When you run out of credit
What stops when the month's included usage and your balance are both spent, what keeps working, and what happens after a top-up.
Every account gets $12 of usage each month: $10 for app usage, plus hosted AI usage, 200 emails and 2 GB of storage. It is spent before any balance, and it expires — a month's unused allowance does not become money.
When that allowance is spent and your balance is empty, the parts of the product that need credit stop. Here is exactly what stops, what keeps working, and what happens after a top-up.
What stops
- Starting a build with the hosted model. A hosted build needs at least $0.25 of credit to begin — the included hosted usage counts toward it. When there is not enough, the desk states the amount and offers Add credits.
- Asking for more changes in a running session on the hosted model. Once both the included hosted usage and the balance are gone, new requests are refused and the reply area shows Build paused. with a plain reason. A turn that is already running finishes and is charged. The app and the changes already made are not lost.
- A published app that uses metered services stops serving. Visitors see a page headed This app is paused that says the app is unavailable right now, with Add credits for the owner. It resumes automatically once credit is added.
- Metered calls from a live app — functions, emails past the included sends, outside web requests, integration calls, and image generation — are refused until credit arrives.
What keeps working
- Building on your own model key. It is not metered, so it does not need credit and is not stopped by an empty balance.
- Your apps, files, records, and the preview. Nothing is deleted and nothing needs rebuilding. The pause is about serving the live address, not about your work.
- A static app keeps serving as long as the account has any allowance left. It only pauses when the account has nothing at all.
What the desk tells you before that
The credits chip in the sidebar shows what is left, which is the allowance first and the balance after it. It turns amber when the hosted credit is below what a build needs, and only turns red when there is nothing left at all.
The Credits dialog shows each allowance separately — functions and requests, hosted model, and emails — with how much is used and the date it renews.
What resumes after you top up
Add credits from the balance in the desk sidebar or the session top bar; select it to open the credits dialog, choose an amount, and pay.
- Published apps resume serving on the next visit. Nothing was lost, and there is nothing to rebuild or publish again.
- The request that was refused continues. The notice that stopped the build offers Add credits; after the payment, the action you were doing picks up where it left off. You do not retype the prompt.
- A new hosted build can start once there is at least $0.25 of credit.
The allowance renews by itself
On the first day of each month the allowance is granted again, and any app that paused because the allowance was spent starts serving on its own. If you would rather not wait, a top-up restores it immediately.
Where to go next
Credits and top-ups covers what credits pay for, the minimum amount, and the ways to pay. Plans and limits lists what the monthly allowance includes.