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FROM OUR OWN PRICING RESEARCH

What AI features actually cost — the credit is where the price hides

Most software you already pay for now has an AI feature, and it is rarely priced like the rest of the product. Our catalog holds pricing research on 490 tools. For 19 of them the research states a concrete AI cost condition: what the meter counts, how much is included, when it resets and what happens when it runs out. Those 19 are below, each with its source.

Content last changed 1 October 2026.

Short answer: the subscription is often not the whole bill. AI features are commonly metered in credits, capped per tier, sold as an add-on, or reserved for a higher plan — and the conversion from "credit" to the thing you wanted is the number vendors publish least often.

Four questions before you pay

What do I pay for? A seat, a credit, a minute, a session — find the unit the AI is metered in.
How much is included? The allowance per month, per seat or per account, and on which plan.
When does it reset? "400 credits" and "400 credits a month" are different products.
What happens when it runs out? A top-up price, an overage rate, a hard stop or a sales call.

Then convert to your own unit of work (a finished deck, a minute of usable video, a researched lead) and check whether retries count. The records below answer these four questions where the vendor does, and say so where it doesn't.

One subscription, several meters

Seat pricing multiplies predictably. AI features broke that, because the vendor's own cost is per generation, so the bill splits into meters that run at different speeds.

Our illustration. The four patterns below are the ones that recur in our research.

1. Credits, where a retry can count as a use

ElevenLabs charges per generation request, and a regeneration is only free while the content and settings are unchanged. Lindy.ai publishes its own ranges: 2–250 credits for an everyday ask, 1,000–2,500 for a big build. Retries can raise usage, depending on what the meter counts — so estimate attempts, not finished outputs.

2. Caps per tier, which decide your ceiling

Here the AI is included but rationed. Descript runs two meters under a per-editor price: media hours and monthly AI credits. Gamma gives 400 credits once at signup, then 1,000 a month on Plus and 4,000 on Pro. Fireflies.ai keeps Pro on the same 20 AI credits as its free plan. The tier you need can be set by usage rather than headcount.

3. AI as an add-on, priced apart from the plan

Freshchat and Freshservice both sell Freddy AI Copilot at $29 an agent a month on top of the seat — on Freshservice even on Enterprise, whose card says "Freddy AI included" about a different product. SEO Space sells its agent layer as a second subscription. Wati bills AI co-pilot credits as an add-on, with Meta's fees on top. If the AI is why you're buying, check whether it is inside the number you're comparing.

4. Nothing published

Pingtree's pricing page, read on 27 September 2026, lists usage in leads, pings, clicks and storage and presents Copilot, its AI builder, as the self-serve way to build — but states no AI usage limit or credit. That is not a verdict on the product. It means the AI part cannot be budgeted from the website: ask before you commit.

The 19 tools, record by record

Each record comes from our dossier for that tool; the build refuses to publish a record whose wording no longer matches the dossier. "Not stated in our research" means we did not find it on the vendor's pages, not that it doesn't exist. Check dates run between 7 September 2026 and 29 September 2026.

ElevenLabs

What does a retake cost?

Meter: Credits: 1 per character of text to speech, 330 a minute for speech to text, 900 a minute for music
Allowance: 10k credits free (no commercial licence), 30k on Starter ($6), about 121k on Creator ($22), about 600k on Pro ($99)
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Commercial use starts at Starter ($6 a month)
When it runs out: Extra usage from roughly $0.36 down to $0.17 per additional minute, depending on tier

A regeneration is only free while the content and settings are unchanged.

Checked 23 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit ElevenLabs

Lindy.ai

How many credits does one task use?

Meter: Credits per task: 2-250 for an everyday ask, 250-1,000 for deep work, 1,000-2,500 for a big build (the vendor's own ranges)
Allowance: 3k per user a month on Plus ($29.99), 15k on Pro ($99.99), 35k on Max ($199.99)
Resets: Each billing cycle; unused credits do not roll over
Plan needed: Sold per user; every seat's credits pool into one workspace balance
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 12 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Lindy.ai

Emergent

Is a higher tier cheaper per credit?

