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How are credits calculated?

Videos and images require processing capacity to produce. The amount needed depends on many factors, with the most significant being export resolution and video length. To make these costs predictable, Creatomate uses a unit called "API credits," which is based on the processing power required to generate a video or image.

The credit amount for a template is displayed under Single Export in the template editor. You can also view used credits under API Log in your dashboard.

We recommend the Growth tier (10,000 credits) for most new users. This plan includes approximately 12 hours of 720p video production (1280 × 720 at 25 fps), plus access to the Preview SDK and team collaboration features. You can scale your credits up or down at any time.

Credits per render

An image always costs 1 credit, regardless of resolution. To calculate the number of credits for a video, use the following formula (rounded up to at least 1 credit per video):

The following parameters are used in this formula:

  • Width: The width of the video in pixels
  • Height: The height of the video in pixels
  • FPS: The frame rate of the video
  • Duration: The length of the video in seconds

Put another way, 1 credit equals 100 million pixels.

Number of video minutes

Using the same logic, you can calculate the number of video minutes by rewriting the formula. For example, if your average video is exported at 720p resolution (1280 by 720) with a frame rate of 25, then 10,000 credits provide the following amount of video:

This means the "Growth 10K" plan provides approximately 12 hours of video output.

Transcription costs

Creatomate can auto-generate subtitles based on the clips included in your video. This process is known as automatic transcription or speech-to-text.

Transcription is provided at no charge for high and medium resolution videos. Transcription costs (at a rate of 10 credits per minute) are only applied when they exceed the rendering credit costs. This means subtitles are free for any video at 720p resolution and above.

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