Prepaid credit, step by step: minimums, bonuses and expiry

Subscriptions charge a fixed amount whether you use the allowance or not. Pay-as-you-go flips that: you pay for the work actually run, usually from a prepaid balance. It suits uneven workloads well. But a prepaid balance comes with its own small print, and the small print decides what you really pay.

In the directory, one tool is priced this way: Remake, which is currently in early access with a waiting list. We use its rate-card rates for the worked example here, the same ones the calculator applies. The mechanics are the same questions you should ask of any prepaid or credit-based tool.

Four rules that shape the bill

Try a workload

Pick a workload and a period. The example plans the payments for the whole period, at the start of each credit window, and shows four numbers side by side.

The four bars answer four different questions:

• Work used is what the workload consumes at Remake’s rate-card rates.
• Cash paid is what leaves your bank account. This is the number to compare with a subscription.
• Bonus credit is extra credit earned by large single payments.
• Left unused is credit you bought but did not use within the period.

The two mistakes people make

That is why the Hyperfind calculator ranks the cash paid for the period, never the theoretical cost after bonuses. Bonus credit is counted only once it can arrive, and leftover credit is shown but never deducted from the price.

When pay-as-you-go makes sense

Our pay-as-you-go guide compares the two models. The same questions apply to credit-based subscriptions: does unused credit roll over, when does it expire, and how many credits does one answer cost? Our piece on credits, prompts and answers covers those plans.