# Credits

Explains what credits are, the credit formula for each method, when credits are estimated and deducted, organisation credits, the Credits & Usage page and what happens when your balance runs short.

A credit is the prepaid unit you spend to run studies in SCL. You buy credits in advance; when you run a method on a population, the credits calculated for that method are deducted from your balance. There is no subscription or monthly fee.

This page explains how credits are calculated, when they are deducted and where to track your balance. For credit packages, prices and the purchase steps, see [Buying credits and billing](/en/docs/account/buying-credits).

## Actions that spend credits

You spend credits when you run a study. In almost every method, the number of synthetic consumers (personas) in the population has the biggest effect on the cost.

| Action | Credits |
| --- | --- |
| Running a study | Calculated per method (see the table below) |
| Sending a question in a Real-Time Focus Group | 10 credits per participant response |
| A study started by Argus (SCL's AI research assistant) | Calculated with the same formulas |
| Creating a population | None |
| Opening a report; clicking **Refresh**, **Download PDF** or **Download Excel** | None |

Creating a population doesn't spend credits, but some steps require a minimum balance. To create a General Research study in the **New Research** flow, you need at least 500 credits, whether you use a new or an existing population. To create a new population in Fashion and Ad Testing, you need at least 50 credits. **Quick Research** has no minimum; your balance only needs to cover the study's estimate.

Argus asks for your approval before every step that spends credits; with **Autopilot** on, it goes ahead without asking. For details, see [Approvals and Autopilot](/en/docs/argus/approvals-and-autopilot).

Credits you buy don't expire. Credits that the SCL team adds to your account may have an expiry date; expired credits are removed from your balance and your totals.

## Credit formulas by method

In the table, P is the number of price points (including any custom prices you add manually), F is the number of features, and persona is the number of personas in the population the study runs on. Abbreviations in the method names: WTP, willingness to pay; MaxDiff, best–worst scaling; CBC, Choice-Based Conjoint. The examples are the same as those on the method pages.

| Method | Credit formula | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Price Analysis (WTP)](/en/docs/research/price-analysis) | P × persona | 6 price points × 200 personas = 1,200 credits |
| [Competitive Analysis (Conjoint)](/en/docs/research/competitive-analysis): Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) | P × persona | 6 price points × 100 personas = 600 credits |
| Competitive Analysis: Dynamic Conjoint | In Fashion, (P + 2) × persona. In General Research, the estimate is P × persona and the credits deducted are 1 × persona | In Fashion, a 10-point price ladder and 100 personas: (10 + 2) × 100 = 1,200 credits. In General Research, 6 price points and 100 personas: an estimate of 600 and 100 credits deducted |
| [Feature Price Impact](/en/docs/research/feature-price-impact) | persona × (P + F × (P + 5)) | 100 personas, 6 price points, 3 features: 100 × (6 + 3 × 11) = 3,900 credits |
| [Priority Ranking (MaxDiff)](/en/docs/research/priority-ranking) | question sets × persona; question sets = features × 3 ÷ 4 (rounded up; studies set up by Argus may use values other than 3 and 4) | 8 question sets for 10 features; 8 × 100 personas = 800 credits |
| [Multiple-Choice Survey](/en/docs/research/multiple-choice-survey), General Research | questions × persona | 10 questions × 100 personas = 1,000 credits |
| Multiple-Choice Survey, Fashion | 5 × persona (regardless of the number of questions) | 5 × 200 personas = 1,000 credits |
| [Comparison](/en/docs/research/comparison) | 10 × persona | 10 × 50 personas = 500 credits |
| [Real-Time Focus Group](/en/docs/research/focus-group) | 10 × participant responses | One question to 8 participants: 8 × 10 = 80 credits |
| [Ad Testing](/en/docs/research/ad-testing) | ad length (minutes, rounded up) × persona × 10 | 30-second ad, 50 personas: 1 × 50 × 10 = 500 credits |

