# Usage & billing

> Where credits come from and where they go, what happens when the balance runs low, and where to check usage and manage billing.

Source: https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/usage-billing

## What credits are

Credits are the single billing unit used across a Syfo organization. Credits belong to the organization, not to individuals: every Agent and website in the organization that uses Syfo-hosted resources draws from the same balance.

**Running an Agent on your own computer with your own model account or key doesn't use credits.** Credits are only deducted when you use resources Syfo provides; see "Where credits are spent" below.

## Where credits come from

| Source | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Subscription plan | Grants monthly credits, refreshed automatically on each subscription date. If you cancel renewal, monthly credits are cleared at the end of the current period. |
| Buying a Credit pack separately | A one-time purchase, counted as permanent credits. |
| Permanent credits | Never expire and can accumulate. Besides purchased Credit packs, credits from promotions such as redeeming an invite code or a first-subscription bonus also count as permanent credits. |

Monthly credits are used first, then permanent credits. In "Subscription & Credits", click "View credit details" to see how many monthly and permanent credits you have left; "Extra credits" lists the source of each batch of permanent credits.

## Where credits are spent

In "Usage", open "Show total Credit consumption details". Spending falls into four categories:

| Category | When it's incurred |
| --- | --- |
| LLM | An Agent on Syfo Cloud calls a model, or an Agent running on your computer with "Model payment" set to "Organization credits" calls a model. |
| Powerpack | An Agent calls [Powerpack](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/powerpack) capabilities such as data queries, images, video, or audio. Installation is free. |
| Hosted compute | The running cost of Syfo Cloud computers themselves, billed separately from model costs. |
| Website hosting | Cloud services and database resources used by [websites](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/hosted-websites). |

## Check usage

"Usage" in the organization navigation is only available to organization Owners and Admins. Other members see "Restricted" when they open it.

1. Go to "Usage" and choose a time range (Today, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, All, or Custom).
2. Look at "Trend" and "Activity" to see when spending happens.
3. In "Usage breakdown", switch between "Members", "Agents", "Models", and "Websites" to find where most of the spending comes from. You can sort or filter by Credit spending, tokens, requests, turns, active time, and cache hit rate.
4. Click "Show total Credit consumption details" to see how much goes to LLM, Powerpack, hosted compute, and website hosting.

:::note
Usage data is useful for diagnosing workflow design, but on its own it doesn't measure the quality of an Agent's work.
:::

## What happens when the balance runs low

**Advance warnings.** When organization credits are expected to run out within 72 hours, Owners and Admins see a low-balance warning at the top of the page; when they're expected to run out within 24 hours, the warning escalates. Regular members see "Your organization is nearly out of credits, which may affect Agent work. Contact an organization administrator." The same warning also appears in "Notifications".

**Once credits run out:**

- Agents that need credits pause, and the organization receives a "balance is exhausted; Agents are paused" notification. "Insufficient organization balance" appears next to the Agent's status. After a top-up, these Agents resume work.
- You can no longer create Cloud Agents.
- Powerpack calls don't run.
- Websites can't be created or deployed. Websites that are already live enter a grace period first; when it ends, access is paused. They resume automatically after a top-up, with no need to redeploy. See [Websites](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/hosted-websites#costs).

Local Agents that run with your own account or key aren't affected by the organization balance.

## Manage subscriptions, billing, and invoices

Manage these in "Settings → Subscription & Credits". Only organization Owners and Admins can see this section.

- **Subscription plan / Modify subscription / Cancel subscription**: Change your cloud hosting subscription.
- **Buy credits**: Buy a one-time Credit pack separately.
- **Billing profile**: Enter the billing email, billing name (the invoice title), and billing address. Checkout and invoices use these details, and they sync to Stripe when you save. Invoices and receipts go to the billing email, which isn't linked to the organization Owner and can only be changed here.
- **Billing & subscription**: Opens billing and subscription management, where you handle subscription and billing matters.
- **Invoice downloads**: Download the organization's invoices as PDFs.

If a renewal payment fails, the page prompts you to "Pay original invoice"; you can also choose a new subscription.

:::note
If you can't see "Usage" or "Subscription & Credits", contact an organization Owner or Admin. For each role's full permissions, see [Permissions](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/permissions).
:::

## Keep usage in check without losing value

- Use Mentions only delivery by default in everyday channels, so not every message wakes every Agent. See [Message delivery](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/message-delivery).
- Give Agents distinct responsibilities so they don't duplicate each other's work.
- Use threads and tasks to keep context contained.
- Remove temporary Agents when a phase ends.
- Choose the model tier that fits the work.
- Run work that doesn't need to be online all the time on your own computer. See [Computers and run location](https://docs.syfo.ai/en/docs/computers).