Credits and Usage Based Billing
Learn how credits work, what uses them, and how billing is calculated for automated page creation.
In this article:
- What are Credits?
- What uses Credits?
- What doesn't use Credits?
- How your Credit balance works
- Pay-as-you-go rates (PAYG)
- How to buy a credit bundle
- How and when you're billed
- Checking your usage and balance
- Frequently Asked Questions
What are Credits?
Credits are units Qwilr measures for automated and/or programmatic page creation. They are billed in addition to your subscription plan, and you are not required to use them to create pages within Qwilr or through our CRM integrations.
What uses Credits?
Qwilr uses Credits as a way to track billing for automated document creation any time you create a page through:
- The Qwilr Public API
- Third-party automation tools like Zapier or Make
- The Smart Proposal Engine (for Scale plan users)
Credits make automated billing predictable. You can pre-purchase a bundle at reduced pricing or use pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pricing with no upfront commitment.
What doesn't use Credits?
The following actions do not consume credits:
- Editing an existing page
- Viewing a page
- Publishing or unpublishing a page
- Creating pages manually in the Qwilr editor (either individually or through the use of templates)
- Creating pages through a CRM integration like HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or Zoho.
- Utilizing other aspects of API like webhook subscriptions.
How your Credit balance works
Your credit balance is represented as both a dollar amount and a number of remaining pages.
When an automated page is created, Qwilr applies your current per-document rate and deducts that amount from your balance, typically deducting a page as well.
Example: If your rate is $2.50/document and you have $100 in credits, you can create approximately 40 documents ($100 ÷ $2.50 = 40).
You can find your credits by going to your initials at the top right of your Qwilr page and clicking on Account settings and then selecting Usage & Credits on the left column.
Note: If your per-document rate changes later, the same dollar balance may cover more or fewer documents.
Pay-as-you-go rates
If you don't have an active credit bundle, either as part of your first year on a Growth or Scale plan or a bundle you've purchased separately, automated document creation is charged at your plan's PAYG rate:
| Plan | Rate per document |
|---|---|
| Starter | $5.00 |
| Growth | $2.50 |
| Scale | $2.50 |
Note: The above pricing is in USD. If your account is billed in AUD, you'll see AUD pricing in your Qwilr billing screens.
How to buy a credit bundle
Purchasing a credit bundle reduces your per-document rate. When you buy a bundle, the dollar amount and estimated per-document count are added to your account. Any new pages will be charged at the new rate once the bundle is purchased.
Step 1. Go to your Qwilr Account settings by clicking on your initials in the top right, and then selecting Account Settings.
Step 2. On the left column click on Usage & Credits. Here you will find toward the bottom of the page two buttons. One to View invoices and the other, which is the one to click to Buy more credits.
Step 3. Select the bundle of credits you want to purchase. You will see a table like the one in the image below. All credit purchases last for 1 year and also lock in the rate per page at that bundle level. Meaning, if you go over your credit usage for the bundle, that rate is set as your current pay as you go rate for pages created over the bundle amount within the year.
Click on the Continue to payment button to purchase.
Step 4. Enter your email and payment details on the check-out page and click Pay and the credits will be added to your account.
How and when you're billed
Automated document creation is billed via a monthly usage invoice, separate from your subscription invoice, even if your subscription is annual.
Your monthly usage invoice includes:
- The number of automated documents created that month
- The per-document rate applied
- Credits applied (if available)
- Any remaining amount due
If your credits cover all usage for the month, your invoice total will be $0. You will only be charged additionally if you have fully used all credits already purchased on your account. Your rate-per-page creation depends on the credit bundle you have or have-not purchased.
Checking your usage and balance
To review your usage and credit balance, go to:
Settings → Billing → Usage & Credits
Here you can see:
- Total automated documents created (recent and historical)
- A monthly usage chart
- Your credit balance (in dollars)
- Your current per-document rate
- Credit expiry dates
- Links to view invoices and purchase additional credits
Note: Document counts may update more frequently than your credit dollar balance. In some cases, the displayed balance updates after your monthly usage invoice is finalized, so it may not reflect real-time usage immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do credits apply to all API requests?
A: No. Credits apply to automated page creation (documents created). Other API actions aren’t billed per request in this model.
Q: Can I set a spending cap or limit usage?
A: Not currently. If your credit reaches $0, usage continues and is billed at your PAYG rate.
Q: What happens when Credits run out?
A: If your credit balance reaches $0, your automations keep running without interruption. Qwilr continues creating documents and usage simply switches to PAYG billing, which appears on your monthly usage invoice.
Q: Do Credits expire?
A: Credits (including free credits and purchased bundles) have an expiry date that you can review. All credits expire after 12 months from date of purchase. To see your current credit status, go to Settings → Billing → Usage & Credits. There you can view:
- Your current credit balance
- Expiry dates for each credit bundle
- Your current per-document rate
Q: What if I upgrade my account from one plan to another in my first year, do I maintain my free credits? What about my purchased credits?
Any remaining free credits from the old plan will be lost, but you will receive the full free credit allocation for the first year of the new plan starting on date of upgrade. For purchased credit bundles, the credits carry over and if the upgraded plan reduces the per-doc rate, then the new rate will apply to the previously purchased bundle as well.
Q: What if I downgrade my account. Do I lose my free credits?
Any free credits given for the first year of an account will be removed on the date the account downgrades. It should be noted, however, that the downgrade occurs at the end of the billing term, typically. Any paid credits will remain but will be billed at Pay-as-you-Go rate of the downgraded account.
Example: If you downgrade from Growth to Starter the PAYG rate per doc goes from $2.50USD to $5.00USD per doc and will deplete your pre-purchased bundle at that rate.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at help@qwilr.com.