- Feature Price Impact appears as **Feature Value Analysis** on the design and report screens. Each feature adds (P + 5) credits per persona. With the same population and price ladder, a Price Analysis costs 6 × 100 = 600 credits, while the example study costs 3,900 credits.
- In Competitive Analysis, the number of competitors doesn't change the credits. In Fashion, the study extends the price ladder above your highest price; P is the number of price points on the extended ladder. This is why, in Fashion, **Credit Usage** looks larger than **Price Point** × **Person Count**.
- In a focus group, each response in a reaction round also costs 10 credits. A session can have at most 200 responses; a 200-response session costs 2,000 credits in total.
- In Ad Testing, the ad length is rounded up: a 61-second ad counts as 2 minutes. An image ad counts as 1 minute.
- In **Quick Research**, the formula follows the vertical you choose in the **Research Type** field. For example, a multiple-choice survey costs questions × persona in General Research and 5 × persona in Fashion. For Dynamic Conjoint in Fashion, **Quick Research** shows an estimate of P × persona; the credits deducted are (P + 2) × persona, which is 2 × persona more than the estimate. If your balance covers the estimate but is below (P + 2) × persona, the study fails without generating responses.
- In General Research, for Price Analysis, Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC), Feature Price Impact and Priority Ranking studies, the credits deducted are based on the number of responses the study saves (1 credit per response). The amount deducted can therefore differ from the estimate.
- For Dynamic Conjoint in General Research, **Credit Usage** shows P × persona, and your balance must cover this amount for the study to start. When the study completes, however, 1 credit per persona is deducted. **Quick Research** calculates the estimate the same way.

## When credits are estimated, deducted and refunded

### Estimate

In most methods, the estimated credits appear before you click **Start**, on the **Research Preview** screen, in the **Credit Usage** row of the **Experiment Summary** card. The value takes the form "balance/estimate". For example, **1.250/400** means your balance is 1,250 credits and the study's estimated cost is 400 credits.

On some screens, the estimate appears elsewhere:

| Screen | Where the estimate appears |
| --- | --- |
| **Quick Research** | **Credit Usage** (balance/estimate) on the **Experiment Summary** card |
| Comparison in General Research | The **Estimated cost: … credits** badge on the design page |
| Ad Test design | The **Tahmini kredi** (Estimated credits) card; the value appears once the ad's length has been read |
| Real-Time Focus Group | The cost of the next question next to the message box (e.g. **~80 credits**) and the **…/200 responses used** counter |
| Argus | **Credits to spend** on the **Launch the study** card, for Fashion and Ad Testing studies started from the conversation |

### Balance checks and deduction

- **Credits aren't reserved.** Clicking **Start** only checks your balance. For every study except Comparison in General Research, the balance is checked again when response generation starts; if it doesn't cover the estimate at that point, the study fails without generating responses and no credits are deducted.
- **Credits are deducted after the personas' responses are saved.** In General Research, for methods other than Comparison, the report is then prepared in a separate analysis step; credits are deducted before that step.
- **The balance is checked again at deduction.** If other studies have spent your balance in the meantime, Multiple-Choice Survey, Price Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Feature Price Impact and Priority Ranking studies in General Research fail after the responses have been generated, and no credits are deducted. Studies in Fashion and Ad Testing, and Comparison studies in General Research, complete instead; in that case, the credits deducted may differ from the estimate, or no credits may be deducted at all.
- **In a focus group, you pay per response.** No lump-sum fee is charged at the start of the session. Before a question is sent, the cost of the whole round is compared with your balance; the credits for each participant's response are deducted before that response starts being written. If a response is retried, you aren't charged a second time.

### Refunds

For methods other than the focus group, no credits are deducted for a study that fails before its responses are saved. Credits that have already been deducted, however, are not refunded automatically.

