## **🔍 What Are Universal Credits?**

Universal Credits (UC) are a flexible currency inside Search Atlas that let you run tools and reports across the platform without being locked into fixed per-tool quotas. Your UC balance depends on the plan you are subscribed to, and changes to your plan directly affect how those credits are assigned and refreshed.

## **⚠️ What Happens to Universal Credits When You Downgrade?**

When you downgrade from a higher-tier plan — such as a trial Growth plan — to a lower-tier plan such as the Starter plan, your Universal Credits balance is recalculated to match the credit allowance of your new plan. This means:

- Any unused credits from your previous plan **do not carry over** to the new plan.
- Your UC balance is reset to reflect only what the new plan includes.
- If your new plan includes a lower UC allowance, your displayed balance will drop accordingly.

This is expected behaviour and is not a billing error or a technical fault.

## **📊 Does the Starter Plan Include Universal Credits?**

Yes, the Starter plan does include Universal Credits, but at a lower allocation than Growth or higher-tier plans. The exact number of credits included in each plan is shown on the **Pricing** page.

If your balance appears to be zero immediately after downgrading, allow a few minutes for the system to apply your new plan's credit allocation. If the balance remains at zero after some time, this may need to be reviewed by our team.

## **🛠️ What to Have Ready When Escalating**

If your Universal Credits balance does not update correctly after a plan downgrade, our team will need to investigate your account. Please have the following ready before reaching out:

- Your **account email address or project name**
- The **plan you downgraded from and the plan you downgraded to**
- The **approximate date and time** the downgrade took place
- A description of your current UC balance and what you expected it to show
- Any **error messages** displayed on your screen, copied exactly as they appear

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.