🔍 What Are Universal Credits?
Universal Credits (UC) is Search Atlas's unified billing system that consolidates feature usage into a single, flexible credit pool. Instead of managing separate allowances for each tool, your credits are shared across supported features — making it easier to allocate usage where you need it most.
Important: HyperDrive Credits are a separate credit type and are not drawn from your Universal Credits balance. These two systems operate independently and will never be combined or confused in your billing.
📊 How to Understand Your Pre/Post Migration Usage
If you want to model how your last 30–60 days of activity would look under Universal Credits, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account and navigate to the Billing or Usage section of the platform.
- Review your historical feature usage for the relevant date range. Look for per-tool consumption figures (e.g., Local SEO Heatmaps, content tools, keyword lookups).
- Apply the UC conversion rate for each feature. Each tool has a defined rate that determines how many Universal Credits one unit of usage costs. These rates are listed in your plan details under Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (see the Quota model details section, which shows per-feature Total Quota X / Y).
- Add the converted credit amounts together to get your estimated total Universal Credits consumption for that period.
- Compare this total against your plan's Universal Credits allowance to see whether your usage fits comfortably within your quota.
If you are unsure of the conversion rate for a specific tool, your plan documentation will list each feature alongside its UC rate. You can also reach out via the chat widget for a personalised usage summary.
⚙️ Universal Credits Conversion Rates — Key Facts
- Each Search Atlas feature that supports Universal Credits has a fixed conversion rate (e.g., X credits per heatmap scan, Y credits per keyword lookup).
- Conversion rates are defined at the plan level and do not change mid-billing cycle.
- HyperDrive Credits have their own separate rate and quota — they are never deducted from your Universal Credits pool.
- Your dashboard will always display your UC balance and HyperDrive balance as two distinct line items so there is no ambiguity.
🛠️ LLM Project Quota Limits Explained
LLM (Large Language Model) features in Search Atlas — such as AI-assisted content tools — operate under a dedicated quota system called LLM allowed_projects. This controls how many active LLM projects you can run within your billing period.
Here is what you need to know:
- LLM project quotas are being integrated into the billing catalog as a purchasable resource, meaning you will soon be able to increase your LLM project allowance directly from your plan settings.
- Until that update is fully released, your LLM project limit is tied to your current plan tier.
- LLM project usage is tracked separately from your Universal Credits balance. Running an LLM project does not consume Universal Credits unless the specific output action (e.g., publishing content) has a defined UC cost.
🚨 "Quota Exhausted" Errors on Local SEO Heatmaps
Some customers on Universal Credits plans have encountered a "quota exhausted" error when attempting to run Local SEO Heatmap scans. This was caused by a missing quota entry in the system's credit configuration — specifically, the uc.universal_credits value was absent from the quota record for affected accounts.
This issue has been resolved. If you are still seeing a quota exhausted message on Heatmaps after logging out and back in, please take the following steps:
- Clear your browser cache and reload the platform.
- Navigate to Local → Local SEO Heatmaps and attempt the scan again.
- If the error persists, check your Universal Credits balance in the Billing section to confirm you have sufficient credits remaining.
- If your balance appears healthy but the error continues, contact support immediately via the chat widget.
✅ Quick Reference: UC vs. HyperDrive Credits
- Universal Credits: Shared pool used across most Search Atlas features. Replenishes on your billing cycle. Visible in the Billing dashboard as "Universal Credits."
- HyperDrive Credits: Separate credit type for HyperDrive-specific features. Has its own balance, quota, and replenishment schedule. Always shown as a distinct line item.
- The two credit types are never interchangeable and are billed independently.
💬 Need More Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.