Skip to main content

How Credits Work

Kite uses a credit (token) model to power its AI. Every time you ask the AI to build or change something, it does work behind the scenes, and that work uses credits. This page explains what uses credits and how to make yours go further.

What uses credits​

Credits are consumed by AI work, not by simply logging in or viewing your site. In general:

  • Building and editing with the AI uses credits each time you send a prompt.
  • Complex changes (rebuilding a layout, generating many sections at once, large content rewrites) use more than small tweaks.
  • Retries and troubleshooting use credits too. If the AI has to try something again or fix an error, that's additional work.
info

Browsing your dashboard, previewing your site, and publishing are not the same as asking the AI to make changes. It's the AI build-and-edit work that draws down credits.

Monthly credits vs. top-up credits​

There are two kinds of credits, and it helps to know the difference:

  • Monthly plan credits — Included with your plan and refreshed on each billing cycle. These are meant to be used within the cycle.
  • Top-up (purchased) credits — Extra credits you buy when you need more than your plan includes. See Buy More Credits for how top-ups work and how they differ from monthly credits.

Tips to use credits efficiently​

A little planning makes your credits last much longer.

  1. Be clear and specific. "Change the hero heading to 'Fresh Bread Daily' and make the button green" works better than "make the top nicer." Specific prompts get the right result the first time, so the AI doesn't have to retry.
  2. Make one change at a time. Smaller, focused requests are easier for the AI to get right and easier for you to review before moving on.
  3. Describe the outcome you want, not the steps. Tell Kite what the finished page should look like.
  4. Review before you re-prompt. If a change looks close, refine it rather than asking for a full do-over.
tip

Keep a short list of the changes you want before you start. Sending them as clear, one-at-a-time prompts almost always uses fewer credits than improvising.

When Kite loops or repeats failed actions​

One of the most common frustrations is the AI getting "stuck" — retrying the same action, failing repeatedly, or looping. Because retries use credits, a loop can quietly burn through them.

If you notice Kite repeating itself or failing the same step over and over:

  1. Stop. Don't keep sending the same prompt and hoping it works. Repeating the request usually repeats the loop.
  2. Rephrase. Try describing the change differently, or break it into smaller pieces. A fresh, simpler prompt often gets past whatever the AI was stuck on.
  3. Undo if needed. If the loop left your site in a messy state, roll back to a working version. See Version History.
  4. Contact support. If Kite keeps looping no matter how you phrase the request, reach out to support. Repeated, unproductive loops aren't something you should have to pay for, and the team can help.
warning

If you see the AI clearly stuck in a loop, pause rather than pushing through. Stopping early protects your credits.

Common questions​

Does previewing or publishing my site use credits? No — credits are for AI build-and-edit work, not for viewing or publishing.

Why did a small-sounding change use a lot of credits? "Small" to you can be large for the AI. Changes that touch many parts of the page, or that required retries, use more.

I ran out of credits mid-project. What now? You can top up. See Buy More Credits.

Credits got used up by a loop that wasn't my fault. Can that be fixed? Contact support and explain what happened. See the looping steps above.