--- title: "How UXArmy's Credit System Works" canonical: "https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196902918/How%20UXArmy's%20Credit%20System%20Works" format: markdown --- The UXArmy credit system simplifies how you manage your UX research projects. It’s designed to be clear, adaptable, and efficient - whether you're on the Free, Starter, Pro, or Organization plan. By understanding how the system works, you can maximize the value of your plan and streamline your research efforts without having to worry about running out of credits. In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about how credits are allocated, used, and deducted - plus tips on how you can use them effectively across all UXArmy tools and services.   ## **What are Credits?** Credits are what you need to run your research activities on UXArmy - whether it’s tests, surveys, or interviews. They give you the power to use the platform and recruit participants. There are two types of credits: - **Pooled Credits:** Used to run tests and sessions on the platform, including usability tests, user interviews, focus groups, surveys, card sorting, and tree testing. [Learn more about Pooled credits](https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196771866/Platform+Credits) - **Panel Credits:** Required when using UXArmy's user panel for participant recruitment. Panel Credits can be purchased and topped up as needed when running tests. [Learn more about Panel credits](https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196706362/Panel+Credits) Each plan comes with a set number of Pooled credits: 15 for Free, 29 for Starter, 99 for Pro, and custom credits for Organizations. Credits reset monthly for Free, Starter and Pro plans, while Organization plan users receive all their annual credits at once. Panel credits, however, are only available as add-ons and only for paid plan users. [Learn more about our plans here](https://uxarmy.com/pricing/) While the credits allocated to you can be used across all products, each product has a different “credit consumption rate” meaning the number of credits used per response may vary depending on the product. We'll dive deeper into this in the next sections.   **Note:** If you're using your own participants, you only need Pooled Credits. If you're using UXArmy's panel, you'll need Panel Credits, which you can top up as needed ## **What happens if you run out of credits?** For **Starter/Pro plan users**, if you exceed your monthly credit limit, the pay-as-you-go model ensures your testing continues without interruptions. Any additional usage is seamlessly billed to your Credit Card in the following month, ensuring your projects stay on track without delays. **Quick Tip: **To maximize your efficiency, keep track of your credit usage in real time through the UXArmy dashboard ## **Understanding Our Plans & Credit Allocations** Whether you're just starting out or scaling up with your team, UXArmy has a plan designed to fit your research goals. Explore how credits are allocated and the features included in each plan to see what works best for you. [Check out our plans & pricing](https://uxarmy.com/pricing/) ### **1. Free Plan ** - **Monthly Credits:** 15 Pooled credits, resets every month - **Products you get access to: **Figma Usability Tests, Survey, Card Sorting, Tree Testing - **How you can use it: **You can collect up to 15 Figma test responses OR a combination of responses from Figma tests, surveys, card sorting, and tree testing - **Limitations:** - Free plan users cannot purchase additional credits or access the pay-as-you-go option, unless they upgrade to a paid plan - You can only test with participants that you source yourself. Free plan users cannot purchase panel credits ### **2. Starter Plan ($29/month OR $25/month for annual plan users)** - **Monthly Credits:** 29 Pooled credits, resets every month - **You get full access to all features: **Advanced Usability Tests with recordings, User Interviews & Focus Groups, Figma Usability Tests, Surveys, Card Sorting, and Tree Testing - **How you can use it: **Collect up to 5 usability test responses with recordings OR conduct 2 user interviews / moderated research sessions, OR use a combination of responses across all products - **Panel Credits:** Can be purchased or topped-up as needed - **Pay-as-You-Go:** - Any usage beyond the monthly credit allocation will be billed in the next month - For annual plans, any usage beyond the monthly credits is automatically charged to the Credit Card the following month ### **3. Pro Plan ($99/month OR $82/month for annual plan users)** - **Monthly Credits:** 99 Pooled credits, resets every month - **Full seats: **3 - **You get full access to all features: **Advanced Usability Tests with recordings, User Interviews & Focus Groups, Figma Usability Tests, Surveys, Card