ChanTan Studio DocsHow Credits Work in ChanTan Studio
Credits are ChanTan Studio's unit of work: $1 = 128 credits, and they never expire. Where to see your balance, and why some of it can look held.
ChanTan Studio has no monthly subscription. You buy credits when you need them and spend them as you build. The page that holds them is called "Wallet", and its own subtitle says it plainly: "Buy credits as you need them. No monthly package."
$1 = 128 credits. So $10 gives you 1,280 credits.
Credits never expire. Nothing removes them except real work you asked for, a card refund, or a correction made by support.
Where to find your credits
Two ways, both take one click:
- Click the ⚡ number in the top bar of any page.
- Or open "Wallet" from the menu.
On the Wallet page you'll see:
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Available balance" | The big number — everything you own, followed by the word "credits" |
| "PURCHASED" | Every credit you have ever bought |
| "SPENT" | Every credit you have ever used |
| Your loyalty badge | For example "Gold · 8% cashback" |
| "Credit activity" | The list of everything that went in and out |
The page refreshes itself about every 15 seconds, and again whenever you come back to the tab. Credits from a payment, a prize or a reward appear on their own — you don't need to press anything.
Why some credits look "held"
This surprises people, so here it is plainly. When a build starts, ChanTan sets aside enough credits to cover it in the worst case. Nothing has been spent at that moment.
When the build ends, the real amount is taken and everything else comes straight back.
That's why the big "Available balance" number does not drop while the AI is working — it shows everything you own, including what's currently held. In Settings → Billing the held part is written out as "{n} credits reserved by running work."
⚠️ Held credits always release. Normally within seconds of a build finishing — and at the very latest within 24 hours if something crashed.
What a build costs, and why it changes
There is no fixed price per build, because the AI does a different amount of work every time. What changes the cost:
- How much you asked for. Changing one line of text costs a fraction of building a whole site.
- How big your project already is. The AI has to read more before it can safely change anything.
- Whether images were created. Generated photos add cost: today a standard photo is 1 credit and a premium one 22 credits. Those figures can move — the number printed on the card in the app is always the truth.
- Which engine you picked. The engine picker under the chat box shows relative hints — $, $$, $$$. They are hints, not prices.
- How long the work ran. A very large request runs several rounds automatically.
⚠️ One build can never empty your whole balance. There is a maximum any single build may spend. When it reaches that limit the build stops cleanly instead of continuing.
Other things that spend credits
| What you do | How it is charged |
|---|---|
| Build or edit with the AI in chat | Charged when the work finishes |
| Generate or replace an image | Charged only when an image really comes out — a failed image is never charged |
| Record a voice message instead of typing | About 1 credit per recording |
| Talk to the ChanTan AI Expert on a call | By how long you talked |
| AI features inside an app you published | Charged to you, the owner — never to your visitors |
| Hosting a published app | First month free, then 128 credits per month per published app (less than $1) |
| Unlocking a paid database level | A one-off unlock, then a small daily amount |
Hosting is the only recurring charge in ChanTan Studio: it comes out of your wallet on the same day of the month the app was first published, and taking a site offline stops it. During the closed beta that charge is switched off, so nothing is being taken for hosting yet — the full picture is in ChanTan Cloud hosting billing.
Reading your history
Open "Credit activity" on the Wallet page. Lines you'll see include:
| Line in your history | What it was |
|---|---|
| "Credit purchase" | Credits you bought |
| "run {id} · {your project name}" | A normal build or edit |
| "ChanTan AI Expert voice call" | A voice call, charged by length |
| "Daily wheel prize — won {n}" | A wheel win |
| "Credit adjustment" | A reward, a prize, or a correction by support |
The first 5 lines show immediately. "View more" and "Load more" each take about 10 seconds before the extra lines appear. That wait is normal — the page is not broken.
Running low
A red box — "Low balance. Please add credit." — appears when you're running low. Below 3,000 credits you also get a one-time message "⚡ {n} credits left" with a "Fund your wallet now" button, and a banner in the project chat. The banner can be hidden for the rest of the session.
If you run out entirely, nothing breaks: builds simply don't start, and your projects stay exactly as they are.
Honest limits
- There's no way to see the exact price of a build before you send it — only after, in your credit activity.
- The $ / $$ / $$$ engine marks are relative hints, not quotes.
- Receipts and card changes live in Settings → Billing → "Receipts & payment methods", and that button only appears after your first payment.