# Credits & plans

Every generation costs **credits**. Credits come from your plan; usage is
metered per job by the underlying model.

## Free tier

New accounts start free. You can use the standard tools and generate within your
included credits — with a **limited set of models**:

| What | On the free plan |
|---|---|
| Images | `flux_schnell` — the fast draft tier (1 cr) |
| Video | `happyhorse_11_i2v` — animate a still image, with audio (from 140 cr) |
| Assembly & editing | All of it — assemble, trim, mix audio, subtitles-free export, watermark, blur, format export. Free or near-free, so a finished piece is reachable on the free plan. |
| Everything else | Needs a paid plan — the higher image tiers, image editing, the other video models, upscaling, voices and music, QA checks. |

Every plan can have its own model list — paid plans are unrestricted today. Call
`models(action="list")` (or `GET /v1/models`) and you will see exactly what your own
plan can run — the catalog is filtered to your plan, so nothing in it will refuse
you. Asking for a model your plan doesn't include returns a clear error naming the
model, with a pointer to the plans; **nothing is charged** for a refused request.

## Paid plans

Paid plans are **subscriptions** with stepped tiers — more credits per cycle as
you move up. Manage everything from the console:

[**framehood.ai/app/billing**](https://framehood.ai/app/billing)

- **Subscribe / upgrade:** takes effect immediately. Upgrading mid-cycle charges
  the prorated difference and grants the new credits right away.
- **Downgrade:** takes effect at the start of your next cycle.
- **Rollover:** unused credits partially carry into the next cycle, up to a cap.
- **Payment & invoices:** managed through the Stripe customer portal (the
  *Manage subscription* button).

## Extra usage

Need to keep going after the included credits run out? Owners can turn on **Extra
usage** so the shared pool tops itself up off-session when it runs low — no manual
checkout, no interruption.

Extra usage is billed at a **premium rate of €0.0125 per credit** (80 credits per €)
— **higher than your plan's rate**. It's meant as a safety margin, not a substitute
for the right plan: moving to a larger package lowers your per-credit cost. The
config returns a `rate_note` reminding you of this.

You set:

- a **trigger** — top up when the balance drops below N credits,
- a **top-up amount** in euros — **€5 minimum, in €5 steps** (€5 buys 400 credits at
  the extra-usage rate), and
- a **per-cycle cap** in euros — the most Extra usage can charge in a single billing
  cycle, as a safety ceiling.

Extra usage **reuses the card already on your subscription** — a subscriber is never
asked to add one. The cap resets at the start of each billing cycle.

## From MCP and the CLI

You can check and manage billing without leaving your tools:

```
billing(balance)                         # current credits
billing(plan)                            # your current plan
billing(plans)                           # available subscription steps
billing(subscribe, step="studio_1")      # subscribe to a plan
billing(topup, amount_eur=20)            # one-off credit purchase (min €20, owner)
billing(extra_usage)                     # view Extra-usage config (owner)
billing(set_extra_usage, enabled=true, trigger_below=200, amount_eur=5, extra_usage_cap_eur=40)  # owner
billing(manage)                          # link to the customer portal
```

`billing(subscribe, …)` returns a Stripe Checkout link to open in a browser — the
tools can't redirect you, and credits are added once the payment completes. Extra
usage charges the subscription card off-session, so there's no browser step.

CLI: `framehood balance`.

## Organizations

An organization has an **owner** who pays and whose plan funds a shared credit
pool, plus **members** who draw from it. Members don't have payment access;
instead they call `billing(request_upgrade)` (or use the console) to email the
owner a request. Owners also get org-management tools (`org` / the Team screen)
to invite and remove members and see spend.