Documentation

API Credit System

Last Updated: October 15, 2025 Category: Billing

Overview

The Waymaker One API uses a consumption-based credit system. You purchase credits in advance and they're consumed as you make API calls. This model gives you complete control over costs with no monthly subscription required for API-only use.

What is a Credit?

A credit is the unit of measurement for API usage in the Waymaker One platform.

Pricing:

1 credit = $0.01 (one cent)
100 credits = $1.00
1,000 credits = $10.00

Credits are deducted from your account balance each time you make an API call. The number of credits consumed depends on the complexity of the request and which AI agents are invoked.

Credit Pricing Tiers

Purchase Options

When you buy credits, you get bonus credits at higher purchase amounts:

Purchase Amount	Base Credits	Bonus Credits	Total Credits	Effective Rate
$5	500	0	500	$0.0100/credit
$10	1,000	100	1,100	$0.0091/credit
$25	2,500	250	2,750	$0.0091/credit
$50	5,000	500	5,500	$0.0091/credit
$100	10,000	1,500	11,500	$0.0087/credit

💡 Tip: Purchasing $10 or more gives you bonus credits (10-15% extra), making it more cost-effective than smaller purchases.

Credit Consumption by Agent

Different AI agents consume different amounts of credits based on their computational complexity and processing requirements.

Agent Credit Costs

Agent Type	Credits Per Call	Typical Use Case	Processing Time
Direct Response	1-3	Simple clarifications, quick answers	< 1 second
Framework Agent	10-15	Strategic framework analysis and guidance	2-5 seconds
Research Agent	15-25	Market research, competitive analysis	5-10 seconds
Data Agent	8-12	Analytics, data visualization	3-7 seconds
Multi-Agent Coordination	20-35	Complex strategic planning requiring multiple specialists	8-15 seconds

Note: Actual credit consumption varies based on:

Request complexity
Response length
Number of agents coordinated
Token usage (input + output)

Example Cost Calculations

Example 1: Simple Framework Question

Request:

{
  "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "What is a Business Model Canvas?"
  }]
}

Agent Used: Direct Response Credits Consumed: ~2 credits Cost: $0.02

Example 2: Framework Analysis

Request:

{
  "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Help me create a Customer Journey Canvas for my e-commerce business"
  }]
}

Agent Used: Framework Agent Credits Consumed: ~12 credits Cost: $0.12

Example 3: Complex Multi-Agent Request

Request:

{
  "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Analyze our competitive position in the market and create a comprehensive strategic plan with implementation steps"
  }]
}

Agents Used: Research Agent + Framework Agent + coordination Credits Consumed: ~28 credits Cost: $0.28

Example 4: Conversation with Context

Request (continuing previous conversation):

{
  "messages": [
    {
      "role": "user",
      "content": "Help me with customer journey mapping"
    },
    {
      "role": "assistant",
      "content": "[Previous framework guidance...]"
    },
    {
      "role": "user",
      "content": "Now show me how to identify pain points"
    }
  ],
  "sessionId": "previous_session_123"
}

Agent Used: Framework Agent (with context) Credits Consumed: ~10 credits Cost: $0.10

💡 Tip: Continuing conversations uses slightly fewer credits than starting fresh because the agent has context.

Free Credits

On Account Creation

Every new organization receives 100 free credits ($1 worth) when they create their first API key.

What you can do with 100 free credits:

6-8 framework analysis requests
3-4 research requests
50+ simple clarification questions
3-4 multi-agent strategic planning sessions

This lets you test the API and understand credit consumption before purchasing.

Monitoring Credit Balance

Check Your Balance

Your current credit balance is always visible in the WaymakerOne dashboard:

Navigate to API Keys section
Your balance displays at the top: "Credits: 1,234 remaining"
View detailed usage in API Usage Analytics

Low Balance Alerts

When your credit balance drops below 100 credits (about $1 worth), you'll see:

Yellow warning banner in the dashboard
Recommendation to purchase more credits
Option to enable auto top-up

⚠️ Important: API calls will fail with 402 Payment Required if your balance reaches zero.

