How credits work
Credits are Corte's single currency for AI: generation, the editing agent, transcription, and storage overages all draw from the same balance. Editing and exporting are always free.
100 credits = $1.
Two pools, one balance
Your balance is the sum of two pools:
- Monthly credits — the budget that comes with Standard (1,000), Pro (3,500), or Business (10,000). It refills at the start of every billing period and doesn't carry over.
- Purchased credits — top-ups, your 50 signup credits (granted when you confirm your email address), and any support adjustments. These never reset and never expire. The 250-credit first-top-up bonus is the one exception: it lasts 90 days.
In plain words: remaining = monthly budget + purchased credits − what you've spent this period (never below zero).
Corte spends your monthly budget first. If you spend past it in a period, the extra is settled against your purchased pool when the new period starts — you won't lose anything you paid for, and the math happens automatically.
What costs credits
| Spend | Unit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Video generation | credits per second (per model) | 5s on Kling 3.0 at 6 cr/s = 30 credits |
| Image generation | credits per image (per model) | 4 images at 4 cr/img = 16 credits |
| Audio generation | credits per 1k characters, or per run | a 400-character voiceover ≈ 1 unit of the model's rate |
| Applications | credits per run (shown on each app) | one Product Reshoot run = its listed price |
| Editing agent | metered by Claude tokens | Sonnet (default): 450 in / 2,250 out per million tokens; Haiku: 150/750; Opus: 750/3,750; minimum 1 credit per turn |
| Transcription | 72 credits per hour of audio | a 20-minute interview ≈ 24 credits |
Exact per-model rates live in Settings → Models and in every model picker — see Choosing a model.
:::tip You always see the price first The Studio composer, Applications, and the Clip Edit Studio all show a live estimate ("~30 credits") next to the Generate button, plus your remaining balance, before you commit. :::
Where to check your balance
- The credits badge at the bottom of the rail, on every screen.
- Settings → Usage for the full picture: both pools, the reset date, and the activity ledger.
Working in a shared project? Generation there spends the project owner's credits, not yours — see Pooled billing.
Running low
- Top up from $5 — purchased credits never expire, your first top-up adds 250 bonus credits, and any top-up unlocks Pro models.
- Upgrade your plan for a bigger monthly budget.