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

# I've run out of credits

> Exactly what stops working when your credit balance hits zero, what keeps running, and how to get going again.

Credits are what the AI spends to do work for you. When your balance reaches
zero, the AI stops — but your business does not. This page is the precise line
between the two.

## Your business keeps running

Nothing that makes you money depends on your credit balance. With zero credits:

* **Your website stays online.** Visitors see it exactly as before.
* **Customers can still buy.** Checkout works, payments go through, orders are
  recorded.
* **Access is still delivered.** Buyers get what they paid for, automatically.
* **Your dashboard still works.** Orders, customers, analytics, settings — all
  of it.
* **Money still reaches you.** Payouts are unaffected.

Running out of credits pauses your assistant. It does not take your business
offline.

## What stops

Anything where the AI does work on your behalf:

* **Chat.** The assistant replies to say it's out of credits rather than doing
  the work.
* **Scheduled automations.** Runs are recorded as failed, with running out of
  credits as the reason. The schedule itself is kept.
* **Image and video generation.**
* **Phone calls.** Outbound calls are refused. Inbound calls answer with a short
  "temporarily unavailable" message rather than ringing out.
* **AI replies to incoming email.** The sender gets a short automatic note back
  instead of a written reply.
* **Web research and lookups.**
* **API calls that cost credits**, which return a payment-required error naming
  the shortfall.

Nothing in that list loses your setup. Schedules, instructions, and drafts are
all still there when you top up.

## Fix it

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open your plan settings">
    Go to **Settings** → **Plan & credits**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Top up">
    Add credits from \$5 up. They land right away and everything resumes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Consider turning on auto top-up">
    It refills your balance automatically when it drops below 250 credits, so a
    long job doesn't stall halfway. See [credits](/docs/features/credits).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Buying credits needs an active paid plan. On the free plan you'll be offered
  an upgrade instead of the top-up form.
</Note>

## Why a balance can drop faster than you expect

* **Every message to the assistant costs credits**, including the ones where it
  retries or fixes its own mistake.
* **Bigger jobs cost more.** Building a whole page is many times a small copy
  tweak.
* **Automations spend on their own schedule**, whether or not you're logged in.

If your balance is disappearing faster than makes sense, **Settings** →
**Plan & credits** has a breakdown of what the credits went on. That's the place
to look before asking.

## What this isn't

* **Not a failed payment.** If a charge was declined, that's a different
  problem — see [a payment of mine failed](/docs/troubleshooting/payment-failed).
* **Not a suspended account.** Zero credits doesn't take anything offline.
* **Not a refund situation.** Credits already spent paid for work that ran.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Credits & what things cost" icon="coins" href="/docs/features/credits">
    What a credit is worth and what spends one.
  </Card>

  <Card title="My site or store is offline" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/docs/troubleshooting/site-or-store-offline">
    If something actually is down, it isn't this.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>