# Credits and tokens

Credits are the unit Intangible bills generation work in. Every image render, video render, AI Composer prompt, Generate 3D Asset call, and image edit costs a deterministic number of credits. The counter at the top-right of the workspace shows your remaining balance for the cycle.

## Why it exists

Diffusion models cost real money to run – a single video render at 2K can cost a few dollars on the model provider's API. Hidden costs in a creative tool are how budgets blow up mid-project. Credits make the cost visible at the workspace level: the counter at the top-right tracks every charge as it lands.

The counter is a live read of your tier's monthly allotment plus any credit packs you've bought, minus what you've spent. It refreshes per-action.

## What it looks like in the product

The credit counter sits at the top-right of the workspace, between the bug-report icon and the Run/Generate button. Click the number for a breakdown by action type and a link to the plan-management page.

![Credit counter visible in the top-right toolbar ("5474" with the Intangible-mark icon)](/files/Tk0h4k4nWyMxjq4U8M02)

Inside the visualizer panel, the **1K / 2K** resolution toggle sits near the bottom of the Visualize panel, just above the Generate button. There's no live cost preview on the Generate button itself; the credit counter at the top-right is the source of truth for your remaining balance.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you trigger a paywalled action (or run out of credits), the paywall appears when you click Generate, not before. Hover does nothing; the click is the commitment.
{% endhint %}

## How the visualizer thinks about cost

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Free / Explorer / Business tier] -->|monthly allotment| C[Credit pool]
    B[Credit pack purchase] -->|adds to| C
    C -->|charged per action| D[Image render]
    C -->|charged per action| E[Video render]
    C -->|charged per action| F[AI Composer]
    C -->|charged per action| G[Generate 3D Asset]
    C -->|charged per action| H[Image edit]
```

Some actions are explicitly free:

* Switching modes
* Adding objects from the asset library
* Moving, rotating, scaling
* Renaming
* Adjusting environment settings (sun, fog, terrain)
* Reading the auto-prompt

Anything that touches a generation API costs credits. Anything purely local does not.

## How much does each action cost?

Specific credit costs change as model providers adjust pricing on their end. The current matrix lives at [intangible.ai/pricing](https://www.intangible.ai/pricing) and inside the credit-counter dropdown. As ballpark for planning:

| Action                                                    | Approximate credit cost                                      | Counts against                |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------- |
| Switching modes, adding library assets, environment edits | Free                                                         | –                             |
| AI Composer prompt that builds an environment             | A few credits                                                | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| 1K image render                                           | Cheap (tens per credit pack)                                 | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| 2K image render                                           | Roughly 2× a 1K render of the same model; varies by provider | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| Image edit (pencil tool)                                  | Lower than a fresh render                                    | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| Generate 3D Asset                                         | Higher than image, lower than video                          | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| Standard-duration video render                            | Substantially more than image                                | Monthly first, then Purchased |
| Video at 2K with audio                                    | The single most expensive action in the product              | Monthly first, then Purchased |

{% hint style="warning" %}
Video at 2K with audio is the most expensive single action in the product. Run 1K previews to confirm composition, then commit to 2K for the final.
{% endhint %}

## When to reach for it

Anytime you're a few weeks into a project and want to see what's been driving spend, click the counter and look at the breakdown. Find the action category that's eating the budget. Common answers: 2K video iterations, AI Composer overuse on tiny scenes.

## When you run out

The Generate button disables when your balance reaches zero. Three options:

* **Buy a credit pack**: covered in [Plans and billing](/teams-and-billing/plans-and-billing.md). Discrete top-up that doesn't change your tier.
* **Upgrade your tier**: bumps your monthly allotment and unlocks tier-gated capability. Generate 3D Asset is limited on Free; Explorer, Business, and Enterprise get full access. See [intangible.ai/pricing](https://www.intangible.ai/pricing).
* **Wait for the cycle to roll over**: free option, slow option.

## Related

* [Plans and billing](/teams-and-billing/plans-and-billing.md)
* [Resolution and cost](/visualize/resolution-and-cost.md)
* [Generate image](/visualize/generate-image.md)
* [Generate video](/visualize/generate-video.md)


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