Meter: Credits for building and changing apps
Allowance: 10 a month free, 100 on Standard ($20, or $17 billed annually), 750 on Pro ($200, or $167 annually)
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Business and Enterprise are quote-only
When it runs out: No published tier above Pro

Pro costs about 26.7 cents a credit against 20 on Standard: a third more per credit, not less.

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Emergent

Ngram

How much video do the credits buy?

Meter: Credits per second of premium AI generation, from 10 a second
Allowance: 600 once on Free (capped at 60 seconds), 3,000 a month on Basic ($29, or $23.20 annually), about five minutes of generated footage
Resets: Monthly on paid plans; one-time on Free
Plan needed: Export resolution is tiered: 720p Basic, 1080p Premium, 4K Ultimate
When it runs out: 1,000 extra credits cost $40 on Free, $20 on Basic, $15 on Premium and $10 on Ultimate

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Ngram

Gamma

Does the free allowance renew?

Meter: Credits per generation: 1-3 per card, 34-75 per premium image
Allowance: 400 once at signup on Free; 1,000 a month on Plus, 4,000 on Pro (served to us in euros: €10 and €24 a month)
Resets: Monthly on paid plans; the free 400 do not refresh
Plan needed: Team and Business credits are per seat (6,000 and 10,000)
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Gamma's developer docs estimate a 20-card doc with 15 premium images at roughly 320-1,070 credits.

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Gamma

Descript

What caps the plan: hours or AI?

Meter: Two meters: media hours and AI credits, per editor
Allowance: 400 credits a month on Hobbyist ($16 per person billed annually, $24 monthly), 800 on Creator, 1,500 on Business
Resets: Monthly on paid plans; Free gives 100 AI credits once
Plan needed: Per editor
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 7 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Descript

InVideo

Can I try it without paying?

Meter: Credits per seat
Allowance: 400 a seat a month on Starter ($20), 2,000 on Plus ($50 billed annually, $60 monthly), 5,000 on Max ($100 / $150)
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: No free tier on the pricing page (checked 24 September 2026)
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 24 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit InVideo

Fireflies.ai

Does upgrading buy more AI?

Meter: AI credits, next to per-seat pricing
Allowance: 20 a month on Free, 20 on Pro, 30 on Business, 50 on Enterprise
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Pro ($10 a seat billed annually, $18 monthly) adds recording and storage, not AI credits
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Fireflies.ai

Miro

How many AI credits does each member get?

Meter: AI credits per member
Allowance: 10 a month on Free (a limited trial), 25 per member on Starter, 50 on Business; Enterprise from 2,500 a month, pooled
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Enterprise pools credits org-wide
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 23 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Miro

Team Pulse

Where do the AI credits step up?

Meter: AI credits
Allowance: 15 a month on Free, 100 on Starter, 250 on Growth, 750 on Pro, 1,500 on Scale
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Growth is the first plan with a pipeline and AI workflow generation
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 22 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Team Pulse

SEO Space

Is the AI agent layer in the plan?

Meter: AI credits per plan, plus a separate agent add-on
Allowance: 50, 200 and 500 AI credits a month across the three tiers
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Orbit, a five-agent AI layer, is not in any plan
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Orbit is a second subscription at $119 a month or $952 a year (read 16 September 2026).

Checked 16 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit SEO Space

Atria

What does the step to the next tier buy?

Meter: AI credits and brand-tracking slots
Allowance: 4,000 AI credits a month on Core ($129 billed annually), 10,000 on Plus ($479)
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: AI insights on followed brands start at Plus
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Core to Plus is roughly 3.7 times the price for 2.5 times the credits.

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Atria

Bread & Butter

What does one researched lead cost?

Meter: Credits: 10-150 per profile researched, 2 per stored profile above 5,000, 5 per Intelligence Brief sync
Allowance: 3,000 a month on AI Enabled Pro ($49 a month per website)
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: The free tier has none of the AI layer; pricing is per website
When it runs out: Scale Credits: $89 a month per 10,000, stackable

Checked 20 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Bread & Butter

Freshchat

What does the AI add-on cost per agent?

