# Quote, confirmation, and credits

> How Onira estimates, reserves, and gates production credits.

Canonical: https://docs.onira.studio/production/quote-confirmation-and-credits
Section: production

Onira estimates credits before provider-heavy generation starts. The UI shows the expected estimate and uses the maximum estimate for spend gating.

## Expected and maximum

The run-cost estimate has two headline numbers:

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Expected credits | The point estimate for what the run should spend on average. |
| Maximum credits | The upper-bound reservation used before starting the run. |

The workspace must have enough available credits for the maximum estimate. This avoids starting a run that would need extra credit mid-pipeline.

## Available, frozen, and total

Credit balance is shown as:

| Balance | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Total | Ledger balance. |
| Frozen | Credits reserved by in-flight runs. |
| Available | Spendable credits after subtracting frozen reservations. |

The composer blocks submit when available credits are below the maximum estimate.

## Confirmation dialog

The confirmation dialog repeats:

- Prompt.
- Plan review setting.
- Model profile.
- Duration.
- Language.
- Aspect ratio.
- Selected cast.
- Estimated cost.

It also includes a "Do not show this again" option. That preference is stored per user in local browser storage.

## What starts charging

Creating the project record is not the heavy work. Confirmation allows production to begin. The pipeline can then reserve credits and call generation providers.

If the run spends less than the maximum reservation, unused reserved credits are released when the run settles.

## Insufficient credits

When available credits are too low, the composer shows:

- Required maximum credits.
- Current available credits.
- Frozen credits, if any.
- Upgrade plan action.

Top-ups can also be purchased from Billing.

## Top-up credit behavior

Top-up credits:

- Are purchased in 1,000 credit blocks.
- Cost $35 per block in the current app.
- Are valid for 3 years per lot.
- Are spent only after plan credits are drained.
- Use earliest-expiring lots first.

Plan credits reset at the end of the billing cycle and do not carry over.

## Product and publication boundary

- Onira produces a reviewable MP4; it does not upload or schedule social posts.
- Creators remain responsible for facts, sources, rights, disclosure, policy review, and final publication.
- Research is research-assisted; creator verification is required before publication.
- Onira does not guarantee factual accuracy, legal clearance, monetization, reach, or production success.
- The current Timeline and Studio surfaces support defined review and regeneration workflows, not arbitrary nonlinear editing.