid entirely from your monthly allowance don't touch your balance, so they only appear on the LEGA conversations page, which lists the cost of every reply. See Prepare a New Submission with LEGA.