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

# Understanding credits

> How credits are counted and how to monitor your usage

ScrapeGraphAI uses a credit system to measure API usage. Each successful API call consumes a number of credits depending on the service and the complexity of the request.

## Credit costs per service

| Service                        | Credits per request              | Details                                      |
| ------------------------------ | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Scrape** (markdown)          | 1                                | Basic page scrape returning markdown         |
| **Scrape** (screenshot)        | 2                                | Page scrape with a screenshot                |
| **Scrape** (branding analysis) | 25                               | Full branding analysis of a page             |
| **Extract**                    | 5                                | Structured data extraction                   |
| **Search** (no prompt)         | 2 per result                     | Search results without LLM processing        |
| **Search** (with prompt)       | 5 per result                     | Search results processed by an LLM           |
| **Crawl**                      | 2 startup + per-page scrape cost | Startup fee plus scrape cost for each page   |
| **Monitor**                    | +5                               | Additional credits when a change is detected |

### Proxy modifiers

Using a proxy adds extra credits on top of the base service cost:

| Proxy mode          | Additional credits |
| ------------------- | ------------------ |
| Fast / JS rendering | +0                 |
| Stealth             | +4                 |
| JS + Stealth        | +5                 |
| Auto (worst case)   | +9                 |

For a full breakdown of plans and monthly credit allowances, see [Plans & Pricing](/knowledge-base/account/pricing).

<Note>
  Failed requests and requests that return an error are not charged.
</Note>

## Checking your credit balance

Log in to the [dashboard](https://scrapegraphai.com/dashboard) to see:

* **Remaining credits** for your current billing period
* **Usage history** broken down by service and date

You can also query your balance programmatically:

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  from scrapegraph_py import ScrapeGraphAI

  sgai = ScrapeGraphAI()

  res = sgai.credits()
  if res.status == "success":
      print(f"Remaining credits: {res.data.remaining}")
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  import { ScrapeGraphAI } from "scrapegraph-js";

  const sgai = ScrapeGraphAI();

  const res = await sgai.credits();
  if (res.status === "success") {
    console.log(`Remaining credits: ${res.data?.remaining}`);
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## What happens when you run out of credits?

When your credits are exhausted, the API returns an HTTP `402 Payment Required` response:

```json theme={null}
{
  "error": "insufficient_credits",
  "message": "You have run out of credits. Please upgrade your plan or wait for the next billing cycle."
}
```

Upgrade your plan or purchase additional credits from the [dashboard](https://scrapegraphai.com/dashboard).

## Tips to reduce credit usage

* **Cache results** for URLs that don't change frequently to avoid re-scraping.
* **Use `scrape` with `MarkdownFormatConfig`** instead of `extract` when you only need the page content in a readable format and don't need structured extraction — it's 1 credit vs. 5.
* **Limit crawl scope** in `crawl.start` by setting `max_depth` and `max_pages` to avoid accidentally crawling more pages than needed.