Know the likely cost before you create.
SurfStats Studio uses credits for paid AI generation and analysis. The exact charge is calculated from the selected provider, model, duration, size and quantity, and generation pages should show the estimate before the job starts.
Ask Surfstats before you start generating.
Describe the finished result you want. Ask Surfstats can recommend the sequence of tools and show an estimated credit cost for each paid action, a running subtotal and an estimated workflow total before you open the individual creation tools.
Paid generation versus free workflow actions
The exact number varies by the real provider/model rule in SurfStats. These categories explain what to expect.
| Action | Credit expectation | What changes the cost? |
|---|---|---|
| Planning, libraries, setup, approvals, calendar and organization | 0 credits | These organize work rather than call a paid generation provider. |
| Scripts, prompts, captions, analysis and text variants | Lower | Text model/provider and input/output length. |
| Images, thumbnails and character images | Medium | Image model, size, number of outputs, edit/generation mode and provider. |
| Voiceovers, music and AI audio | Medium | Provider, voice/model and text/audio length. |
| AI video, Character Vlog, lip sync, video VFX and long-form segments | Higher | Model/provider, seconds generated, quality, number of segments and output count. |
| Local assembly/rendering actions | Varies / often low | Some local FFmpeg/render operations can still have a platform charge; the tool shows the estimate before execution. |
Current plan safety guardrails
These values come from the same GenerationLimits configuration used by SurfStats. Production overrides therefore appear here automatically.
| Plan | Images at once | Videos at once | Characters at once | Audio at once | Image batch | Video duration | Video/job credit cap | Daily safety cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 sec | 1,375 | 1,200 |
| Pro | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 sec | 2,750 | 3,000 |
| Studio | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 20 sec | 4,500 | 6,000 |
| Studio Max | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 30 sec | 7,000 | 15,000 |
Subscription credit allowances
Plan definitions come from the current FastSpring configuration.
| Plan | Credits each cycle | Cycle rule |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 400 | Refresh monthly; unused subscription credits expire at cycle end. |
| Pro | 1,200 | Refresh monthly; unused subscription credits expire at cycle end. |
| Studio | 3,000 | Refresh monthly; unused subscription credits expire at cycle end. |
| Studio Max | 15,000 | Refresh monthly; unused subscription credits expire at cycle end. |
| Studio Max Unlimited | 5,000 | Refresh monthly; unused subscription credits expire at cycle end. |
Top-up credit packs
Failure and refund behavior
SurfStats is designed to charge before provider spend and return applicable credits when a charged provider/render job fails. A blocked job that never starts should not consume generation credits. Invalid inputs, policy blocks, abuse controls, chargebacks or actions that already completed successfully can follow different rules. If a charged failure is not returned, use Support with the project/job details.
How to spend less
Plan first, use Ask Surfstats to estimate the whole workflow, generate one draft before variants, reuse saved Characters/Worlds/Assets, choose Economy/Google-credit-first routes where appropriate, and inspect the cost beside Generate before every paid action.
Credits FAQ
Plan the cost before you create.
Use Ask Surfstats for a multi-step estimate, then confirm the exact price beside Generate on each tool.