Lab AI credits
How the Lab assistant is metered — the monthly allowance, what a question costs, Standard and Deep, top-ups, your own daily ceiling, and the endpoints behind it.
What this page is for. The Lab assistant is the one part of Polyrank metered by use. This page explains the unit (credits), where they come from, what spends them and how to keep an eye on them. Backtests, paper runs, searches and every other part of the product do not spend credits; they have their own per-plan limits on the plan table.
The unit
1 credit = $0.01 of real model cost, charged per model call from the usage the runner records. A question to the assistant makes several model calls, so its cost is the sum of those calls:
- A typical question costs about 13 credits (the median measured on real Lab questions). Once you have asked at least three, the app shows the median of your own recent questions instead.
- A Deep chat costs about twice as much as Standard, because it runs a slower, more thorough model for the whole chat (Standard and Deep).
- A question needs a balance of at least 25 credits to start. A call already running is allowed to finish even if it takes the balance a little below zero.
Where credits come from
- The monthly allowance. Every paid plan grants its allowance (per plan on the plan table) at the start of each billing period. Unused allowance does not roll over. When you move up a plan mid-period, the gap is granted at once, prorated to the time left in the period (Change your plan).
- Top-ups, on any paid plan: any amount from $5 to $500. $1 buys 50 credits, plus 10 % more from $100 and 20 % more from $250 — so $10 lands 500 credits, $40 lands 2,000, $100 lands 5,500 and $250 lands 15,000. Top-ups are spent after the allowance and last 12 months from purchase. Checkout runs on Stripe's pages.
Free has no assistant: a call answers "The Lab assistant is part of every paid plan, from Pro Trader."
Your own daily ceiling
There is no hidden daily cap. You can set your own ceiling in credits per UTC day; once today's spend reaches it the assistant stops with "You reached the daily ceiling you set (… credits). Raise it in the credits menu, or ask again tomorrow (UTC)." Below the 25-credit minimum it says how many are left and when the allowance renews, with a top-up button.
Watch your use
Usage & billing shows your balance (allowance and top-ups), spend per UTC day, the period's costliest chats and your top-up history; see Account & usage. The same data by API, with a session or an API key:
| Endpoint | What it returns |
|---|---|
GET /v1/lab/credits | Balance (allowance, top-ups, total), period_end, typical_turn_credits, modes[] (Standard, Deep), packs[], custom_topup range, price_line, your ceiling |
GET /v1/lab/credits/history | The ledger: allowance grants, top-ups, each answer's charge |
GET /v1/lab/credits/usage | Spend per UTC day, the period's top conversations, the queue wait of your recent backtests |
PATCH /v1/lab/credits/settings | Set or clear your daily ceiling |
POST /v1/billing/credits/checkout | Stripe Checkout for a pack ({pack: 500 | 2000 | 5000}) or a custom amount ({amount_cents: 500–50000}) |
GET /v1/billing/credits/purchases | Your top-ups with receipts and refunds |
Full shapes: API Reference.
Related
- Plans & billing — allowance per plan, prices, plan changes, refunds
- The Lab assistant — what a question does with the credits
- Account & usage — where the balance and history live in the app
Plans & billing
The plan table every other page links to — what each plan includes, the Founding Member offer, changing plan, refunds, and card or crypto payment.
Account & usage
Signing in, your account page, claiming your trader profile, Usage & billing (usage, credits, billing tabs), API keys and webhooks in the app, exporting and deleting your data.