---
title: "Pooled Credits"
canonical: "https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196771866/Pooled%20Credits"
format: markdown
---
Welcome to the Pooled Credits help guide! This article explains how Pooled Credits work, where you can find them, and how you can use them across UXArmy’s tools. Understanding how credits work will make it easier for you to manage your tests and get the most out of your UX research on the platform.
## **What Are Pooled Credits?**
Pooled credits are your currency for accessing UXArmy products & features. Whether you're running usability tests, creating surveys, or conducting moderated sessions, these credits power it all. They’re deducted based on the type of tests/sessions you run and the responses collected, whether from self-sourced participants or UXArmy’s user panel with panel credits.
For paid plans, UXArmy offers flexibility through a **pay-as-you-go**, so even if you run out of credits during a test, you can continue to get responses without interruption. Additional usage beyond your plan’s monthly credit allowance will simply be added to your next invoice, making it easier for you to complete your tests without worrying about running out of credits mid-project.
Each UXArmy plan comes with Pooled Credits: 15 credits/month for the Free Plan, 29 credits/month for the Starter Plan and 99 credits / month for the Pro Plan (both plans come with pay-as-you-go flexibility), and fully prepaid annual credits for the Organization Plan.
## **Where can you use Pooled Credits?**
Pooled Credits can be applied across all UXArmy research tools, such as:
- **Running Usability Tests, Figma Tests**
- **User Interviews** & **Focus Groups**
- **Creating Surveys**, **Tree Testing**, & **Card Sorting**
Each activity consumes Pooled Credits based on its complexity and scope. For instance, usability tests with video recordings require more credits than simpler activities like unmoderated surveys.
## **What happens if you run out of Pooled Credits?**
- **Pro or Starter Plan**: Pay-as-you-go ensures your testing continues without delays. Additional usage is added to your next invoice
- **Organization Plan**: Contact your account manager to arrange a credit top-up if you exhaust your annual credits
- **Free Plan**: Upgrade to paid plans to access more credits or recruit participants from UXArmy’s panel
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## **How Pooled Credits Work**
UXArmy provides two types of Pooled credits to help you manage your usage on the platform: Monthly Active Credits and Carry-over Credits. Here’s how they work:
### **Pooled Credit is the sum of:**
1. **Monthly Active Credits:**
- These credits are allocated at the start of each billing cycle (e.g., 99 credits for Pro plan)
- Any unused Monthly Active Credits will **reset** at the end of the billing cycle. This means you’ll lose any unused credits when the cycle ends
2. **Carry-over Credits:**
- These credits **do not expire** and remain available as long as you maintain your account
- Carry-over Credits include credits from **refunds, bonuses, or special offers** and are available for use at any time
### **How Pooled Credits are Consumed**
Credits are deducted in a specific order to ensure your Monthly Active Credits are used first. Here's the order:
1. **Monthly Active Credits: **These are consumed first, so you’ll spend them before touching your Carry-over Credits
2. **Carry-over Credits: **Once your Monthly Active Credits are used up, your Carry-over Credits will be used next
3. **Pay-as-you-go Credits** (for Monthly Paid plans): This kicks in only after both your Monthly Active and Carry-over Credits have been exhausted
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## **Where can I find my Pooled Credits?**
You can easily check your Pooled credit balance on the platform at any time. Here's how:
1. From the onboarding screen, you’ll see a summary of your available credits
2. Click on it to open the ‘**My Subscriptions & Credits’** dashboard
3. On the dashboard, you can view your pooled credits along with a breakdown of your Monthly Active credits and Carry-over credits
4. Alternatively, go to your ‘**Profile’** and click on ‘**My Subscriptions & Credits’** to access the same details
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## **How can you use Pooled Credits**
Pooled credits are used when running tests/sessions or collecting responses across all UXArmy products. These credits are part of your overall balance, depending on your plan. While you can use your credits across all products, each product has its own “credit consumption rate,” meaning the number of credits required per response can vary.
> ⚠️ Pooled credits will be deducted regardless of whether you use self-sourced participants or avail UXArmy's user panel by purchasing panel credits. [Learn more about credit consumption rates](https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196902918/How+UXArmy's+Credit+System+Works#Understanding-Credit-Consumption-Rates)
Here’s how it works:
### **1. Running Unmoderated Usability Tests**
These tests allow participants to complete tasks independently, without a facilitator. Pooled credits per response are used based on the complexity of the test, including the type of prototype or design being tested.
- **Advanced usability tests**: Higher credits are consumed for more advanced tests with complex features (like AI summary with sentiment analysis, screen & video recordings)
- **Figma prototype usability tests:** Credits are used when testing prototypes with a Figma link, you get path analysis, heatmaps
### **2. Conducting User Interviews or Focus group sessions**
These sessions involve direct interaction with participants, either one-on-one or in a group, facilitated by a moderator. Here, Pooled credits are consumed based on the number of sessions or studies conducted, not responses
### **3. Creating Surveys, Tree Testing, and Card Sorting**
These methods gather responses to explore user preferences, behavior, and navigation patterns. Pooled credits are consumed depending on the responses collected for each survey or testing method.
This table shows the maximum number of responses you can collect IF you select only one type of product:
| ### **Type of Research** | ### **Credits consumed per response** |
| --- | --- |
| Advanced Usability Test with Recording | 5 |
| Figma Usability Tests without Recording | 1 |
| Moderated Sessions | 10 |
| Surveys | 0.01 |
| Card Sorting | 0.25 |
| Tree Testing | 0.25 |
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## **How Are Pooled Credits Calculated?**
If you're running an **Advanced Usability Test with recording** and have **10 participants **(5 self-sourced, 5 from UXArmy user panel), here’s how the credits are used:
- **Pooled Credits**: Since Advanced Usability Tests with recordings consume 5 pooled credits per response, for 10 participants:
5 pooled credits x 10 participants = 50 pooled credits
- **Panel Credits**: If you use UXArmy's panel for the test, you will also consume 29 panel credits per response. For 5 panel participants:
29 panel credits x 5 participants = 145 panel credits
So, for this test, the total credits used would be:
- **50 Pooled credits** (for your own participants or panel)
- **145 panel credits** (for participants from UXArmy’s panel)
> ℹ️ This example shows how the credits are applied based on the type of test and the participants you use, ensuring a clear deduction process for all your testing activities.