> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.inkwell.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Credits & Billing

> Understand how Quill AI credits work and how to manage your usage.

Quill AI uses a credit system to track AI usage. Each request costs credits in proportion to how much computation it took — short questions cost a few credits, long agentic edits with attached files cost more. This guide explains how credits work and how to manage them.

## How Credits Work

Every time you send a request to Quill AI, credits are deducted from your account based on:

1. **Input size** — how much context, including attached files and prior turns, the AI processed
2. **Output size** — how much the AI wrote back
3. **Reasoning depth** — complex requests that require multi-step thinking cost more

<Tip>
  There's no model picker — Quill picks the best model for the job automatically. Your job is to write good prompts; ours is to keep cost-per-result sensible.
</Tip>

### Typical credit costs

A rough guide for what to expect per request:

| Request type                                                | Credits |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| Quick edit or short question                                | 1–5     |
| Mid-length chat (no file context)                           | 5–15    |
| Conversation continuing in the same thread                  | 5–20    |
| Long-form rewrite or scene revision                         | 15–40   |
| Heavy agentic turn (multiple tool calls, big attached file) | 40–100+ |

Quill makes a thread cheaper as you use it: the first message in a new thread is more expensive because the AI has to read your script context fresh, but every follow-up in the same conversation reuses cached context at roughly 1/10 the cost.

## Check Your Credit Balance

Your current credit balance is always visible in Inkwell:

**In the Status Bar** (bottom-right corner):

* Shows your remaining credits
* Updates in real-time after each request

**In the Quill AI Panel**:

* Credit count appears in the header
* Click to see detailed usage information

## Free Plan Credits

The free plan includes:

* **100 welcome credits** the day you sign up
* **15 credits per month** on the 1st of each month thereafter
* Full access to Quill AI

**What you can do with 100 welcome credits**: explore Quill's full feature set across a handful of substantive conversations. Enough to find out whether Quill fits how you write — not enough to write a full feature on the house.

<Note>
  Credits do not roll over. Unused monthly credits expire at the end of each month. The welcome bonus is separate and stays in your account until you use it.
</Note>

## Pro Plan Credits

The Pro plan includes:

* **500 credits per month** at **$10/month**, or **$100/year** (save \$20/year)
* Resets on your billing date each month
* Priority support

That's enough credit budget for a Pro user to chat with Quill several times most days through a typical writing month, with room for occasional heavy revision passes.

**Upgrade to Pro** in **Settings → Account** or at [inkwell.app/pro](https://inkwell.app/pro)

## Purchase Additional Credits

If you run out of credits before your reset date, you can purchase more:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Settings">
    Go to **Inkwell → Settings…** (or press `Cmd+,`)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Navigate to Account">
    Click the **Account** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Purchase Credits">
    Click **Buy Credits**. The credit pack is **150 credits for \$4.99**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete purchase">
    Enter payment details and confirm. Credits are added immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Purchased credits never expire and can be used anytime, even after your monthly allocation resets.
</Tip>

## Monitor Your Usage

### View Credit History

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Settings">
    Go to **Inkwell → Settings…** (or press `Cmd+,`)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Account Tab">
    Click **Account** → **Credit History**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review usage">
    See each request with:

    * Date and time
    * Credits consumed
    * Remaining balance
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Tips to stretch your credits

**Stay in the same thread.** Quill caches your script context within a conversation, so follow-up turns cost a fraction of the first turn. Starting a fresh thread for every question makes Quill re-read your script every time.

**Be specific.** A focused question ("rewrite this exchange to feel more like Sorkin") costs about the same as a vague one ("can you make this better?") — but produces a useful result on the first try, saving the credits a second clarifying turn would have cost.

**Attach files once.** If you upload a script or reference PDF early in the conversation, Quill remembers it for the whole thread. Re-attaching the same file in later turns just burns credits.

## Credit Deduction Rules

Credits are deducted when:

* ✅ You send a message to Quill AI
* ✅ Quill responds successfully

Credits are NOT deducted when:

* ❌ You type in the Quill panel without sending
* ❌ A request fails or errors before Quill responds

<Warning>
  Once a request completes successfully, credits cannot be refunded, even if you don't like the output. Refine your prompt before sending if you're not sure what you want.
</Warning>

## Free vs. Pro Comparison

| Feature                | Free Plan      | Pro Plan          |
| ---------------------- | -------------- | ----------------- |
| Welcome credits        | 100 (one-time) | —                 |
| Monthly credits        | 15             | 500               |
| Price                  | \$0            | $10/mo or $100/yr |
| Full Quill AI access   | ✅              | ✅                 |
| Credit rollover        | ❌              | ❌                 |
| Purchase extra credits | ✅              | ✅                 |
| Priority support       | ❌              | ✅                 |

## Frequently Asked Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why do my credit costs vary so much between requests?">
    Quill charges proportionally to actual compute cost. A quick "fix this typo" question and a "rewrite this whole scene with three character revisions" request take very different amounts of work. We pass the difference through as credit cost rather than averaging it across users.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if I run out of credits?">
    Quill AI stops working until either:

    1. Your monthly credits reset (1st of the month for Free, billing date for Pro)
    2. You purchase additional credits
    3. You upgrade to Pro (if on Free plan)

    Your scripts and work are never affected — only Quill AI features are paused.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do unused credits roll over?">
    Monthly plan credits do not roll over and expire at the end of each billing period. **Welcome credits and purchased credit packs never expire** and carry forward indefinitely.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get a refund for unused credits?">
    Monthly plan credits and purchased credit packs are not refundable, but purchased credits never expire — you can use them whenever you come back.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How are credits calculated for long conversations?">
    The first turn in a new thread pays full cost to read your script context. Every follow-up turn in the same thread reuses that context at roughly 1/10 the cost — so a 10-turn conversation usually costs far less than 10 separate one-off questions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if a Quill response is unhelpful?">
    Credits are deducted per successful request, not per quality of output. Try refining your prompt for better results. If you think a response was clearly broken, contact support.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I share credits with others?">
    No. Credits are tied to your individual Inkwell account and cannot be transferred.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Using Quill AI" icon="comments" href="/quill-ai/using-quill">
    Learn conversations, context awareness, and AI philosophy
  </Card>

  <Card title="Upgrade to Pro" icon="star" href="/account/plans-billing">
    Get 500 credits/month for \$10
  </Card>

  <Card title="Limitations" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/quill-ai/limitations-caveats">
    Understand AI caveats and best practices
  </Card>
</CardGroup>