# Credits and spending

How bots choose Pixio models by your price, quote before generating, ask before expensive runs, never charge twice, and stay within your budget.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/pixio/credits-and-spending

Every Pixio generation uses credits from **your Pixio account**. Bots follow
the same careful steps every time, so there are no surprise bills.

## The five rules bots follow

1. **Pick a model by what you pay.** Bots rank models by your account's own
   price, including plan discounts and free daily uses, and tell you which one
   they chose.
2. **Quote first.** Before generating, the bot asks Pixio exactly what the
   request will cost. Quotes are free.
3. **Ask before anything expensive.** The bot waits for your yes when a run:
   - costs more than **100 credits**,
   - is a paid **video**, **3D**, **lip-sync** or **avatar** run,
   - is a batch of **more than 4 generations** for one request (a Video Agent
     job always counts as a batch),
   - can't be priced exactly in advance, or
   - would leave you with **less than 10%** of your credits.

   It skips the question when you already approved that spend, or gave a
   budget it fits.
4. **Generate once.** If the connection blips, a retry returns the original
   job instead of charging you again.
5. **Report the cost.** The reply says what it made and what it cost.

## Set a budget

Tell the bot in plain words:

- *"Keep it under 50 credits."*
- *"Free models only today."*
- *"Up to 300 credits for the video, ask me before going over."*

It stays within the budget, or asks before going over.

## Free daily uses

Many Pixio plans include some free uses each day, per model family. In
Machine Desktop, **Connected apps → Pixio → Manage** shows them, such as
*Nano Banana: 7 of 10 free today*. Bots use them first when they fit your
request.

## Check your balance

- **Machine Desktop:** the Pixio row shows your credits:
  *Alex Rivera · maker plan · 3,407 credits*.
- **Ask the bot:** *"How many Pixio credits do I have?"*
- **Pixio:** your account's billing page has the full ledger. You can also
  ask the bot for *"my Pixio credit history this week"*.

## Running out

If a run needs more credits than you have, the bot tells you how many it
needs and how many you have. Top up in Pixio, or ask for a cheaper model.

## Jobs running at once

Your Pixio plan limits how many generations run at the same time, across
every key on your account. If you hit the limit, the bot waits for a running
job to finish and tries again.

## Machine credits

Pixio credits pay for the generation. The bot's own work around it
(understanding your request, saving files, replying) uses your Machine
credits, like any other message. See [Usage and billing](/docs/desktop/settings/usage-and-billing).