- In Fashion and Ad Testing, no credits are deducted for a failed study. When you rerun the study with **Retry**, credits are deducted only if that attempt succeeds.
- In General Research, to rerun a study that failed during response generation, click **Back to Preview** and then **Start** again. For a Price Analysis, Feature Price Impact, Choice-Based Conjoint or Priority Ranking study that stopped partway, only the responses generated in the rerun are charged; no credits are deducted for the responses saved in the failed attempt. For Dynamic Conjoint, 1 credit per persona is deducted when the study completes.
- In General Research, if a study fails at the analysis step after its responses have been saved and its credits deducted, the deducted credits are not refunded.
- For Price Analysis and Feature Price Impact in General Research, if the analysis step failed, click **Back to Preview** and then **Start** again. Only the analysis runs again; the personas aren't asked again and no credits are deducted a second time.
- For Priority Ranking and Choice-Based Conjoint in General Research, if the analysis step failed, click **Start** again on the **Research Preview** screen. If every persona's response was saved, the saved responses are reused, only the analysis runs again and no credits are deducted a second time. If any persona's response wasn't saved, restarting asks all the personas again and deducts the credits again.
- For the Multiple-Choice Survey and Dynamic Conjoint in General Research, if the analysis step failed, send a request in the **Billing** category from the **Support** page before you restart the study. For the Multiple-Choice Survey, restarting asks the personas again and deducts the credits again; for Dynamic Conjoint, 1 credit per persona is deducted again.
- Deleting a report doesn't give back the credits spent on it.

## Organisation credits

An organisation is a company account, set up by the SCL team, whose members share a common credit pool. If you're a member of an organisation, you spend from the same pool as the other members. While you're in an organisation, your personal balance isn't used; the **Remaining credits:** line in the sidebar shows the organisation's balance.

Organisation members see these differences on the **Credits & Usage** page:

- **(Organization)** appears next to the **Total Credit Amount** line, and the **Organization** line below it shows the organisation's name.
- The **Buy Credits** button and the **Purchase History** section are hidden.
- The page shows the note "Credits are managed at the organization level. Please contact the system administrator to add credits."

The SCL team adds credits to the organisation's balance. The organisation's admin can see how many credits each member has spent in the member table on the **Settings** › **Organization Management** page. For membership and roles, see [Account and organisation](/en/docs/account/account-and-organisation).

> [!NOTE]
> If you're an organisation member, don't buy credits yourself: credits you buy are added to your personal balance and aren't used while you're in the organisation. When you need more credits, contact your organisation admin, or the SCL team through the channels on the [Support and troubleshooting](/en/docs/account/support-and-troubleshooting) page.

## The credits card in the sidebar

The card at the bottom of the sidebar shows your balance on every page:

- Your balance on the **Remaining credits:** line.
- A bar showing how much of your total credits you have spent.
- A **View usage** link that opens the **Credits & Usage** page.

When your balance is 500 credits or less, a red **Add credits!** warning replaces the **Remaining credits:** label. Because you also need at least 500 credits to create a General Research study in the **New Research** flow, treat this warning as an early signal and plan to top up. 500 credits is the cost of a 50-persona Comparison, or of testing a 30-second ad with 50 personas.

When the sidebar is collapsed, the card becomes a ring icon; hover over it to see your remaining and used credits under the **Credit Usage** heading. For organisation members, **(Org)** appears next to the heading and the organisation's name below it. During a focus group session, the balance updates as soon as a question is sent, without your having to refresh the page.

## The Credits & Usage page

You can open the page in three ways:

- Click **View usage** on the credits card in the sidebar.
- Choose **Plan & Usage** from the user menu at the top right.
- Open **Settings** › **Credits & Usage**.

| Item | Description |
| --- | --- |
| **Total Credit Amount** | All unexpired credits assigned to your account or organisation, including those already spent |
| **Buy Credits** | Opens the credit purchase page; hidden for organisation members |
| **Your Usage** | When expanded, shows **Remaining Credits**, **Used Credits** and **Total Credits**, with the **Your Reports** list below |
| **Purchase History** | Your last 5 purchases: credit amount, package, date, amount in TRY and status; hidden for organisation members |

**Remaining Credits** is **Total Credits** minus **Used Credits**, and matches the number in the sidebar. For example, if 3,250 of 10,000 total credits have been spent, your remaining credits are 6,750.