Sorting, and Tree Testing - **How you can use it: **Collect up to 19 usability test responses with recordings OR conduct 9 user interviews / moderated research sessions, OR use a combination of responses across all products - **Panel Credits:** Can be purchased or topped-up as needed - **Pay-as-You-Go:** - Any usage beyond the monthly credit allocation will be billed in the next month - For annual plans, any usage beyond the monthly credits is automatically charged to the Credit Card the following month ### **4. Organization Plan (Custom Annual Credits)** - **Fully Prepaid Credits:** Choose the number of Pooled credits your team needs for the year upfront (e.g., purchase 1,000 credits annually) and use them flexibly across all research activities - **You get full access to all features: **Use UXArmy however you may like, run unlimited studies and enjoy custom seats to empower your entire organization - **Credits usage: **Number of responses & sessions are capped by the annual credits you’ve pre-purchased - **Panel Credits:** Can be purchased or topped-up as needed - **When credits run out:** Pay-as-you-go is not available for this plan. If you run out of annual credits, simply reach out to your account manager to arrange a top-up   --- ## **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 Starter/Pro plan): This kicks in only after both your Monthly Active and Carry-over Credits have been exhausted --- ## **How can I track my Pooled & Panel Credits?** You can easily check your platform & panel credit balance on the platform at any time. Here's how: 1. From the onboarding screen, go to your ‘**Settings’**. 2. Click on ‘**Credits’** to access the details.   ![Credits](media://131221c9-2f65-4b65-9144-2356bf6796b5) --- ## **Understanding Credit Consumption Rates** The number of credits used for each test depends on the type of research you're running. Different research methods consume credits at different rates. For example, more complex tests with recordings or moderation will use more credits than basic surveys or unmoderated tests without recordings. Both **Pooled Credits** and **Panel Credits** follow this pattern. Here's how credit consumption breaks down across various UXArmy products: - **Advanced Usability Testing (with recording):** Higher consumption rate due to both screen and audio recordings - **User Interviews & Focus Groups (with DeepDive):** Higher consumption due to moderation and in-depth analysis - **Figma Prototype Testing (without recording):** Lower consumption rate since it doesn't include recordings - **Surveys, Tree Testing, Card Sorting:** Generally lower credit consumption as these are simpler tests   When using the platform: | | | | --- | --- | | ### **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 |   When using UXArmy’s user panel: | | | | --- | --- | | ### **Type of Research** | ### **Panel Credits consumed per response** | | Advanced Usability Test with Recording | 29 | | Figma Usability Tests without Recording | 8 | | Moderated Sessions | Not Available | | Surveys | 5 | | Card Sorting | Not Available | | Tree Testing | Not Available | ## **Example of How Credits Work** 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) --- ## **FAQs** **What happens if I don’t use all my credits in a month?** If you don’t use all your credits in a month, your Monthly Active Credits will reset at the end of the billing cycle and won’t carry over. However, your Carry-over Credits will remain in your account until consumed. **Can I purchase more credits?** - **Free Plan Users**: You must **upgrade to a paid plan** to purchase more credits - **Starter/Pro Plan Users**: While your monthly Pooled credits can’t be topped up, you can still access additional credits through our **pay-as-you-go** model. Any usage beyond your allocated credits is tracked and automatically charged to your next month’s bill - **Organization Plan Users**: Contact your **account manager** to discuss adding more credits to your account **How are credits deducted during tests?** Credits are deducted based on the **actual responses** you receive from your testers. This ensures you are only charged for the responses collected, not for the number of participants you are going for **What happens to my credits with the new credit structure?** We are moving to a unified credit system, which means that all your credits for different products (like unmoderated usability tests, DeepDive, etc.) will now be combined into one single credit balance. You don't need to worry—this change won’t affect your running tests. Your existing balance will be merged automatically into the new system, and you’ll still be able to use them as you normally would for all UXArmy products. The goal is to make managing your credits easier and more streamlined. Nothing will change in terms of how you use or access your credits.