> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.strawberrybrowser.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Credits and usage

> Understand Strawberry credits, monthly plan credits, top-ups, rate-limit windows, agent costs, and why credits can drop.

Credits are Strawberry's usage unit for AI work.

## Core rules

* Browsing websites without companion help does not consume credits.
* Any companion AI response can consume credits, including normal chat replies.
* Agent runs, web research, app actions, and complex workflows usually consume more credits than simple chat messages.

## Credit accounts

A credit account is a separate balance that Strawberry can use for AI work. You always have a personal credit account. If you join a team, you can also have a team credit account.

One credit account is active at a time. New companion replies, agent runs, research, and other AI work use the active account. Personal and team balances stay separate. Switching accounts does not transfer or combine credits.

To see every available credit account and choose the active one in Strawberry:

1. Open the profile menu in the top-right corner.
2. Open **Credit account**.
3. Review each balance and select the account you want to use.

On the web, open **Account** -> **Billing & usage** -> **Credit account**.

Strawberry calls this a **credit account** in user-facing screens. A billing account is the internal record used for subscriptions, invoices, and credit accounting.

## Why credits can drop without an agent run

A regular chat turn still calls an AI model. Model input and output tokens are billed as usage cost even when no separate agent block appears.

Fast, Smart, and Plan all use adaptive thinking when the selected model supports it. Plan mode keeps the current Fast or Smart model tier and adds planning context; switching into Plan does not change the model by itself.

Smart and Fast mode use Claude Sonnet by default. Advanced companion settings can switch Smart mode to premium models, which may use more credits, especially on long-context requests.

## Free plan task sizing

On free plans, Strawberry may right-size very large requests by doing a smaller representative version first. For example, it may find 10 leads before scaling to 100, review a few rows before cleaning a full spreadsheet, or analyze a few competitors before building a broad market map.

If you want the larger batch after reviewing the sample, ask the companion to continue or scale it up.

## How to check usage

1. Open `strawberry://settings/account`.
2. Review the **Usage overview** credits card. It shows the active credit account.
3. In a chat, open the content panel to see credits used by the current chat, account credits left, and any active rate-limit window.
4. Open `strawberry://settings/pricing` for plan limits and billing information.

## Reading the credits bar

The credits bar appears on `strawberry://settings/account`, `strawberry://settings/pricing`, the main settings menu, and the profile menu.

* The headline shows the credits remaining in the active credit account.
* If you have more than one credit account, the account name appears with the balance.
* Personal monthly credits are used before personal top-up credits.
* Team seat credits are used before an eligible shared team pool.
* Top-up credits do not expire.
* The gray part of the bar is what you have already used.

Balances from inactive credit accounts are not added to the active account's bar. Open **Credit account** to compare them.

## Rate limits versus plan credits

Plan credits are your monthly included usage. Rate-limit windows are short-term guardrails that can temporarily limit activity even if you still have monthly credits.

If a rate-limit window appears, wait for the displayed refill time or reduce task intensity.

## Running low

You can:

* Continue with smaller tasks.
* Ask the companion to produce a representative sample first.
* Buy top-up credits.
* Upgrade to a higher plan.
* Switch to another credit account that has available credits.
* For teams, use included seat credits, an eligible shared pool, or metered usage when your team has enabled it.