---
title: "Credits and usage"
description: "Your plan carries a credit pool spent across transcription, AI Chat, translation and the Meeting Assistant. Credits reset each billing cycle."
---

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

# Credits and usage

Your Speak plan runs on **credits**. Each billing cycle your plan includes a pool of credits that
you spend across everything you do in Speak: transcription, AI Chat, translation, the Meeting
Assistant, and text notes. Credits carry a dollar value, so you can see what an action costs, and
they reset at the start of each cycle.

One balance covers all of it. The same credits can go toward transcription or toward AI Chat, so
you are not locked into separate buckets, and Speak shows the estimated cost before you run
something.

## What draws on your credits

- **Transcription** is based on the length of the audio or video you process, not the time you
  spend in the app. A 30-minute recording uses 30 minutes of transcription.
- **AI Chat** is based on how much text is processed: the transcript sent to the model plus the
  response generated.
- **Re-transcribing** a file runs the full pipeline again, so it draws on your plan again.
- Reviewing transcripts, reading insights, and exporting are free. Only processing new work draws
  on your plan.

## Check your balance and usage

Open the profile menu at the bottom-left of the sidebar, then go to Settings > Billing >
[Usage](https://app.speakai.co/profile/usage) to see your balance and what you have used this
cycle. Your available balance and past invoices are under Settings > Billing >
[Payment & Invoices](https://app.speakai.co/profile/payment).

## If you run low

You are never hard-blocked. When you go past what your plan includes, the extra usage is billed
from your Speak Credit balance, a prepaid balance in US dollars that never expires, and then from
your card. You can top up at any time.

## Add prepaid credit

1. Go to [Payment & Invoices](https://app.speakai.co/profile/payment).
1. Select **Reload your credit**.
1. Enter the amount you want to add and confirm.

Speak AI charges the card you have on file and your balance updates right away. If you have not
added a card yet, use **Add a Card** on the same page first. See
[payment methods](/help/account/payment-methods/) for the full steps.

## Accounts created before credits

Accounts that existed before the move to credits use the earlier model: a monthly allowance of
transcription hours and AI Chat characters, plus a Speak Credit balance in US dollars for anything
beyond it. If that is your account, your Usage page shows hours and characters instead of credits.

## File size

On the free plan, each file can be up to 2 GB. Paid plans can upload larger files. See
[supported formats](/help/uploads/formats/) for the rest of the upload rules.

For current credit amounts and per-seat pricing, see [speakai.co/pricing](https://speakai.co/pricing/?utm_source=docs&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=help).

Evaluating Speak AI for a team? [Book a demo and see your own recordings analyzed](https://calendly.com/speak-ai/demo?utm_source=docs&utm_campaign=book-demo).

---
Related: [Credits calculator](/help/account/credits-calculator/) · [Account](/help/account/) · [Plans and pricing](/help/account/plans/) · [Payment methods](/help/account/payment-methods/)

Source: https://docs.speakai.co/help/account/credits/index.mdx