Automations billing

Learn how automations credits are consumed and billed.

Table of Contents

This guide explains how automation billing works in Attio and how credits are used in workflows and AI attributes.

Automation credits overview

Automation credits track the resources consumed by workflows and AI features in your workspace.

What are credits?

Credits are the unit used to measure resource consumption in Attio. They’re used by workflows and AI attributes whenever these features run or recalculate.

Most workflow blocks use one credit each time they run. Credits are also used when recalculating AI attribute values.

How many credits are included in each Attio plan?

Each Attio plan includes a set number of automation credits.

  • Free plan: 250 credits per month

  • Plus plan: 1,500 credits per month

  • Pro plan: 10,000 credits per month

  • Enterprise plan: Custom

When do credits renew?

  • Monthly plans: Credits renew on your monthly billing date.

  • Annual plans: Credits renew each month on the same date as your annual billing date.

Example: If your plan renews on June 13, your credits will also renew on the 13th of every month.

Manage automation credits

Admins can view your automation credit usage and update your credit balance from Workspace settings.

View credit usage

Admins can track automation credit usage in Workspace settings:

  1. Click your workspace name in the top-left.

  2. Click Workspace settings.

  3. Click Billing in the left-hand sidebar.

  4. Under Automation credits, click Usage.

You’ll see how many credits you’ve used, your total available credits, and the date your credits reset. You can also check which workflows and AI attributes have used credits.

Purchase or remove additional credits

To purchase additional automation credits or remove additional credits you previously added to your subscription, admins can follow these steps:

  • Click your workspace name in the top-left.

  • Click Workspace settings in the dropdown.

  • Click Billing in the left-hand sidebar.

  • Under Automation credits, click Manage.

  • Move the slider up to add credits, or down to 0 to remove all additional credits purchased.

  • Confirm to update your subscription.

How do workflow automations consume credits?

Credits are charged based on the blocks that actually run during a workflow.

A run starts when a workflow is triggered and continues until the final action or condition is reached. Only the executed path in a workflow consumes credits. You can view specific runs with the run viewer.

Here’s how credit usage works by block type:

  • Trigger blocks: Start a workflow and use 0 credits.

  • Conditional blocks: Filter, If / else, and Switch blocks use 0 credits when they are the last block executed in a run. This happens when the run matches a condition that has no deeper path associated with it.

  • Delay blocks: Use 1 credit each time they run.

  • Research record blocks: Use 10 credits per question each time they run.

  • Loop blocks: The loop block itself doesn’t use credits, but the blocks inside it do.

  • All other blocks: Use 1 credit per block executed.

If a block fails because of a setup error or bug, any credits used for successfully executed blocks in the run remain charged, but the failed block’s credits are not charged.

Example workflows and credit usage

These examples show how credits are consumed based on workflow structure and conditions.

Example 1: When a record is created, add it to a list or update it

Credit usage for the run above:

  • Record created trigger block: 0 credits

  • Switch block: 1 credit

  • Add record to list block: 1 credit

  • Total: 2 credits

This workflow runs when a new record is created. The switch block determines which action to take, and both the switch and the resulting action consume credits.

Example 2: Manually run a workflow on a company to update team members

Credit usage for the run above:

  • Record command trigger block: 0 credits

  • Loop block: 0 credits

  • Update record block: 3 credits (1 for each loop iteration)

  • Total: 3 credits

This workflow loops through three team member records and updates each one. The loop itself doesn’t consume credits, but each update inside it does.

Example 3: Research a company and post details to Slack

Credit usage for the run above:

  • Record command trigger block: 0 credits

  • Research record block (2 questions): 20 credits (10 for each question)

  • Post message to channel block: 1 credit

  • Total: 21 credits

This workflow uses a Research record block to gather company details before posting the results to Slack. Research record blocks can quickly increase credit usage since each question consumes 10 credits per run.

Example 4: When an attribute is updated, add the record to a list and enroll in a sequence

Credit usage for the run above:

  • Attribute updated trigger block: 0 credits

  • Filter block: 1 credit

  • Add record to list block: 1 credit

  • Enroll in sequence block: 0 credits (since the block failed)

  • Total: 2 credits

This workflow runs when a record’s attribute changes, checks if it meets filter conditions, adds it to a list, and enrolls in a sequence. Even though the Enroll in sequence block failed, credits were still consumed for the blocks that executed successfully.

How do AI attributes consume credits?

AI attributes can be used to generate attribute data for your records and lists. AI attributes use automation credits each time they’re recalculated. The number of credits used depends on the autofill type:

  • Summarize record: 1 credit per record

  • Research agent: 10 credits per record

  • Prompt completion: 1 credit per record

  • Classify record: 1 credit per record

If recalculating a text-based AI attribute doesn’t produce a result, credits are refunded automatically.

For Classify text AI attributes, you need to either:

  • Turn on Allow AI to generate new options, or

  • Give the AI a fallback option (like "Other") and explain how it should be used in the Guidance input.

If neither is configured and the AI’s result doesn’t match any existing options, no result is saved and credits are still consumed.

Frequently asked questions