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How credits work

The simple idea behind Nabu's credit system — what a credit is, where you see your balance, and what happens if you run low.

When Nisaba does AI work for you — drafting a scene, reading your script for coverage, answering a question in chat — that work uses credits. A credit is just Nabu's unit for measuring AI effort. You don't need to think about tokens, models, or anything technical: bigger jobs cost more credits, small jobs cost fewer, and you can always see how many you have left. That's the whole idea.

Note: Coverage is a professional read on your whole script; Nisaba is your AI writing partner. The first time these terms show up they're glossed in plain language right where they appear, so you always have the short definition in context.

Where you see your balance

Your credit balance lives in two places, always within reach:

  1. The footer, on every screen. Look at the bottom-right corner of the app. You'll see a small chip like 71208 cr — that's how many credits you have right now. It's there no matter which page you're on, so you never have to go hunting for it.
  2. The expanded status panel. Click the little connection dot in that same footer and a panel opens with a line that reads something like Credits — 71,208 credits remaining, alongside a link to your Model Preferences.

Note: Your credits belong to your workspace, not to any single screenplay. The same balance covers all your projects, and switching from one project to another doesn't change the number — it's one shared pool.

Tip: If the credit chip in the footer looks blank for a moment when a page first loads, give it a second. It waits until the app has confirmed your balance before showing the number, so it's never wrong.

What a credit covers

Credits cover the AI work, and only the AI work. Typing in the editor, dragging scene cards around, reading your own pages, exporting a PDF — none of that costs anything. You write as much as you like for free; credits are spent only when you ask Nisaba (or one of Nabu's behind-the-scenes helpers) to do something with a model.

Roughly, from cheapest to priciest:

  • A chat message to Nisaba is a few credits.
  • Writing or rewriting a scene is a moderate amount.
  • A full coverage report — handing your whole script to a panel of AI readers — is the most expensive single action in Nabu.

For the full picture of which actions cost what, see What costs credits for the per-action breakdown. The Billing screen in your Settings also has a Usage this cycle breakdown that shows what you've spent, broken down by feature — so you can see exactly where your credits went.

Note: Costs are approximate, not fixed price tags. The exact charge for a job depends on which AI model does the work and how big the job turns out to be. For the larger jobs (like coverage or the wizard), Nabu quotes a worst-case amount up front and then charges you for the actual work when it finishes — which is usually less than the quote. The current numbers are always the ones shown in the app.

The cost preview chip

Some of the bigger action buttons can show a small estimate chip beside them — something like ◇ ~50 — so you can see roughly what a job will cost before you click. The ~ means "about this much," because the real charge settles once the work is done.

Note: This preview chip is still being rolled out, so depending on your account you may not see it yet. When it's off, nothing changes about how you're charged — you just don't get the little estimate up front. Either way, the big jobs always quote you their cost when you start them.

What happens if you run low

You don't have to watch your balance like a fuel gauge. Nabu won't let an action run that you can't afford, and it won't quietly fail either — it simply tells you.

If you ask for a job that needs more credits than you have, a small message appears saying you need more credits — for example, This operation needs 50 credits. You have 12 — with a button to top up. Nothing is half-done, and nothing breaks; the action just waits until you have enough. You can dismiss the message and carry on with anything that doesn't need AI.

Note: There's no separate "you're running low" banner today. Nabu speaks up at the moment an action can't run, rather than nagging you before then. So if you never hit the message, you never had a problem.

Tip: Most small things — chatting with Nisaba, light revisions — cost very little, so a healthy balance lasts a long way. The big drains are the heavy jobs like coverage and full scene generation, and those always tell you the cost before they run.

Topping up

When you do want more credits, you can add them in two ways:

  • A subscription plan gives you a fresh allowance of credits every billing cycle.
  • Credit packs are one-time top-ups that don't expire — handy for a busy stretch.

Nabu uses your monthly plan usage first, then purchased credits, then gifted credits, which never expire.

Both live on the Billing screen in your Settings, under the Subscription and Credit Packs headings. Open Settings → Billing to compare plans or pick up a pack.

Note: Depending on your plan, the Billing screen may not be visible in your settings menu yet. Credit packs are also available to subscribers only — a Free account tops up by moving to a paid plan rather than buying packs.

Good to know

  • You can earn credits, too. Inviting a friend who joins and starts writing earns bonus credits for both of you. See Inviting friends.
  • Your first import can be free. New accounts get one free script import so you can bring an existing screenplay in without spending a thing. See Importing a script.
  • Usage is shown in credits, never dollars. The billing screen breaks down what you've used by feature and by project, but it counts in credits — there's no surprise currency math to do.