Meter: Freddy AI Copilot per agent; Freddy AI Agent per session
Allowance: 500 AI Agent sessions once per paid account
Resets: One-time allowance
Plan needed: Copilot is an add-on: $29 an agent a month billed annually ($35 monthly)
When it runs out: $49 per 100 AI Agent sessions beyond the first 500

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Freshchat

Freshservice

Is Copilot included on Enterprise?

Meter: Freddy AI Copilot per agent, on top of the seat
Allowance: Enterprise includes Freddy AI Agent (Classic) at 1,200 sessions per licence per year
Resets: Yearly for the included sessions
Plan needed: Copilot is $29 an agent a month on every tier, Enterprise included
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 29 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Freshservice

Wati

Which AI parts are billed separately?

Meter: AI co-pilot credits as an add-on; Astra AI agents priced separately
Allowance: Add-on: 1,000 AI co-pilot credits for €25 a month
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: Not in the base plan
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Meta's per-conversation fees land on top of everything.

Checked 12 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Wati

Later

What do extra AI credits cost?

Meter: AI credits
Allowance: Not stated in our research
Resets: Monthly add-on
Plan needed: Not stated in our research
When it runs out: Extra AI credits are $3.75 a month per 100

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Later

Aircall

What does the AI cost on top of the licence?

Meter: Per licence for AI Assist; per minute for AI Voice Agents
Allowance: 50 free AI Voice Agent minutes per account a month, plus 100 at sign-up
Resets: Monthly
Plan needed: AI Assist features are included on Professional; otherwise AI Assist is $9 per licence a month and AI Assist Pro $49
When it runs out: $175 for 500 minutes, $725 for 2,500, or $0.49 a minute pay-as-you-go ($0.39 above 2,500)

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Aircall

Pingtree

Can I budget the AI from the website?

Meter: Not published: the pricing page lists usage in leads, pings, clicks and storage, and presents Copilot as the self-serve way to build
Allowance: Not stated in our research
Resets: Not stated in our research
Plan needed: Not stated in our research
When it runs out: Not stated in our research

Checked 27 September 2026

Their pricing page Our dossier Visit Pingtree

Prices move. Check the vendor's pricing page before you commit; the full research for each tool is in its dossier, and the cost flags across our catalog of 490 tools are in the Atlas.

Frequently asked questions

Why do AI tools charge in credits instead of a flat fee?

A model call has a real cost to the vendor every time it runs, and that cost varies with what you ask for. Credits pass the variability on to you. The useful version tells you what one credit buys; the less useful version gives you a balance without the conversion.

Do retries cost credits?

Often, but it depends on what the meter counts. ElevenLabs charges per generation request, and a regeneration is only free while the content and settings are unchanged. Lindy.ai publishes ranges per task rather than a fixed price. Check what counts as one use before you estimate how many you need.

How do I compare two tools when both price in credits?

Convert both to your own unit of work: cost per finished deck, per minute of video, per researched lead. That means finding out what one unit consumes. Where a vendor publishes it, comparison is arithmetic: Ngram states from 10 credits a second of premium AI generation, Gamma 1-3 credits a card. Where they don't, ask, and treat the missing answer as part of the price.

Are free AI allowances worth anything?

Some are a working budget and some are a sample. Gamma gives 400 credits once at signup; Miro's free plan carries 10 AI credits a month. Whether an allowance renews monthly or is granted once changes what the free plan is for.

Want this per tool? Every dossier carries the pricing research and the trade-off, including the metering. Browse them in the Honest Software Atlas, query them from your AI assistant with our free MCP server, or read how that works.

Where the numbers come from: our own dossiers, each record with the date its AI amounts were last read on the vendor's site. We publish no prices we haven't researched, and "not stated" is said out loud. Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes what we write: several tools above are our partners and their limits are on this page anyway. How we review →

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