When Your Credits Disappear Faster Than Expected
Running through credits faster than you planned? Don't panic. There are specific reasons why this happens, and once you understand them, you can take control of your usage without sacrificing the quality of your work.
The Real Credit Killers
Primary Resources Are Credit Monsters
When you connect raw videos, PDFs, and articles directly to your chat, you're forcing the AI to read through everything - even the parts that aren't relevant to your specific question. A 50-minute video contains massive amounts of content, but you probably only need 10% of it for your actual use case.
Everything Connected = Everything Processed
When you attach 10 different files to a chat and ask a simple question, the AI reads through ALL of that content every time. If you're asking "What's 2+2?" you probably don't need your entire research library connected to that chat.
Long Conversation Histories Add Up
The AI remembers your entire conversation history, and that memory counts toward credit usage. A chat that's been going for hours with dozens of back-and-forth messages will use more credits per new message than a fresh conversation.
Smart Fixes That Actually Work
Extract What You Actually Need
Instead of connecting entire videos or documents to your main chat, add an extra step to your workflow:
Connect the raw material to a separate chat
Ask that chat to extract only the information relevant to your use case
Take that extracted information and put it in a text box (press "T")
Connect the text box to your main working chat instead of the original file
This approach cuts your credit usage AND gives you higher quality results because you're directing the AI to exactly what matters.
Use the Caching Feature to Your Advantage
Here's a feature most people don't know about: Poppy has a 5-minute caching window that can save you serious credits. When you send your first prompt, it uses the full credit amount. But for the next 5 minutes, each follow-up message costs progressively fewer credits because the system stores all your information instead of re-reading everything.
Translation: If you're having a back-and-forth conversation, stay within that 5-minute window and watch your credit usage drop significantly.
Create Targeted Chats Instead of Mega-Chats
Stop connecting everything to one massive chat. Instead use separate chats for different projects or topics.
Choose Your AI Model Strategically
Not every task needs the most powerful model. Use GPT-4o mini for basic questions and simple tasks - it's marked as "low" credit usage for a reason. Save the heavy-duty models for complex work that actually requires their capabilities.
For complete details on which model to use when, check out our AI Models Guide.
Why Extraction Works Better
When you give the AI exactly what it needs instead of everything you have, two things happen:
Lower credit usage - Less content to process means fewer credits consumed
Higher quality outputs - The AI focuses on relevant information instead of getting distracted by irrelevant details
This targeted approach also reduces the chance of the AI making up information because you're directing it to specific, relevant content.
When You Need More Firepower
If you're consistently hitting your limits even after optimizing, you might genuinely need more credits. Check out our Pricing Options to see upgrade plans that give you 4,000 to 16,000 total monthly credits.
Still Burning Through Credits?
If you've optimized everything and you're still seeing unexpected usage, reach out to our support team. We actually look at individual cases and help figure out what's happening - especially if you're new to the platform.
Remember: Credits reset on the 1st of every month at 9AM PST, so unused credits don't roll over. Use them strategically, but don't be afraid to use them.
Questions?
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