Guides / Credits

How credits work, and what happens when a render fails

Every generation holds its price while it works. Here is what happens to those credits when a render finishes, fails, is refused or is cancelled.

  • 6 min read

Everything you make on NOLGIA is paid for in credits. You see the price before you start, the job holds that amount while it works, and the hold becomes a charge when the result arrives, or in most cases a refund when it does not.

New accounts start with 350 free credits, no card required.

Read the price on the Generate button

In the image, video and audio composers, and on a model's page, the price is on the button itself, for example Generate video followed by the credits your settings will hold. It is the server's price for exactly what you have set up, and it updates as you change a setting. One click generates at that price, with no confirmation dialog, and you are never charged more than the button showed.

If the price moves before your click, nothing is sent: a note says what changed, and the next click pays the new price. If your balance cannot cover it, you get Add credits instead. A preset shows an estimate for one run at its default settings before you press Create.

The price follows what you ask for:

  • Images: each one at the model's price.
  • Video: priced per clip of a set length, normally five seconds, and scaled to the duration you pick, rounded up.
  • Speech: priced by the number of characters, with a minimum for a short line.
  • Quality tier: where a model offers one, each tier has its own price.

Tip:Voiceovers price as you type. Voices are billed by the length of the text, so on a voiceover the price on the button follows your script as you type.

Know what a job holds

When NOLGIA accepts your request, it takes a hold for that price. When the result is delivered, the hold becomes the charge, with no second charge on top. Checking on a job, or waiting for it again, adds nothing.

The usage list on your billing page shows each hold as a charge, and a released hold as a refund for the same amount. Every generation the NOLGIA Agent starts takes its own hold, separate from the chat turn that asked for it.

When a render fails or is refused

If a generation fails for a technical reason, such as a provider error, a timeout or a problem on our side, the credits held for it come back in full, automatically.

When a provider's content filter blocks a render, the card in the queue under the composer reads Blocked by the content filter, gives the provider's reason, says "Your credits were refunded." or "The credits for this attempt were charged.", and offers Edit prompt, which puts your prompt back in the composer.

A refused render is refunded unless the provider billed us for the attempt, and GPT Image refusals are always refunded. Refused renders are refunded explains the few cases that are charged.

Watch for this:A failed status is not proof of a refund. Read the credits line on the card, or your usage list. No credits line yet means the outcome is not recorded yet.

Cancel a render you no longer want

A generation that is still queued or running has a Cancel button. Cancelled before it reaches the model provider, it is refunded in full. After that it depends on the model: some providers stop for free, most video restore models bill only the part they rendered, and some cannot stop at all, so the render is charged if it finishes. A cancelled render never reaches your library. What happens when you cancel a render has the details.

Quote a job from your own code

POST /jobs/cost returns the exact credits a generation will hold and a confirmation token, valid for ten minutes, to send back with the request. A quote creates no job and holds nothing. On the CLI, --cost-only on nolgia gen video and nolgia gen 3d estimates the price from the published rates and creates no job.

  • A duplicate submission within five minutes gets 409 and the job that already exists, with no new hold.
  • A timeout while you wait does not cancel or refund the job. It can still finish.
  • On a failed job, failure.credits_refunded is true when it cost nothing and false when it was charged.

The pricing and credits guide has the full contract.

Know which credits you are spending

Paid plans add credits every month. They reset each billing cycle and do not roll over. Credits you top up never expire. In the app, a generation is paid from your monthly credits when they cover its price, and from your top-up credits when they do not. One generation is never split between the two.

A request made with a Personal Access Token, from the API or an MCP client set up with a token, spends top-up credits only.

Watch for this:Credits do not unlock video. Video generation models need Pro or above. That is a plan limit, not a balance: adding credits does not unlock them, and a token carries the same plan as your account.

What a few models cost today

Live published rates for an image, two clips and a voice line. Every other rate is on its model's page under Models.

  • Nano Banana 2Every plan

    Per image

    Native 4 credits · 2K 17 credits · 4K 54 credits

  • Seedance 2.5Pro and up

    Per 5s clip

    480p 26 credits · 720p 56 credits · 1080p 137 credits

    1080p renders at 16:9 and 9:16

  • Veo 3.1 LitePro and up

    Per 5s clip

    720p 14 credits · 1080p 23 credits

  • ElevenLabs v3Every plan

    Per 1,000 characters

    Standard 6 credits

Read live from the catalog when this page loads. Every price is shown before you generate. See every rate.

Questions and answers

Do I get my credits back if I cancel?
In full if the render had not reached the model provider yet. After that it depends on the model, and the cancelled job says what was refunded or charged.
Does chatting with the NOLGIA Agent use credits?
Yes. Each chat turn bills at least the per-turn rate of the brain the agent thinks with, and an unusually long turn bills its model cost instead. Anything it generates bills separately.
What happens if I run out of credits?
A generation is refused when neither your monthly credits nor your top-up credits can cover its price on their own. You can top up from the billing page without changing your plan.

See what one finished thing costs on each plan

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Blog · Billing

What happens when you cancel a render

Cancel stops a render at the model provider where it can. Before the provider has it, every credit comes back; after that, it depends on the model.

· 6 min read