Usage Metering
Circuitry meters your usage so you always know what you're spending — and so most of what you do stays free. This page explains what counts, what doesn't, and where to check your balance.
Credits, in one sentence
Credits are Circuitry's single unit for cloud usage. Your plan includes a monthly credit allowance, shared across cloud AI and hosted automation:
| Plan | Monthly credits |
|---|---|
| Free | — |
| Hobby | 3,000 |
| Personal | 6,000 |
| Pro | 15,000 |
| Business | 45,000 (pooled across your team) |
What's free
Most of Circuitry doesn't touch your credits at all:
- Everything in the editor — building and running workflows, designs, sheets, notebooks and code while you work in Circuitry.
- Running on your own computer — workflows, code, terminals and AI that run through the desktop app or a paired Circuitry Server use your hardware, so they're never metered.
- Bringing your own AI — when you connect your own API keys or a local model, that usage is billed by your provider (or free, for local models). It doesn't draw Circuitry credits.
What uses credits
Credits are spent only on things Circuitry runs in the cloud for you:
- Cloud AI — using Circuitry's built-in AI (chat, agents, wizards, image generation). How much you spend depends on the model you pick and how much it has to process.
- Hosted automation — workflows that run in the cloud on Circuitry's servers, such as webhook-triggered automations. These draw from the same credit pool.
Because AI and automation share one pool, you decide how to split it — heavy AI months and heavy automation months both just draw down credits.
Checking your usage
Open your dashboard → Usage to see credits used this billing period — broken down by AI and automation — alongside your remaining balance.
When you reach your limit
Circuitry warns you as you approach your monthly allowance. If you run out, cloud AI and hosted automations pause until your next monthly cycle or until you upgrade your plan. Your editor work, and anything running on your own computer or your own AI keys, keeps going.
Spending fewer credits
- Use your own AI keys or a local model — add them under Settings → Models to run AI on your own account or hardware and skip metered cloud AI.
- Run on your own compute — a paired Circuitry Server or the desktop app runs workflows and AI locally, off the meter.
- Pick the right model — faster, lighter models cost fewer credits; save the largest models for when you need them.