---
title: "How credits work: Building and Operating credits"
description: "Building credits pay for what Buildy does in chat. Operating credits pay for what your business runs on its own, like email and AI in your app."
canonical: "https://www.buildy.ai/docs/billing/how-credits-work"
last_updated: "2026-10-28"
---

# How credits work: Building and Operating credits

Buildy has two kinds of credits. Building credits pay for the work Buildy does for you. Operating credits pay for things your business runs on its own. Your plan refills both every month.

## Building credits

Used when Buildy works in chat: building and changing pages, writing ads and posts, creating images and logos, and researching. Each reply shows what it cost. Rough examples:

| Task | About |
|---|---|
| Change a heading | 1 credit |
| Adjust colors or layout | 2 credits |
| First simple website | 5 credits |
| Add a page | 4 credits |
| One social post with an image | 10 credits |
| One ad draft with an image | 15 credits |

These are estimates. A task costs what it actually uses, so a big request costs more than a small one.

## Operating credits

Used when your business runs without you: AI features in your app, images your app creates, and every email you send. One email is about 4.5 credits, so 100 emails are about 450. Operating credits are cheap on purpose, which is why you get thousands.

## What is free

- **Fix with Buildy** in the preview issue indicator. This indicator appears only when the preview detects an issue. Free preview repairs and ordinary requests run separately. If one arrives while the other is running, it waits.
- Short support answers in chat.
- Restoring a checkpoint.
- Saving changes in the Visual Editor.
- A video that fails to render returns its credits.

## Separate balances

Website text and voice chat with your AI Receptionist use Operating credits. Website voice currently uses about 250 credits per connected minute, based on estimated service cost. It needs no phone number.

Buildy voice minutes, video credits and the calls-and-texts balance for your Business Phone Number are not credits. They have their own balances and prices. See [Get more credits](/docs/billing/get-more-credits).

## See your balance

Click your profile picture. The menu shows both balances and your reset date. Click **Usage details** for every charge, or open **Profile Settings > Usage**.

## Common problems

### "Building credits have run out"

New work stops until your monthly reset or an upgrade. See [Get more credits](/docs/billing/get-more-credits).

### "Operating credits have run out"

AI features in your app and email sending pause. Your site stays live. Upgrade or wait for the reset. You get an email when Operating credits drop to 20%.

### A task cost more than I expected

Open **Profile Settings > Usage** to see each charge. Smaller, clearer requests cost less. See [Get what you want from Buildy](/docs/build/get-what-you-want).

## Related

- [When your credits reset](/docs/billing/when-credits-reset)
- [Get more credits](/docs/billing/get-more-credits)
- [Plans and what each one includes](/docs/billing/plans)