Credit Usage Analytics

View Your Consumption

Access detailed usage statistics in the API Usage section:

Overview Metrics:

Credits used today, this week, this month
Total API calls made
Total spend (credits × $0.01)
Projected monthly spend

Breakdown by Endpoint:

Which agents you're using most
Average credits per call
Cost per endpoint
Percentage of total usage

Daily Trends:

Credit consumption over time
Usage patterns and spikes
Cost forecasting

💡 Tip: Regular monitoring helps you optimize API usage and budget accordingly.

Credit Expiration

Good news: Credits never expire.

Purchase credits at any time
Use them whenever you need
No monthly minimums or expirations
Credits remain in your account indefinitely

This makes the system perfect for both consistent high-volume users and occasional users who might go weeks between API calls.

Refund Policy

Purchase Refunds

Credit purchases are generally non-refundable because:

Credits are consumed immediately upon API use
Digital goods policy
Fraud prevention

Exceptions

Refunds may be issued in these cases:

Billing errors (double charges, incorrect amounts)
Service outages preventing API use
Unauthorized charges

To request a refund: Contact support@waymakerone.com with your purchase details and reason.

Best Practices

1. Start with Smaller Purchases

Recommended for new users:

Purchase $10 (1,100 credits) to start
Monitor usage for a week
Understand consumption patterns
Scale up purchases based on actual needs

2. Monitor Usage Regularly

Check your API Usage Analytics dashboard:

Weekly for active developers
Daily for production applications
After making significant changes to API integration

3. Set Up Auto Top-Up

For production applications, enable Auto Top-Up to:

Automatically purchase credits when balance is low
Prevent service interruptions
Set monthly spending limits for budget control

4. Optimize Credit Consumption

Ways to reduce credit usage:

Cache common responses when appropriate
Use direct endpoints instead of coordination for known agent types
Batch related questions in conversation threads
Monitor which agents consume most credits
Adjust request complexity based on needs

5. Budget Planning

Calculate monthly budget:

Average credits per call: 15 credits ($0.15)
Expected API calls per month: 500 calls
Monthly cost: 500 × $0.15 = $75

Add 20% buffer: $75 × 1.2 = $90/month
Purchase tier: $100/month (11,500 credits)

Troubleshooting

"Insufficient credits" Error

Error Response:

{
  "error": "payment_required",
  "message": "Insufficient credits for this operation",
  "code": "INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS",
  "details": {
    "creditsRequired": 15,
    "creditsAvailable": 8
  }
}

Solution:

Check your credit balance in the dashboard
Purchase additional credits via Purchasing Credits
Consider enabling auto top-up to prevent future issues

Credits Deducted But No Response

If you were charged credits but didn't receive a response:

Check the API Usage dashboard for the timestamp
Review the response status code
If status was 500 (server error), credits may be refunded automatically
Contact support@waymakerone.com if credits weren't refunded within 24 hours

Note: Partial responses still consume credits proportional to processing completed.

Unexpected High Credit Usage

If you're seeing higher credit consumption than expected:

Common causes:

Complex requests triggering multi-agent coordination
Long conversation contexts consuming more tokens
Repeated failed requests (each attempt consumes credits)
Using research/data agents instead of simpler framework queries

Solution:

Review your Usage by Endpoint breakdown
Identify which agents are consuming most credits
Optimize requests to use appropriate agent complexity
Consider conversation length and context size

Next Steps

Now that you understand how credits work, learn how to:

Purchase Credits - Buy credits and add payment methods
Set Up Auto Top-Up - Automate credit purchases
Track API Usage - Monitor consumption patterns
Manage Spending Limits - Control maximum monthly spend

Questions about credits? → Contact support@waymakerone.com

API Credit System

Overview

What is a Credit?

Credit Pricing Tiers

Purchase Options

Credit Consumption by Agent

Agent Credit Costs

Example Cost Calculations

Example 1: Simple Framework Question

Example 2: Framework Analysis

Example 3: Complex Multi-Agent Request

Example 4: Conversation with Context

Free Credits

On Account Creation

Monitoring Credit Balance

Check Your Balance

Low Balance Alerts

Credit Usage Analytics

View Your Consumption

Credit Expiration

Refund Policy

Purchase Refunds

Exceptions

Best Practices

1. Start with Smaller Purchases

2. Monitor Usage Regularly

3. Set Up Auto Top-Up

4. Optimize Credit Consumption

5. Budget Planning

Troubleshooting

"Insufficient credits" Error

Credits Deducted But No Response

Unexpected High Credit Usage

Next Steps

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