> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.meteroid.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prepaid credit

> Sell, include or give credit that pays your customers' invoices and usage before any money is collected.

Credit is value a customer holds with you. It is applied automatically to their invoices and usage, before any payment is collected. Customers get credit by **buying it**, by **receiving it with a plan**, or because **you give it**.

Use credit to:

* Sell prepaid usage (e.g. "\$500 of API usage"), with optional automatic top-up
* Include an allowance in a plan (e.g. "5,000 credits a month"), with rollover
* Offer welcome credit, promotion codes or goodwill credit after an incident
* Stop or cap usage once the credit runs out

![A customer's credit in Meteroid](https://mintcdn.com/meteroid/zBbxp3QsnkRALk-v/public/meteroid-credits-customer.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=zBbxp3QsnkRALk-v\&q=85\&s=d6197e4762791d754d4a818c86d883e6)

## Wallets and grants

* A **wallet** holds one customer's credit, either in a **currency** (e.g. "USD credit") or in a **credit unit** you define (e.g. "API credits"). A wallet opens automatically the first time credit is added to it.
* A **grant** is one amount of credit in a wallet, with its own type, expiry and scope: $500 bought on March 1st, 5,000 credits included with a plan this month, $25 of goodwill credit.
* The **ledger** records every movement: credit added, applied to an invoice, expired, removed or returned.

See [Wallets and grants](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/wallets-and-grants.md).

## Promotional and paid credit

| | Promotional credit | Paid credit |
| - | - | - |
| What it is | Credit you give: included with a plan, welcome credit, promotion codes, bonus credit, goodwill | Credit the customer paid for: top-ups, paid credit packs, payments received outside Meteroid, overpayments |
| On the invoice | A price reduction, applied **before tax** (after coupons) | A means of payment, applied **after tax** |
| On invoices, shown as | **Free credit** (**Promotional credit** on PDFs) | **Credits applied** |

In a money wallet, promotional credit is always used before paid credit.

**Example.** $100 of usage, 10% tax, $30 of promotional credit and \$50 of paid credit:

| Line | Amount |
| - | - |
| Subtotal | \$100.00 |
| Promotional credit | −\$30.00 |
| Tax (10% of \$70.00) | \$7.00 |
| Total | \$77.00 |
| Credits applied | −\$50.00 |
| **Amount due** | **\$27.00** |

## Money credit or credit units

| | Money credit | Credit units |
| - | - | - |
| Denomination | A currency (USD, EUR…) | A unit you define ("API credits") |
| Pays | Any invoice in that currency | Usage priced in that unit |
| Tax | Charged on the invoices the credit pays | Charged when the credit is sold |
| Best for | Customers prepaying a spend | Selling an allowance whose money value you control |

Credit is never converted between currencies, or between a unit and money. See [Credit units](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/credit-units.md).

## How credit is applied

* Credit is applied when an invoice is **finalized**. Draft invoices show the credit expected.
* Credit never pays for credit purchases (credit packs or top-ups).
* When several grants can pay, the most specific one is used first, then the one that expires soonest. See [Order of consumption](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/wallets-and-grants.md#order-of-consumption).

## Balance and unbilled usage

Usage is priced continuously between invoices, so the wallet shows what is really left:

| Figure | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Credit on account** | Credit that can be spent now |
| **Unbilled usage** | Usage not invoiced yet that the credit is expected to pay |
| **Balance** | Credit on account − unbilled usage |
| **Scheduled** | Credit granted with a later start date |

The balance is never shown below zero: usage the credit cannot cover is shown as "beyond credit" and billed on the next invoice. To stop serving usage at zero, see [When credit runs out](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/limits-and-budgets.md#when-credit-runs-out).

> [!NOTE]
>
> Balances can take a few minutes to update after new usage events.

## Next steps

> [card] [Wallets and grants](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/wallets-and-grants.md)
>
> Add, remove and expire credit, and how it shows on invoices.

> [card] [Credit in plans](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/credit-packs.md)
>
> Sell or include credit packs, with bonus and rollover.

> [card] [Top-ups](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/top-ups.md)
>
> One-off purchases, automatic top-up and low-balance alerts.

> [card] [Limits and budgets](https://docs.meteroid.com/credits/limits-and-budgets.md)
>
> What happens when credit runs out, and spend budgets.


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