How many credits do I need a month — three worked profiles

Nobody can answer this from the outside, because it depends entirely on what you make and how often. What can be done — and what almost no pricing page does — is show the arithmetic for three realistic people, so you can find the one nearest to you and adjust. Every number below comes from the published per-engine prices.

One thing first, because it changes how carefully you need to guess: credits never expire and monthly plan credits roll over forever. Overshooting is a buffer, not waste. Undershooting means topping up mid-month at a worse rate. So size slightly high.

What one credit does

A reference first. A thousand credits — the entry pack, $10 — buys any one of these:

• 100 images, at 10 credits each on any of the three image models
• 16 clips of 5 seconds on Seedance 1.0 Lite at 60 credits
• 8 clips of 5 seconds on Kling 2.5 Turbo at 120 credits, 1080p
• 5 clips of 5 seconds on Seedance 2.5 at 180 credits
• 3 clips of 8 seconds with sound on Veo 3 Fast at 256 credits
• about 37 minutes of narration on Voice One, which charges 3 credits per 100 characters — roughly 27 credits a spoken minute

Video is the only line that matters for most budgets. Images, voice and text are rounding errors beside it, so every profile below is really a video budget with small lines attached.

Profile one — the solo creator posting a few shorts a week

Three posts a week, twelve a month. One hero clip each, cut with stills and text, a cover image per post, a voice-over where it helps, and a draft only where the shot is uncertain — call it half of them.

• Drafts, 3 seconds on Seedance 1.0 Lite at 36 credits — 6 × 36 = 216
• Hero clips, 10 seconds on Seedance 1.0 Lite at 110 credits — 12 × 110 = 1,320
• Covers, 10 credits each — 12 × 10 = 120
• Voice-over on four posts, 400 characters each on Voice One — 4 blocks × 3 = 12 credits each — 4 × 12 = 48

Total 1,704 credits a month.

Recommended plan — Hobby, $15 for 1,800 credits. It fits with 96 to spare, and it is the plan that unlocks Seedance 1.0 Lite in the first place, along with 15-second clips.

The sensitivity matters, because it is how this profile outgrows Hobby: a second take on every hero clip adds 12 × 110 = 1,320 credits, for 3,024 a month. If two takes are a habit rather than an exception, size for Creator.

Profile two — the small brand doing product clips

Eight product spots a month for paid social, each needing to look like an ad rather than a post. One spot a month is the hero, and gets sound.

• Product and scene stills used as references — 30 × 10 = 300
• Concepting, three 5-second variations per spot on Seedance 1.0 Lite at 60 credits — 24 × 60 = 1,440
• Finals, two takes per spot at 5 seconds on Kling 2.5 Turbo at 120 credits — 16 × 120 = 1,920
• Hero spot with native sound, two takes on Veo 3 Fast at 256 credits for its fixed 8 seconds — 2 × 256 = 512
• Voice-over, 300 characters per spot on Voice Turbo at 2 credits per 100 — 3 blocks × 2 = 6 credits each — 8 × 6 = 48

Total 4,220 credits a month.

Recommended plan — Creator, $49 for 6,000 credits. It fits with 1,780 spare, which is about fifteen extra Kling takes when a spot refuses to work.

Here the credits are not even the deciding factor. Kling 2.5 Turbo and Veo 3 Fast are Creator-gated, so engine access picks the plan and the credit total merely confirms the size. Check the gates on the model roster before doing the arithmetic — sometimes the arithmetic is moot.

Profile three — the studio doing client work

Three client pieces a month, each a finished 60 seconds built from twelve 5-second shots, delivered at 1080p with narration.

Per piece:

• Previz stills — 12 × 10 = 120
• Draft pass, every shot at 3 seconds on Seedance 1.0 Lite — 12 × 36 = 432
• Finals at 5 seconds on Seedance 2.5 at 180 credits, plus a second take on the six hard shots — 12 × 180 + 6 × 180 = 3,240
• Narration, about 900 characters on Voice One — 9 blocks × 3 = 27

Per piece 3,819 credits. Three pieces, 11,457 credits a month.

Recommended plan — Studio, $149 for 20,000 credits, if the studio is one or two people. The headroom is deliberate: client work arrives in clumps, and a month with a fourth project is 15,276 credits, which Studio still absorbs.

Then there is the question credits cannot answer, and it decides the plan. Every individual plan holds exactly two seats — Hobby, Creator and Studio alike. Paying $149 instead of $49 buys credits, speed and 30-second clips; it does not buy a third person. Three or more people rendering needs Team at $249 for 36,000 credits and 25 seats, or Agency at $499 for 80,000 and 50 seats, both on one shared wallet. Size the seats first — for this profile Team's 36,000 is comfortable for a three-person shop.

Three things that are not credits

A plan is four things and only one is the credit drop. Any of the other three can force your hand regardless of the arithmetic:

• Seats. One on free, two on every individual plan, 25 on Team, 50 on Agency. Per-member credit ceilings and rate-limit shares live on the Members tab at /dashboard/workspace.
• Engine access. Motion One is on every account, Hobby unlocks Seedance 1.0 Lite and Hailuo 02, and Creator and above unlock everything.
• Clip length. 10 seconds free, 15 on Hobby, 20 on Creator, 30 on Studio and up — within what the engine itself serves.

Size your own number in ten minutes

1. Cost one deliverable exactly. Not an estimate — write the lines out. Drafts, finals, takes, stills, voice. The full per-minute method is in how much AI video costs.
2. Multiply by your real cadence — last month's calendar, not the one you intend to keep.
3. Add 30%. For the shot that will not resolve, the client who changes the product, the week you try a new format. If the total lands within 15% of a plan's allowance, take the next plan up — the gap between tiers is smaller than the cost of running out.

Check the result against the ladder on the pricing page, and if you are still weighing top-ups against a subscription, credits vs subscriptions does that comparison properly. Then render one deliverable end to end at the video studio and read the ledger — your own numbers beat anyone's profile.

FAQ

How many credits does a solo creator need per month?

For about twelve short posts a month — one 10-second clip each on Seedance 1.0 Lite, plus covers and occasional voice-over — roughly 1,700 credits, which a Hobby plan at 1,800 covers. Two takes on every clip instead of one pushes it to around 3,000, which is Creator territory.

What plan should a small brand doing product clips be on?

Creator, at $49 for 6,000 credits. Eight spots a month with concepting variations, two takes each on Kling and one hero with native sound comes to about 4,220 credits, and those engines are Creator-gated anyway.

Do I need a bigger plan to add people to my workspace?

Bigger individual plans do not add people. Hobby, Creator and Studio all hold exactly two seats, so more money buys credits, speed and longer clips. Three or more people need Team, at 25 seats, or Agency, at 50.

What happens if I run out of credits mid-month?

You buy a pack — Starter, Builder or Scale — which lands in the same wallet at the pack rate, worse than your plan rate. Since unused plan credits roll over forever, sizing slightly high costs nothing while sizing low costs a little every month.