How Do Credits on Pickaxe Work?

Pickaxe Credits ‍

If you're wondering how credits work on Pickaxe, you're reading the right article. Credits are part of a simple system to keep track of your usage of AI models. In this article we will go over how the Pickaxe credit system works and answer all the most frequently asked questions about them.

Let's dive in.

What is a credit?‍

1 credit = 1 prompt run.

Any time you generate an output, it costs one credit. Here's another way to think about it: every time you push the “submit” or “test” button to run your pickaxe, you use one credit. When you run out of credits, you can't generate more outputs.

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How many credits do I get?‍

Every user gets 50 credits when they sign up for a free account. These credits replenish monthly, at the beginning of the month.

Customers who sign up for a Gold subscription get 1000 credits. These 1000 credits replenish monthly. Additionally, Gold users have the ability to use their own API key, which allows for near unlimited usage directly from OpenAI, Mistral, or whichever model provider is associated with the API key. This means every time you run a pickaxe, it does not use a credit. Instead it bills your API key directly.

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When other people use my Pickaxe, do they use my credits?

The answer is, it depends on where they use your Pickaxe.

If they use it on the pickaxe website, it uses their credits. Not yours.

If they use it on a third-party website (as an embedded pickaxe), it uses your credits.

If they use it in a Studio, it uses your credits.

We'll go into more detail for each scenario below.

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Pickaxes on Pickaxeproject.com

When a tool is used on the pickaxe website, whoever presses the “submit” button, spends the credit. The owner of the Pickaxe is not debited.

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Embedded pickaxes (on a third-party website)

Embedded pickaxes work differently. Embedded pickaxes always debit the pickaxe owner's account. If you embed a pickaxe on your website, every time someone presses “submit” on the embedded tool, it uses one of your credits.

This system allows people to use pickaxes embedded on your website without signing up for a Pickaxe account. It’s a way to sponsor free usage of your tool.

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Pickaxes in a Studio

When you put a tool inside a Studio, usage works similarly to an embedded Pickaxe. Studio pickaxes always debit the pickaxe owner's account. Importantly, in a studio you are controlling usage of your tools through your own credit system. And most likely, you are selling usage of your tools.

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Can I limit use of my embedded pickaxe?

You can always control the amount of times an individual user can run an embedded pickaxe. To set a limit on each use, go to the “embed” page for a pickaxe and look for a slider labeled “prompt runs per user”.

Screenshot of the usage slider on the embed page.

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Can I limit use of my studio pickaxe?

Yes. You can always control the amount of times an individual user can run a pickaxe in a studio. The studio has a robust system for setting usage tiers and prices. To set a limit on users, go to the Access tab of your studio.

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How do I see how many credits I have?

To see your credits balance, simply go to your account page. You credits will be listed there.

The account page lists your credit balance

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Can I buy more credits?‍

You can buy additional credits on Pickaxe with ease. You can purchase either 100 or 250 extra monthly credits. Users can also upgrade to a Gold subscription to get 1000 credits.

If you need more than 1000 credits, you can always purchase additional credits. However, we highly recommend that customers use their own OpenAI API key.

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Can I use my own API Key?

Yes, you can use your own OpenAI API key or Claude API key on Pickaxe. When your Pickaxe has an API key in it, you do not use your credits. Instead you are billed by the model provider directly, usually at a lower cost. Using your own API key is cheaper than buying credits from us and provides near unlimited usage. This means instead of using credits, you will be billed per use by OpenAI directly. Pickaxe sells credits at a slight upcharge to cover our costs. By using your own API key, you can ensure uninterrupted, cheaper usage of AI models. If you're curious to learn more, you can watch this more detailed explanation about the advantages of using your own API key over credits.

Getting an API key from a model provider is very simple. If you want help getting an OpenAI API key, you can read about how to get your own OpenAI API key here. If you want help getting a Claude API key, you can read about how to get your own Claude API key here.

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How do credits replenish?

‍Credits replenish every 30 days. Credits replenish in aggregate, meaning all at once.

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Why use a credit system?

‍Every time you use an AI model, there is an associated cost from the model provider. Oftentimes this provider is OpenAI. When you use these models through a platform like Pickaxe, we are paying for these interactions.

Credits are a way for us to keep track of the uses. Giving credits is easier than billing customers per each use, which often differs depending on the size of the prompt. Credits are a simple, uniform system. 1 credit = 1 prompt run. That way you never have to worry about how much a specific generation costs. You always know it's 1 credit.

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How Do Credits on Pickaxe Work?

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