Introduction to Account & Billing: Credits, Plans, and Your Workspace¶
Before diving into the detailed billing guides, it helps to have the big picture: how your subscription and credits actually relate to each other, and where to go to manage both.
Two Separate Things: Your Plan and Your Credits¶
Your subscription plan is what you pay for access to the platform, and it typically includes a starting allotment of credits when you subscribe. Credits, separately, are what specific AI-driven and panel-based actions actually consume as you use them - see What Actually Consumes Your Credits (and What Doesn't). Understanding that these are related but distinct concepts makes the rest of billing easier to follow.
What Actually Costs Credits¶
Most of what you do in Opionate - building surveys, using Reporting, saving templates, using the Media Library - doesn't consume credits at all. Credits apply specifically to Text Analytics (generating and classifying), AI Follow-up Questions, and funding a Panel Recruitment wave. See What Actually Consumes Your Credits (and What Doesn't) for the full breakdown.
Where to Manage Everything¶
Your Billing & Subscription page is the single place for all of this: your current plan, your credit balance, your billing history, and the options to buy more credits or switch plans. See How to Buy Credits and Switching or Canceling Your Subscription Plan for the specifics.
Seeing Costs Before You Commit¶
Every credit-based action shows its estimated cost before you confirm it - there's no action that silently spends credits without you seeing the cost up front first.
If You're Just Getting Started¶
You don't need to think deeply about credits until you actually reach a feature that uses them - building your first survey, exploring Reporting, and getting familiar with the platform generally don't touch your credit balance at all.
FAQ¶
Do I need credits to build my first survey?
No - building and running a standard survey doesn't consume credits. You'll only see a credit cost when you use Text Analytics, AI Follow-up, or Panel Recruitment.
Where do I check my current credit balance?
Your Billing & Subscription page shows your current balance alongside your plan and billing history.
What happens if I never use any credit-based features?
Nothing - your subscription and account work fine regardless of whether you ever touch a credit-based feature.
Is there a free trial or free tier?
Check the Plans section of your Billing & Subscription page for current plan options.
Ready for the details? See Understanding Your Credit Balance and Transaction History and Understanding Plan Tiers: What Changes Between Them.