API credits

The API uses API credits. They are separate from the credits you use on the website and in the MCP connector, and the two never convert into each other. Website plans include no API credits.

What a request costs

A live request uses 1 API credit when its conversion succeeds. GET /v1/account shows the current price in pricing.credits_per_request, so you never need to hard-code it:

"pricing": { "credits_per_request": { "single": 1 } }

These use no credits:

• failed and timed-out conversions;
• requests the API refuses, including 402, 429 and 503 answers;
• status checks, GET /v1/account and DELETE;
• downloading a result again while it is available;
• repeating a request with the same Idempotency-Key within 24 hours;
• every call with a test key.

A request that succeeds is charged even if your client stopped waiting for it. Use an Idempotency-Key so that a retry returns the same conversion instead of a new one (see Idempotency).

Credit headers

A conversion that finishes after a 202 answer is charged when it succeeds. Its object then shows "credits_charged": 1, but the 202 response said X-Credits-Charged: 0. The conversion object is the record of what each request cost.

Your balance

GET /v1/account returns your live API balance, also when you call it with a test key:

"balance": {
  "credits": 482,
  "held": 1,
  "available": 481,
  "expiring": [{ "credits": 100, "expires_at": "2027-03-02T10:14:00Z" }]
}

There is no overdraft. If available is lower than the request's price, POST /v1/vectorizations answers 402 insufficient_credits before any work starts. The error carries credits_required and credits_available.

API credits expire 12 months after purchase. Credits we grant you are used before credits you buy; within each kind, the credits that expire soonest are used first.

Buy credits

Buy API credit packs in the Developers area of your account. Each pack is a one-time purchase; there is no subscription and no automatic top-up.

Prices are in US dollars, and Lemon Squeezy may add tax at checkout. You can buy up to 10 of any pack in one order. For more than 100,000 credits, contact contact@perfectvector.com.

• At checkout you tick a required box that starts your credits at once, and the first time you also accept the API Terms. The box reads: "Add my credits now. I can get a refund for unused credits within 14 days. Once they're all used, the purchase is final."
• Payment goes through Lemon Squeezy, our Merchant of Record. Your credits appear in your balance shortly after the payment is confirmed.
• Receipts: Lemon Squeezy emails you the receipt with a link to the invoice.
• Business buyers: enter your tax ID in the checkout; it cannot be added later. When you create the invoice from the receipt email, type your business name in its Name field. Both then appear on the invoice.
• You may withdraw from a purchase within 14 days: you pay for the credits you used, and the unused part is refunded. The right ends once all credits of that purchase are used (API Terms §7).

Low-balance banner

The Developers area shows a banner when your available API credits fall below a level. It is on by default.

• Automatic level: 20% of your API balance right after your latest top-up, rounded up, and at least 2 credits. For example, buying a Bulk-100 pack with no other credits sets the level to 20.
• Your own level: set a fixed number of credits instead. It replaces the automatic level.
• You can turn the banner off in the Developers area.

There is no low-balance email. Check your balance with GET /v1/account or the X-Credits-Remaining header to automate your top-ups.

Account deletion

If you delete your PerfectVector account, unspent API credits are lost and are not refunded, except where the law requires otherwise. The website warns you first.