Universal Credits are drawn the instant you trigger an action, shared by your entire team from a single pool, and priced by the scope and type of each request. Knowing these mechanics lets you plan usage, prevent quota shortfalls, and coordinate team activity effectively.

📌 **Note:** Not all Search Atlas features consume Universal Credits — only those explicitly enrolled in the UC system do. Unenrolled features continue to draw from their own standard per-product quotas independently of your Universal Credits balance. The list of UC-enrolled features may expand over time as more products are onboarded; contact Search Atlas support for the current reference of which features are UC-enrolled.

## ⏱️ When Are Credits Charged?

Credits are deducted at the **moment an action is triggered** — not when results are delivered to your screen. As soon as you initiate a site crawl, request keyword metrics, generate a report, or launch any other resource-intensive feature enrolled in the Universal Credits system, the corresponding credits are drawn from your balance immediately.

🔒 Under normal operation, Search Atlas blocks any request that would exceed your remaining balance, preventing accidental over-consumption. However, edge cases and platform bugs can occasionally cause credits to be deducted unexpectedly — for example, if a search fails to return results, retries excessively due to connection issues, or a job runs duplicate instances. If you notice credits deducted for work you did not initiate or for failed actions, contact Search Atlas support with your account ID and the approximate time of the action. The support team will review the situation and restore credits where appropriate.

## 👥 Your Entire Team Shares One Pool

All users on your Search Atlas account draw from the **same Universal Credits balance**. There is no per-seat or per-user allocation — every team member's activity collectively counts toward the single shared quota.

To avoid exhausting the shared pool, coordinate usage across your team:

- Coordinate with teammates before launching large batch operations, especially during high-activity periods near the end of your billing cycle.
- Schedule resource-intensive jobs during off-peak windows when fewer team members are actively using the platform.
- Communicate upcoming large jobs — such as full-site crawls or bulk keyword pulls — in advance to prevent quota exhaustion during critical work windows.

## 📏 Action Scope Directly Affects How Many Credits Are Used

Not every action costs the same number of credits. **Larger, more resource-intensive requests consume more credits than smaller, targeted ones.** A broad crawl covering thousands of pages draws significantly more credits than a single-URL check, and a bulk keyword metrics pull costs more than querying one keyword.

🔍 Before launching a large operation, assess its scope to confirm you have a sufficient balance to complete it without interruption. A job that cannot start will not consume credits, but planning ahead avoids a blocked workflow.

## 💱 Exchange Rates Vary by Action and Enrollment Status

Different actions carry different per-credit costs, and those rates can vary depending on whether the underlying resource has been **fully migrated to Universal Credits** or is still operating on the legacy per-product quota system.

📋 Resources not yet migrated continue using their own per-product counters and do **not** draw from your Universal Credits balance — so a high-volume action on a non-migrated tool will not affect your unified credit pool. For example, **URL Indexer credits are a separate quota** and are not part of the Universal Credits pool; they are tracked and consumed independently.

**UC-Enrolled Feature Rates (per action):**

FeatureActionCost (Credits)Approx. USDKeyword Magic ToolSingle keyword search10$2.50Keyword Magic ToolBulk keyword pull (100+ keywords)50$12.50Site CrawlerCrawl up to 1,000 pages100$25Site CrawlerCrawl 1,000+ pages200+$50+Local CitationsPer-aggregator submission40$10Rank TrackerTrack 100 keywords100$25

📄 For a complete and current credits-per-action rate reference, contact Search Atlas support or review your plan documentation directly, as rates are subject to change as more products join the unified system.

## 🗓️ Credits Reset on Your Billing Cycle — Not Per Tool

Your Universal Credits balance renews according to your **plan's renewal date** — typically monthly on the same date your account was activated or billed. Unlike the legacy system where each product could theoretically refresh on a different schedule, every enrolled tool shares the same reset window under Universal Credits. Confirm your exact renewal date in Account or Billing settings, or by contacting support.

📊 Review your period usage in Billing (top-right corner avatar → Billing) to see a breakdown of which activities consumed the most credits this cycle. Identifying your top consumers helps you prioritize high-value work and defer lower-priority tasks when your balance is running low.

## 💳 Checking Your Balance

Your current Universal Credits balance is displayed on your **Account dashboard or Billing settings page**. Simply navigate to the top-right corner (avatar) → Billing (Billing) to view your remaining credits for the current billing cycle, as well as a summary of your top credit consumers.

💡 Universal Credits, including the unified quota view, is currently only available on **new sign-up** accounts. If your account was created before Universal Credits launched, you'll continue to see per-product quota counters in individual tools for now.

## 🛟 Credits Consumed Due to Platform Errors

Occasionally, credits may be consumed because of platform-side issues — for example, connection failures that cause a tool to retry automatically, or unexpected duplicate runs of the same job. If you notice credit deductions that appear to result from a system error rather than your intended usage, contact **Search Atlas support** through the in-app chat (Intercom) or your usual support channel to request a review. Where the issue is confirmed on our side, the affected credits can be refunded to your balance.

⚠️ **Known issue:** Keyword Magic and History tab may occasionally charge credits for failed or re-viewed actions — specifically, credits may be deducted if a search returns no results or if you view a report that was already generated in a previous search without running a new query. If you experience unexpected charges related to these scenarios, contact support with your account ID and the approximate time of the action. The team will review your account and restore credits manually once the issue is confirmed.

**🎯 You now understand when Universal Credits are charged, how your team shares one pool, and how scope and enrollment status drive per-action costs — review your balance and renewal date in Billing (top-right corner avatar → Billing) to plan your next cycle.**