> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://zite.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How credits work
> Learn what uses Zite credits, when credits reset, and how the Free plan's monthly credits and daily message limit work together.
## Free plan limits
The Free plan has two limits that work together:
| Limit | Allowance | When it resets |
| - | - | - |
| Credits | 50 credits | At the start of each calendar month |
| Messages | A daily message allowance | Every day at midnight UTC |
You need both credits and a daily message available to build with AI. Reaching either limit prevents you from sending another message.
**A new day does not restore access if you have used all 50 credits.** The daily message allowance only resets into usable messages when you still have credits. If your credit balance is zero, wait until the start of the next calendar month for your Free credits to reset, or [upgrade to a paid plan](/help/platform/account/subscription).
Paid plans do not have a daily message limit. Only the plan's monthly credit limit applies.
## What uses credits
Credits power the usage-based features in your Zite workspace: building and modifying apps with AI, the database agent, and AI fields in databases.
These features use credits based on how much work they do:
* Building with AI in Auto, Chat, Plan, or Build mode
* Using the Database Agent
* AI fields in databases
* Apps using AI with the Zite API key
* Generating documents
Database syncs and app agents may use credits in the future. We will update this guide before those features start consuming credits.
## What does not use credits
Some actions do not consume credits:
* Manual edits, such as changing text, colors, spacing, or layout directly
* Applying a theme from the design panel
* Zite Database storage and standard database operations
* Users visiting your published apps
* Workflow runs from the editor
* Fixing app errors with `Fix it for me`
* Building over MCP from your own AI tool, which runs on that tool's tokens rather than your Zite credits
After the free 7-day trial, [building over MCP](/help/database/mcp/mcp-overview#plan-availability) is included on Team, Zite Enterprise and the current Business plan (400 credits per month or more). Business subscriptions on pricing from before August 2026 don't include it; switch to current pricing from [Billing](https://app.zite.com/home/settings/billing) to turn it on. Connecting over MCP to query and edit your data is available on every plan, including Free. If you already started a trial before this change, you keep that original length.
Zite Apps credits are **separate from any other platform allowances** (like [Fillout Forms submissions](https://www.fillout.com/help/view-responses)) and only reflect what you can use within Zite Apps AI tasks.
## How building uses credits
When you build with AI, the number of credits used depends on how much work Zite needs to do. Simple edits usually use fewer credits, while broad changes, new screens, databases, workflows, or advanced logic use more.
Credit usage can depend on:
* The complexity of your prompt
* The model used
* The size of your app
* How many files, screens, or database tables Zite needs to inspect
* How many changes Zite needs to make
| Sample request | What it does | Credit estimate |
| - | - | - |
| Edit colors, spacing, or font | Small visual or style updates | 0.5 - 0.7 |
| Reposition elements | Moves or resizes components within a screen | 0.6 - 1.0 |
| Change navigation or page branching | Updates flow between screens | 1.0 - 1.5 |
| Add a new page or view | Creates a new screen with elements | 1.5 - 2.25 |
| Modify app layout | Updates structure across a screen | 1.5 - 2.5 |
| Create a database | Sets up a database with tables and fields | 2.0 - 3.0 |
| Change design from an uploaded photo | Analyzes a photo and updates app styling | 2.0 - 3.5 |
| Add user authentication | Creates flows, logic, and UI | 2.5 - 3.5 |
These are estimates. Actual usage can vary based on the size and complexity of your app.
## Check credit usage
You can check how many credits a request used by clicking the `brain icon` at the bottom of a message. This opens a details panel showing the model used, time worked, actions taken, files modified, and credits used.
To view total usage for an app, click `View app usage` underneath the message details.
To see your account-level credit usage and remaining balance, open [Billing & Usage](https://app.zite.com/home/settings/billing).
## How credits reset
Reset timing depends on your plan. Free-plan credits reset at the start of each calendar month. The daily message allowance resets separately at midnight UTC, provided you still have Free credits available.
On a paid Apps plan, credits reset every month based on the exact day and time you first subscribed. For example, if you subscribed on July 13 at 5:15 PM, your credits will reset on August 13 at 5:15 PM.
Annual plans are billed once per year, but their credits still reset monthly on the same subscription day and time. For example, if an annual plan started on July 13 at 5:15 PM, credits reset on August 13 at 5:15 PM, September 13 at 5:15 PM, and so on. Unused monthly credits do not roll over.
If you upgrade from Free to a paid plan, you get the new plan's full monthly credit allowance immediately, and that upgrade time becomes your new billing and credit reset time. If you upgrade an existing paid plan, your monthly credit limit increases immediately, but your credits do not reset and your reset date stays the same.
## Workflow runs are tracked separately
Running workflows from your published apps—to read and write data, connect to integrations, and call third-party APIs—is metered through **workflow runs**, not credits. Each plan includes a monthly workflow run allowance alongside its credit allowance.
Learn more in [Workflow runs and your monthly limit](/help/platform/workflows/overview#workflow-runs-and-your-monthly-limit).
## Add more credits
If you need more credits, you can [upgrade your Apps plan](/help/platform/account/subscription). Higher plans include higher monthly credit limits.
## Cap what each person can spend
Credits are shared across your organization, so one person building heavily draws from the same pool as everyone else. On **Team** and **Enterprise** plans, admins can cap how much any one member spends building with AI — organization-wide, or per person.
See [AI credit limits](/help/platform/account/ai-credit-limits) for the full setup.
## Downgrading after deployment
If you upgrade to a paid plan to create an app and then downgrade after your app is fully built and published:
* Zite will continue to host your app on the Free plan as long as you're not using a custom domain.
* The app creator and app users can still access the app free of charge.
* All paid plans remove Zite branding from your app. It will reappear if you go back to the Free Zite plan. Removing branding from authentication emails requires the Business plan or above and must be configured separately in [Notifications and emails](/help/platform/access/notifications).
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