Explanation
Credits and the monthly cap
What a rule's posts cost, how the monthly cap keeps the rule's spending in check, and what happens when the cap or your credits run out.
A rule spends credits every day without anyone pressing a button. That's why every rule has a monthly credit cap, and why the preview shows the cost before you switch a rule on.
What a day costs
Each product is priced exactly as in Generate from products:
- the writing: one AI call writes the product's posts for all the accounts it goes to that day. It costs more with more accounts and more product photos;
- a scene image: one per product, whatever the number of accounts, and free with the Product photo style;
- a motion clip: one per product, when you switch it on for video posts.
Slideshow videos, the sizes for each network, the preview, scheduling and publishing are free. So a product on three accounts costs one product's price, not three. What each kind of work costs on the default AI model:
| Action | Credits | Other models |
|---|---|---|
| AI texts for one product's posts | 15 | 1–15 |
| An AI scene from your product photo | 22 | 15–54 |
| A 5-second motion clip | 40 | 40–300 |
| A voiceover of about 35 seconds | 4 | 3–4 |
| Ambient sound for a 20-second video | 60 | |
| Scheduling, publishing, analytics and slideshow videos | Free |
Credits are reserved when a day is prepared, and each step is charged when it's done. If a product can't be made, the credits for the steps it didn't reach come back. Preparing costs the same in test mode.
An example
A rule posts one product every weekday on two accounts, with a scene style. Each day costs one product's writing and one scene image, roughly the first two lines of the table above (its writing line is for two accounts). A month has about 22 weekdays, so the rule takes about 22 times that a month. Compare it with your plan's monthly credits on the pricing page. The preview gives your own rule's exact numbers.
The monthly cap
Every rule needs one: the rule never uses more credits than its cap in a calendar month. On the Name and cap step, SemPost suggests the next 30 days' estimate plus 20%; for a rule that posts on store events, the suggestion is for 8 events a month.
- The month is the calendar month in your workspace's time zone, and it's counted by the posts' days: the posts for 1 November count toward November's cap, even when they're prepared on 31 October.
- It counts the credits charged and still reserved for that month's days. Try again on a product the rule prepared counts too, though the cap doesn't stop it: you see its price on the button.
- The rule's card shows this month's credits against the cap, and how many posts were prepared.
When the cap is reached
- The day that reaches the cap gets as many products as fit: the first ones in the day's order, which have the accounts' earliest times.
- The rest of the month isn't prepared. The rule isn't paused: it shows Waiting and This month's credit cap is reached; it goes on by itself at the start of next month.
- The owner and admins get one email a month, Your automation rule reached its monthly cap: …, with the day the rule goes on.
- With the new month, the rule goes on by itself: the month's first day is prepared ahead, as usual.
- To go on sooner, raise the cap: press Edit on the rule, change the Monthly credit cap and press Save changes. The rule picks up within the hour. A day that has already begun isn't prepared afterwards, but Run now can fill what's left of today.
When credits run out
If the credits or the budget can't pay for the next day, because there aren't enough credits or the day would pass the daily or monthly limit in Settings › Budget, none of that day's posts are prepared: there are no half days. The rule stops, shows Stopped, and the owner and admins get one email: Your automation rule stopped: ….
The rule doesn't start again by itself when credits come in, so nothing is spent unexpectedly. Once the owner has bought credits in Settings › Billing, or the budget is raised, press Switch on on the rule's card.
Before it comes to that, the preview warns when your credits last less than a week at the rule's pace: At this pace your credits last about … days.