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TranSFlator Docs

AI credits

AI credits are the unit TranSFlator uses to bill you for AI work. One credit equals one character of source text sent to an AI engine.

Why per character, not per engine

Section titled “Why per character, not per engine”

Different AI engines have wildly different raw pricing. If we billed you in the engines’ native units you’d never know ahead of time what a batch would cost. Per-character billing means:

  • Predictable cost — a 10-character field label is 10 credits regardless of which engine you pick.
  • Engine swapping is free — you can use Gemini for one batch and Claude for the next and the balance ticks down the same.
  • Fixed margin — we absorb the engine price variance so you don’t have to.

What’s counted

Section titled “What’s counted”

Only the source string is metered. The translation that comes back is free.

A batch’s cost is roughly: sum of source_string.length for each row in the batch. Cancelling a batch mid-flight only charges you for the rows that actually completed.

Balance and renewal

Section titled “Balance and renewal”

Your current balance shows on the dashboard and refreshes live. Free accounts get a starter balance that renews on a 30-day cycle at the same amount. Paid accounts get a monthly allowance that renews on the first day of each billing cycle.

At the moment the credit cycle rolls over, two things happen:

  1. Your ai_credits field is reset to the plan’s renewal amount.
  2. Your translation history in the translations collection is purged — see Delete your account for the GDPR-minimisation rationale.

Running out

Section titled “Running out”

If you run out of credits mid-batch, the batch pauses and the grid shows a “top up required” message. Finished rows are kept; the remaining rows wait until you top up.