ChanTan Studio DocsDo I Get My Credits Back if a Build Fails?
ChanTan Studio never charges for work that didn't happen. What happens to your credits when a build fails, when you press Stop, or when you run out mid-build.
The short version: ChanTan never charges you for work that didn't happen.
Before a build, credits are reserved — set aside, not spent. When the build ends, the reservation settles to the real cost and the unused part returns to you automatically.
Your "Credit activity" list on the Wallet page describes every movement in plain words, so you can always check.
Why credits look "held"
When a build starts, ChanTan sets aside enough credits to cover it in the worst case. Nothing has been spent at that moment.
In Settings → Billing you'll see this written as "{n} credits reserved by running work."
That's also why the big "Available balance" number doesn't fall while the AI is working — it shows everything you own, held credits included. The two numbers match again once the build finishes.
If credits stay held after a build ended
They release on their own — normally within seconds of the build finishing.
If something crashed, the release can take longer, but it always happens — at the very latest within 24 hours. If a new build is blocked because credits look stuck, ChanTan first tries to free your own old holds and then tries the build again.
⚠️ If credits are still stuck after a full day, write to support@chantan.studio with your project name.
What happens in each situation
| What happened | What you pay |
|---|---|
| The build finished normally | Only the real cost — the rest of the hold returns |
| The build failed or died partway | Only the work that was really done, up to its last completed step |
| You pressed Stop before anything started | Nothing. Everything held comes back |
| You pressed Stop after some work was done | That work only |
| An image failed to generate | Nothing. A failed image is never charged |
| You didn't have enough credits to start | Nothing. The build never begins |
When a build stops unexpectedly you'll sometimes see this honest line in your history: "run died mid-flight; settled from its last cost checkpoint · {project}". It means exactly what it says — you paid up to the point it reached, not for the whole thing.
If you run out of credits before starting
The build never begins and the chat tells you:
"You've run out of credits. Top up to keep building - your project is safe and nothing was charged."
Add credits, then send the same message again.
If you run out in the middle of a build
The build stops safely and the AI says:
"I've paused here — your credits ran out while building. Top up your balance and I'll continue exactly where I left off. Your project is saved, and you were never charged beyond your balance."
Everything already built is saved. You can never be charged past what you had. Top up, send any message, and it carries on.
If payment itself is temporarily unavailable
You'll see: "Billing is temporarily unavailable, so I didn't start paid work. Your project is safe - try again in a moment."
Nothing was charged. Wait a minute and try again.
Money refunds and card disputes
These are different from credits coming back.
- A card refund removes the matching credits again — and any cashback or referral reward that purchase created is reversed too.
- Opening a dispute with your bank pauses spending on the account until it is resolved.
- There is no self-service refund button. Write to support@chantan.studio and the team handles it.
What is always true
- Your project is never lost because of a credit problem — everything built so far is saved.
- One build can never empty your whole balance — there's a maximum any single build may spend, and it stops cleanly at that limit.
- Every charge appears in "Credit activity" with a plain-language description.
Honest limits
- Refunds of money are handled by support, case by case — no one can promise one in advance.
- Automatic releases after a crash can take up to 24 hours, so a balance that looks wrong for an hour is usually just waiting.
- If the same build dies repeatedly, that's worth reporting to support with the project name rather than retrying forever.