--- title: "How Chaos Credits Work" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/LIC5/859078673/How%20Chaos%20Credits%20Work" format: markdown --- This page explains the core mechanics of the Chaos Credits system: where credits live, how they refresh, the different credit types, and what happens when they run out. ## **Credit pool** --- The **Credit pool **is a single balance, displayed as a number. All subscriptions and credit packs feed into this same pool. When someone in your organisation uses a credit-consuming feature, the system draws from the pool. At the point of consumption, it doesn't matter which subscription originally provided the credits. However, the pool tracks where each credit came from, so you can see a breakdown by subscription, credit usage, expiry date, and refresh date in the **All credits details** view. ## **Named credits vs. Shared pool** --- Within the pool, there are two ways credits are made available to users: ### **1. Named credits** Named credits are reserved for a specific user. When you purchase a named license or an admin assigns one to you in My Chaos, you get your own personal allowance that no one else can use. Your Named credits refresh on the subscription's billing date each month. - **Who can use them:** Only the user to whom the seat is assigned. - **Refresh:** Monthly, on the subscription's billing date. - **Best for:** Anyone who needs a guaranteed monthly allowance. ### **2. Shared pool** This is a shared pool of credits that any user in your organisation can draw from. Admins can set per-user quotas (called *credit limits*) to control how much each person can use from the pool. - **Who can use them:** Any user in the organisation. - **Refresh:** Monthly, on each subscription’s billing date; credit limits reset monthly on the day they were set. - **Best for:** Teams who share workloads, occasional users, or organisations with variable AI usage. - **Default behaviour:** All users start with **unlimited** access to the Floating pool. Admins can set per-user caps as needed. *For more information, see the **[Managе Users and Credit Limits](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LIC5/pages/860651522)** page.* > ℹ️ ### **Enterprise options** > ℹ️ > ℹ️ Larger organisations can also purchase Enterprise pools, which offer greater flexibility and don't refresh monthly. The full credit amount is available upfront and lasts the entire subscription term. Admins can set per-user credit limits to control consumption, just like with the standard credit packages. ## **How credits are consumed** --- When you use a credit-consuming feature, the system follows a strict priority order to decide which credits to draw from: 1. **Named credits** (if you have a Named license) — your personal allowance is used first. 2. **Shared pool - Floating subscriptions and packages** — used once your Named allowance is exhausted. 3. **Shared pool - Enterprise pool subscriptions** — used after monthly credits. Within each tier, credits closest to expiry are consumed first, so you never lose credits to expiry that you could have used. > ℹ️ **Example:** > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *Sarah has a Named license, and her company also has a Shared pool.* > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *She runs an AI Upscale. The credits are drawn from her Named allowance first. The shared pool stays untouched.* > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *Later that month, Sarah has used all of her Named credits. Her next AI Upscale draws from the shared pool instead.* ## **Refresh cycles** --- Each subscription refreshes its monthly allowance on the date of the month it was purchased. If your organisation has multiple subscriptions, the pool receives credits on a staggered schedule. > ℹ️ **Example** > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *Acme Corp has three subscriptions:* > ℹ️ > ℹ️ - *Sub A: billing date the 1st* > ℹ️ - *Sub B: billing date the 15th* > ℹ️ - *Sub C: billing date the 22nd* > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *On the 1st, the pool grows by Sub A's monthly allowance. On the 15th, by Sub B's. On the 22nd, by Sub C's. Each subscription contributes independently.* > ℹ️ > ℹ️ *When a subscription expires, its monthly contribution stops immediately on the expiry date. Other subscriptions keep refreshing on their own schedules.* ## **What happens when you run out** --- There are two ways to run out of credits: 1. **The pool runs dry.** No credits left in the organisation’s pool. Anyone trying to use a feature is blocked until the next refresh or until the admin tops up. 2. **You hit your personal credit limit.** Your admin has set a per-user credit limit, and you've reached it. The pool may still have plenty of credits, but you can't draw any more until the limit resets or until your admin raises your limit. In either case, a message pops up and you can click **Request credits** to send an email to your admin. *For more information, see the **[Usе credits](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LIC5/pages/859144239)** page.* ## **Mid-cycle subscription upgrades** --- If you upgrade a subscription mid-cycle to a higher tier, the difference between the old and new tier is prorated for the remaining days and added to the pool immediately. Starting with the next refresh, the new allowance applies in full. ## **Renewals and cancellations** --- - **Successful renewal:** All credit allowances, refresh dates, and user assignments continue uninterrupted. - **Subscription cancellation:** The subscription is cancelled, and the pool no longer receives credits from it. - **Refunds:** Refund requests are declined if subscription credits have already been consumed.