# Credits

### How Credits Work

#### 1 Hit = 1 Credit

Every time your endpoint URL is accessed and returns data, **1 credit is deducted** — regardless of:

* The size of the dataset (10 rows or 10,000 rows)
* The output format (CSV, JSON, XML, etc.)
* Whether URL parameters are used
* Which data source is connected

#### Previews Are Free

When you use the **URL Wizard** or **Preview** feature in the CSV Getter dashboard, the request returns a sample (up to 10 rows) and **does not use a credit**. You can preview as many times as you want.

#### Credits Reset Monthly

Your credit balance resets to your plan's full allocation on each billing cycle. Unused credits do not roll over.

***

### Plans and Credit Allocations

| Plan           | Monthly Credits | Monthly Price | Annual Price |
| -------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| **Free Trial** | 10 (one-time)   | Free          | Free         |
| **Lite**       | 20\*            | $5/mo         | $50/yr       |
| **Standard**   | 100\*           | $10/mo        | $100/yr      |
| **Pro**        | 500\*           | $20/mo        | $200/yr      |
| **Custom**     | Negotiable      | Custom        | Custom       |

\*With the option to add more.

***

### What Happens at Zero Credits

When your credit balance reaches zero:

1. **Endpoint requests return a 403 error:**

   ```json
   {
     "error": "Not enough credits. Login at csvgetter.com to purchase.",
     "help": "https://docs.csvgetter.com"
   }
   ```
2. **You receive an email notification** alerting you that your credits are exhausted (sent once per billing cycle).
3. **Scheduled jobs will fail** and send failure notification emails.
4. **Dashboard previews still work** — you can still preview your data and test SQL queries for free.

***

### Checking Your Remaining Credits

1. Log in to [csvgetter.com](https://csvgetter.com).
2. Your remaining credits are displayed on the **Dashboard** (home page) next to your email address.

***

### Free Trial

Every new account gets **10 free endpoint hits** to try the product. No credit card required.

* Trial hits work identically to paid credits.
* You can use all features during the trial: SQL queries, all output formats, email notifications, etc.
* After 10 hits, you'll need to select a paid plan to continue.
* Trial users receive email reminders at certain usage milestones (10, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 requests).

***

### Estimating Credit Usage

| Use Case                                         | Estimated Monthly Credits |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------- |
| Manual Excel refresh, 2x/day                     | \~60                      |
| Google Sheets `IMPORTDATA`, refreshes every hour | \~720                     |
| Zapier webhook, 1x/day                           | \~30                      |
| Google Apps Script, every 6 hours                | \~120                     |
| Scheduled job (daily)                            | \~30                      |
| Scheduled job (weekly)                           | \~4                       |
| API integration, 10 hits/day                     | \~300                     |

**Tips to reduce credit usage:**

* Cache responses on your end if your data doesn't change frequently.
* Use the `sql` parameter with `LIMIT` to reduce payload size (this doesn't save credits, but speeds up requests).
* Use scheduled jobs instead of frequent polling — jobs run at defined intervals rather than on every request.
* Use dashboard previews (free) to test and iterate before deploying automated exports.

***

### Custom Plans

If you need more than 500 credits per month, or need custom features:

* **Book a call:** [calendly.com/amjtech/csv-getter-test](https://calendly.com/amjtech/csv-getter-test)
* **Email:** <info@csvgetter.com>

***

### FAQ

**Q: Does changing the output format use extra credits?** A: No. One hit = one credit, regardless of format.

**Q: Do failed requests use credits?** A: No. Credits are only deducted when data is successfully fetched and returned. Authentication failures, SQL errors, and other errors do not use credits.

**Q: Can I buy additional credits without upgrading my plan?** A: Contact <info@csvgetter.com> for add-on credit options.

**Q: Do dashboard previews count as hits?** A: No. Previews and the URL Wizard use a sample mode that does not deduct credits.

**Q: What happens to my endpoints if my subscription expires?** A: Your endpoints remain configured but requests will return a 403 error until you resubscribe.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.csvgetter.com/credits.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.