Credits, top-ups and the spend cap
Updated · 3 min read
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Biilda is free to download. You pay for the work it does, from a balance of credits that you fill in plain US dollars. There are no subscriptions.
How credits work
- 1 credit equals $0.01. A $20 top-up gives you 2,000 credits.
- Credits are a display unit for dollars. Nothing is billed in raw units you would have to decode.
- Bigger jobs cost more and everyday tasks cost very little. Building a new tab costs more while it builds, then it is cheap to run.
- You see your balance in the account menu at the bottom left, and you can watch the cost add up turn by turn while Biilda works.
Top up
- Open the account menu at the bottom left of the app and choose Top up credits. Your browser opens the website.
- Sign in if asked and pick a pack: $20, $50, $100 or $250.
- Pay on the hosted checkout page.
The minimum top-up is $20. Balance updates in the app shortly after.
Quality tiers
You choose a quality level, never a model. There are three: Economy (cheapest, simple work), Balanced (quality and cost), and Best (top quality, hard work). Chat runs on Balanced. Each task carries its own tier, which you set in the Tasks tab. See Tasks and schedules.
The spend cap
Two limits protect your money. Whichever is reached first applies.
- Your balance is a hard limit. Biilda runs on prepaid credits, so you can never spend more than the balance you have added. This is enforced on Biilda's servers, not just in the app, and it is always on.
- The monthly spend cap is $100 a month by default. Every account has one. In the desktop app, open Settings, then Spending, and enter a figure in Monthly spend cap (USD), anywhere from $1 to $100,000. You can raise or lower it any time, and reset it to the default.
The monthly cap is enforced on Biilda's servers too. It counts everything your account spends in a calendar month and resets at 00:00 UTC on the 1st; the app shows when the reset happens. It never lets you spend more than your balance.
When the monthly cap is reached
Work pauses rather than fails.
- Scheduled tasks and employees resume by themselves when you raise the cap, or when the new month starts.
- A chat reply or a build waits for you to press Resume.
Raising the cap takes effect straight away. Because each step reserves a conservative estimate before it runs, work can pause slightly before the exact dollar figure. It never goes over.
When you run low
If your balance cannot cover the next step, the work pauses safely instead of failing. Scheduled tasks pick up again on their own after you top up. In Chat, a paused reply waits behind a Resume button, so you decide when to spend freshly added credits. Work that already finished is not repeated or billed again.
Refunds
Unused credits from a purchase can be refunded within 60 days of that purchase. Purchased credits never expire. Credits already spent on work are not refundable. Read the refund policy on the website for the details.
Related
FAQ
- What does a credit cost?
One credit is one US cent. Packs start at $20, which is 2,000 credits.
- Can I spend more than I deposited?
No. The limit is enforced on our servers, so a run cannot go past your balance.
- Do credits expire?
Purchased credits never expire.
- Which AI model am I using?
You pick Economy, Balanced or Best. Biilda chooses the model behind the scenes.
Ready to try it?
Download Biilda, describe what you want, and approve the plan. Stuck on something? Email support@biilda.com.