> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.anyformat.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How credits work
> Credits are anyformat's universal billing unit. Every operator a workflow runs consumes a fixed number of credits — here's what each one costs, how a run adds up, and what a credit is worth on your plan.
Every workflow you run spends **credits** — anyformat's universal billing unit. Each operator (parse, classify, split, extract, validate) consumes a fixed number of credits, and that number is **the same on every plan**. Your plan only decides two things: how many credits you start with, and what a credit costs if you buy more.
Because the per-operator cost is plan-independent, you can estimate any run in credits once and trust the number everywhere.
***
## What a credit is
A credit is the smallest unit anyformat bills in. Operators spend credits; everything else — pages, files, schema size — only matters insofar as it changes *how many* operators run and over *how much* content.
Two things never affect cost:
* How complex your schema is
* How many fields you define
What does affect cost:
* Which operators your workflow runs
* How many pages each operator processes (most operators are priced per page)
The [Usage & Billing](/concepts/usage-and-billing) page explains *why* usage works this way; this page gives you the concrete numbers.
***
## What each operator costs
| Operator | Credits | Billed per |
| ----------------- | ------- | ---------- |
| Parse | 25 | page |
| Classify | 10 | page |
| Split | 25 | page |
| Extract | 35 | page |
| Validate | 5 | rule ¹ |
| Parse — Agentic | 100 | page |
| Extract — Agentic | 150 | page |
¹ A validator is billed **per rule, once per extraction** — not per page or per file. A 3-rule validator costs 15 credits whether the document is 1 page or 100.
Most operators are billed **per page** — a 10-page parse costs 10 × 25 = 250 credits. Validators are the exception: billed **per rule, once per extraction**, so they don't scale with page count.
### Standard vs agentic
Parse and Extract each come in two tiers:
* **Standard** — fast, and the right default for clean, well-structured documents.
* **Agentic** — a heavier, multi-step pass for messy scans, complex tables, and low-quality inputs. It costs roughly **4×** the standard rate (Parse 100 vs 25, Extract 150 vs 35), so reach for it only when standard output isn't good enough.
Start every workflow on standard. Switch a node to agentic only for the document types where standard underperforms — you rarely need it everywhere.
These are the default prices. Enterprise plans can negotiate custom per-operator rates; if your organization has an override, your **Usage** page reflects the rates you actually pay.
***
## How a run adds up
Add up each operator over the content it touches. Example — a **3-page invoice** through parse → classify → extract, with a 2-rule validator on the result:
| Step | Rate | Quantity | Credits |
| --------- | --------- | -------- | ------- |
| Parse | 25 / page | 3 pages | 75 |
| Classify | 10 / page | 3 pages | 30 |
| Extract | 35 / page | 3 pages | 105 |
| Validate | 5 / rule | 2 rules | 10 |
| **Total** | | | **220** |
So one 3-page invoice costs **220 credits**. At the Business rate that's €0.22; at the Free / pay-as-you-go rate it's €0.33 — which is exactly why we quote costs in credits, not euros.
### Common shapes, at a glance
For the page-priced operators, here's what each common workflow costs **per page**:
| Workflow | Credits / page |
| ------------------------------- | -------------- |
| Parse only | 25 |
| Parse → Extract | 60 |
| Parse → Classify → Extract | 70 |
| Parse → Split → Extract | 85 |
| Agentic Parse → Agentic Extract | 250 |
Multiply by your page count, then add any validators (5 credits per rule, billed once per run).
***
## What a credit is worth
A credit's cash value depends on your plan. Included credits are spent at the same per-operator rates above, and top-ups are priced per plan:
| Plan | Top-up rate |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Free / pay-as-you-go | €1.50 per 1,000 credits (€0.0015 / credit) |
| Business | €1.00 per 1,000 credits (€0.001 / credit) |
| Enterprise | Custom — volume-discounted |
Top-ups are bought in credits (minimum 30,000) from the **Usage** page in the app, via Stripe, and every top-up generates a downloadable invoice.
Because the euro value of a credit changes between plans, we always describe usage and grants in **credits**. The same 220-credit invoice above is €0.22 on Business and €0.33 on Free.
***
## Included credits by plan
Every plan comes with a credit allowance:
| Plan | Included credits |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Free | 50,000 — one-time signup grant, never expires |
| Business | 500,000 per month |
| Enterprise | Custom monthly allowance |
Free organizations don't get a monthly refill, but their signup grant never expires and they can **top up** at any time. See [anyformat.ai/pricing](https://www.anyformat.ai/pricing) for current plan prices.
Credits can come from three sources, tracked separately on your balance:
* **Plan grant** — your included monthly (or one-time, on Free) allowance.
* **Top-ups** — bought any time, priced per plan (above).
* **Vouchers** — promotional credits, which may carry an expiry (90 days by default).
***
## Tracking your usage
The **Usage** page in the [app](https://app.anyformat.ai) shows:
* Your current credit balance, broken down by source (plan grant, top-ups, vouchers)
* Weekly usage summaries and a per-workflow breakdown
* CSV export for your own reporting
* A **Top up** button (Stripe checkout) when you need more
Watch the per-workflow breakdown to spot which workflows dominate your spend — usually the ones running agentic parse/extract over high page counts.
***
## Spending fewer credits
A few habits keep credit usage low:
* **Default to standard parse/extract.** Agentic is \~4× the cost — use it only for document types where standard underperforms.
* **Only add Classify or Split when documents are genuinely mixed.** Each adds a per-page operator to every page; a single-type workflow doesn't need them.
* **Keep validators lean.** Every rule costs 5 credits per run (billed per rule, once — not per page). Validate what matters, not everything.
* **Parse only when you just need markdown.** Feeding your own pipeline (RAG, search, a custom model)? A [parse-only workflow](/guides/recipes/parse-only-workflow) skips extract entirely.
***
## What's next?
The usage model behind credits — what's measured, and why
The five operators that consume credits, and how they wire together
What happens when you run a workflow
Parse → extract walkthrough — UI, curl, and Python