upstream-twenty/packages/twenty-docs/user-guide/workflows/capabilities/workflow-credits.mdx

---
title: Workflow Credits
description: Understand workflow credit consumption and management.
---

Workflow credits power your automations in Twenty. Understanding how they work helps you optimize costs and manage your automation budget effectively.

## Credit Allocation

Workflow credits are allocated based on your billing cycle, not your plan tier:

| Billing Cycle | Credits |
|---------------|---------|
| **Monthly subscription** | 5 credits per month |
| **Yearly subscription** | 50 credits per year |

<Note>
5 monthly credits are generous for standard automations. Most teams won't exceed this limit with typical workflow usage. Additional credits are primarily needed for advanced Code actions and AI-powered workflows.
</Note>

## How Credit Consumption Works

Credits are consumed when workflows execute, not when you create them. Each workflow action consumes credits based on its complexity:

### Credit Consumption by Action Type

- **Basic internal operations**: Very low credit consumption
  - Search Records
  - Create Record
  - Update Record
  - Delete Record
  - Form actions

- **Complex operations**: Higher credit consumption
  - Code actions (JavaScript execution)
  - HTTP Requests to external services


- **AI features**: Higher credit consumption
  - AI Agent actions consume credits based on the AI model used
  - More complex prompts and longer outputs use more credits

- **Delay actions**: Minimal credit consumption
  - The Delay node consumes **1 credit** when it executes
  - **No credits are consumed** during the wait period
  - A 5-minute delay costs the same as a 5-day delay

### Real-Time Deduction

Credits are deducted in real-time as workflows execute. This means:
- Draft workflows don't consume credits
- Only active, running workflows use your credit allocation
- Failed workflows still consume credits for completed steps

## Managing Credits

### Check Credit Usage
1. Go to **Settings → Billing**
2. View your current credit consumption and remaining balance
3. Monitor usage patterns to optimize your workflows

### Purchasing Additional Credits
If you need more credits beyond your plan allocation:
1. Go to **Settings → Billing**
2. Click on the option to purchase additional credits. Packages of different sizes are available.
3. Credits are added to your current balance

## Best Practices

- **Batch Processing**: Use bulk operations and Iterator actions efficiently to reduce individual action calls
- **Manual Trigger Optimization**: For manual triggers, choose `Bulk` availability to process multiple records in a single workflow run
- Optimize Code actions for efficiency