# Credits and credit packs

> What credits pay for, how the monthly allowance and a bought balance are used, and how to buy, check and share credits.

Canonical: https://maru.audio/help/credits-and-packs
Documentation index: https://maru.audio/help/llms.txt

Credits pay for hosted work: audio generation on Maru's GPUs, the Studio agent's model use, and audio services such as stem separation, analysis and transcription to MIDI. Playing, publishing, building on your computer and running models locally never use them. Hosted plugin builds have their own monthly count on each plan instead.

You never see credit counts. [Usage](https://maru.audio/usage) shows this month's allowance as a share left and your bought balance in dollars.

## How the allowance and the balance are used

Your plan includes a **monthly allowance**. It is used first and resets each month; what you don't use does not carry over.

When the allowance runs out, work continues on your **balance**: the credits you bought, plus any granted by Maru support. The oldest purchase is used first. Each purchase lasts 12 months from the day you buy it.

If you cancel a paid plan, the balance stays and you keep using it on Free until it expires.

## Buy a pack

Open [Credits](https://maru.audio/credits) and choose a pack, or use **Buy credits** under the balance on [Usage](https://maru.audio/usage). Checkout opens in the same tab and brings you back to the page you started from. The page shows **Payment received** until the payment is added, then your new balance; this usually takes a few seconds.

Every plan pays the same price for a pack. Larger packs add usage, and Pro, Team and Enterprise get more usage from every pack than Free. The rate is fixed when you check out, so changing plan afterwards does not change a purchase. The [Credits](https://maru.audio/credits) page lists the current packs and what each plan gets.

Packs are prepaid: nothing is billed after the fact. Buying opens once usage limits are active on your account; until then, hosted work is measured but not charged, and the buttons say so.

## Check your purchases

Under the balance on [Usage](https://maru.audio/usage), **Purchases** lists each purchase with its date, what you paid, what is left, when it expires and its status:

- **Active**: still has credits and can be used.
- **Used**: spent in full.
- **Expired**: reached 12 months; anything left can no longer be used.

Credits granted by support appear as **Granted**.

## When you run out

Hosted work that needs credits stops before it starts and says so. In the Studio chat, on the sound generator and under a module's generation controls, the message comes with **Buy credits**, and on Free also **Get Pro**. Work that was already running finishes.

A job refused for credits does not spend any. [Generation and credits](https://maru.audio/help/generation-and-credits.md) explains reservations and refunds for failed jobs.

## Organizations

An organization has its own allowance and balance. Members who work for it, by choosing it as their billing account, use its allowance first and then its balance.

- Owners, admins and billing members buy packs from the organization's page in [Organizations](https://maru.audio/account/organizations). Checkout returns there.
- They can set a monthly limit for each member on the balance. The allowance is not counted toward it.
- Other members see the allowance left, the balance and their own limit, but cannot buy. When they reach their limit, their work stops with a message asking them to contact an admin.

## Get help with a charge

Compare the charge with **Purchases** on Usage. Refunds follow the [terms of sale and refunds](https://maru.audio/terms#refunds). If a payment does not reach your balance after a few minutes, or a charge looks wrong, [contact Maru](https://maru.audio/contact#help) with the date and amount. Do not send card details.