# Usage and billing

What costs money in Machine, where to see your balance, how to see what each bot and model has cost, export your usage, and add credits.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/settings/usage-and-billing

## What costs money

Machine is paid from your **balance**. It goes down when:

| What | Why it costs |
|---|---|
| **A model does work** | Each turn costs a little, depending on the model and how much the bot reads and writes. Bigger models and longer threads cost more. |
| **A bot's computer is awake** | Computers cost while they run. They sleep when idle. See [Cost and sleep](/docs/desktop/cloud-computer/cost-and-sleep). |

Models running on your own [Claude or Cursor
subscription](/docs/desktop/models/own-subscriptions) use your plan for the
model's work.

## Your balance

![The Wallet card: total balance, plan credits, top-ups, and daily credits](/images/docs/desktop/wallet.webp)

Your balance shows next to your name at the bottom of the sidebar, with a coin
icon. Hover it for details, like *2,350 credits · 100 daily*, and click it to
open billing on the web.

For the full picture, open **Settings → Usage → Wallet**. It shows your total
balance, made of:

| Part | How it works |
|---|---|
| **Plan credits** | Come with your plan. They reset with your plan. |
| **Top-ups** | Credits you've bought. They never expire. |
| **Daily credits** | A small amount that refills every day. |

When your balance drops under $1 (100 credits), the sidebar chip turns amber.
The Wallet's balance turns amber too, with the warning *"Your balance is low.
Add credits to keep your bots running."*

> **Credits and dollars are the same money**
> The sidebar chip counts in **credits**, the same way the Machine web app does:
> **100 credits = $1**. **Settings → Usage** shows the same balance in
> **dollars**. So a chip showing *2,350* and a Wallet showing *$23.50* mean the
> same thing. Above 10,000 credits the chip shortens the number, like *12.5k*.

## Add credits

![Your balance next to your name at the bottom of the sidebar](/images/docs/desktop/credits-chip.webp)

Click **Add credits** in **Settings → Usage**, or click your balance in the
sidebar. Billing opens on the Machine web app, where you can top up or change
your plan. No payments are taken inside Machine Desktop.

On an iPhone or iPad, the app shows your balance but has no **Add credits**
button, and the balance can't be clicked. Add credits from the Machine web
app or Machine Desktop instead.

## See where it went

![Settings, Usage section](/images/docs/desktop/settings-usage.webp)

### Usage

**Settings → Usage → Usage** shows turns and cost per bot, for the threads
you've opened since starting the app, with a total for **All bots**.

### History

![The usage History card grouped by bot for this month](/images/docs/desktop/usage-history.webp)

**Settings → Usage → History** is the full record.

1. Choose a period: **This month**, **Last month**, or **Last 30 days**.
2. Group it by **Bot**, **Model**, **Person**, **Day**, or **Engine**.
3. Click **Export CSV** to download it as a spreadsheet.

Use **Model** to see which models cost the most, and **Bot** to see which bots
do the most work. **Person** shows all your usage in one row, labelled **This
computer**. **Engine** shows Machine's models as **Machine**.

### Per bot

Open a bot's settings and go to **Usage** for that bot's turns, tokens, and
cost. **All bots →** takes you back to Settings.

### Per thread

The **usage chip** in the chat header shows what the current thread has cost.
Hover it for the details. See [Send messages and watch a bot
work](/docs/desktop/chat/sending-messages).

Under a finished reply, the [run footer](/docs/desktop/models/questions-and-runs#the-run-footer)
shows what that one turn cost. **Bot settings → History** sums up the whole
thread, split into model and compute.

## Ways to spend less

| Tip | Why |
|---|---|
| **Start a new thread for each new task.** | The model re-reads the whole thread every turn, so long threads cost more per message. |
| **Compact long threads.** | Summarizes older messages. See [Find, share, and export](/docs/desktop/chat/find-share-export). |
| **Use a smaller model for simple jobs.** | See [Choose a model](/docs/desktop/models/choosing-a-model). |
| **Lower the reasoning effort** for quick tasks. | See [Reasoning effort](/docs/desktop/models/reasoning-effort). |
| **In group chats, use "Only when mentioned".** | Not every bot answers every message. See [Group chats](/docs/desktop/bots/group-chats). |
| **Let computers sleep,** or stop them when you're done. | See [Cost and sleep](/docs/desktop/cloud-computer/cost-and-sleep). |
| **Check History weekly.** | Spot surprises early. |