Understanding Credits

How the credit system works — what costs credits, how to buy more, and how to make the most of your credit balance.

ThumbnailCreator uses a credit-based system. Every AI generation or edit uses credits from your balance. Here's how it works.

What Costs Credits

Action	Credits
Generate a thumbnail (AI generation)	1 credit
Edit a thumbnail (AI edit)	1 credit
Generate variations	1 credit per variation
Face swap	1 credit
Style cloning	1 credit
Thumbnail analysis	1 credit
Auto-optimize	1 credit

Free actions (no credits needed):

Uploading images
Downloading thumbnails
Extracting thumbnails from YouTube URLs
Organizing collections
Managing faces, brands, and styles
Browsing trending thumbnails and templates

Checking Your Balance

Your current credit balance is always visible at the top of the editor and on the dashboard. It shows both your base credits and any bonus credits.

Buying Credits

Click Buy Credits in the editor or go to Settings > Billing
Choose a credit package
Complete the purchase via Stripe
Credits are added to your balance immediately

Bonus Credits

Some plans and promotions include bonus credits on top of your base allocation. Bonus credits are displayed separately (e.g., "100 + 50 bonus") so you always know what you have.

Tips for Saving Credits

Use prompt snippets to get your edits right the first time — fewer retries means fewer credits spent
Set up design rules so the AI follows your preferences from the start
Preview before generating — refine your prompt before hitting Generate
Use templates as a starting point instead of generating from scratch
Train your AI with feedback — the more it learns your style, the fewer edits you'll need