The **Your Reports** list shows the name and creation date of the last 10 studies you created; clicking a row opens the **Research** list. Studies in Fashion and Ad Testing, other than focus groups, don't appear in this list; use the **Reports** page for all your reports.

This page doesn't show the credits spent on each study; check a study's cost in the **Credit Usage** value before you start it. Purchase statuses are explained on the [Buying credits and billing](/en/docs/account/buying-credits) page.

## When you don't have enough credits

| Where | What you see | Result |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Creating a General Research study in the **New Research** flow (balance below 500) | The **Insufficient Credits** dialog on the new population form: "You need at least 500 credits to proceed, but you only have … credits remaining." If you click **Continue with selected population** with an existing population, no dialog opens and the page doesn't change | The study isn't created; in the dialog, **Buy Credits** opens the purchase page and **Close** closes the dialog |
| Creating a new population in Fashion and Ad Testing (balance below 50) | "Creating a population needs at least 50 credits. Your balance is …." | The population isn't created |
| **Research Preview** and **Quick Research** (balance below the estimate) | A red info icon next to **Credit Usage**; hovering over it shows "You do not have enough credits to start this survey. You can purchase credits to proceed." and **Buy Credits** | In Fashion, Ad Testing and Quick Research, **Start** can't be clicked |
| Clicking **Start** in General Research, if your balance is 0 or, for Comparison, below the estimate | "Not enough credits to start the survey." | The study doesn't start |
| When response generation starts (if your balance has dropped below the estimate in the meantime; except Comparison in General Research) | The study fails without generating responses | No credits are deducted |
| When credits are deducted (if your balance has run short in the meantime) | In General Research, studies other than Comparison and focus groups fail after the responses have been generated; studies in Fashion and Ad Testing, and Comparison studies in General Research, complete | No credits are deducted for a failed study; for a completed study, the credits deducted may differ from the estimate, or none may be deducted |
| Real-Time Focus Group | "Yetersiz kredi. Bu soru için … kredi gerekiyor, mevcut: …" (Insufficient credits. This question needs … credits, available: …) | The question isn't sent |
| Argus | Argus tells you it hasn't started the study if your balance doesn't cover the cost of all the questions in a focus group, doesn't cover the estimate for Comparison in General Research, or is zero for other General Research methods. In other cases, the card changes to **Approved, starting**, then the study fails without generating responses and Argus reports this in the conversation | No credits are deducted; Argus can't buy credits. Details: [Approvals and Autopilot](/en/docs/argus/approvals-and-autopilot) |

> [!WARNING]
> In General Research, you can click the **Start** button even when your balance is below the estimate. If your balance doesn't cover the estimate, the study fails without generating responses. Before you start, check that the first number in the **Credit Usage** value isn't smaller than the second.

To add credits, go to **Credits & Usage** › **Buy Credits**. Organisation members contact their organisation admin or the SCL team instead.

## Tips

- **The number of personas multiplies the cost directly.** A population of 200 personas instead of 100 doubles the credits in every method except the focus group.
- **Limit price points and features to the ones you need.** In Price Analysis, each extra price point adds 1 credit per persona; in Feature Price Impact, each extra feature adds (P + 5) credits per persona.
- **If you start several studies at once, add up the total yourself.** Because credits aren't reserved, each preview compares only its own estimate with your balance. If your balance runs out while studies are running, a later study may fail without generating responses or, in General Research, after the responses have been generated.

## Related pages

- [Buying credits and billing](/en/docs/account/buying-credits)
- [Account and organisation](/en/docs/account/account-and-organisation)
- [Choosing the right method](/en/docs/research/choosing-a-method)
- [Starting a new study](/en/docs/research/new-study)
- [Approvals and Autopilot](/en/docs/argus/approvals-and-autopilot)