"Credits" is one of the most overloaded words in AI pricing. The same word gets used for a ChatGPT-style app allowance, a prepaid developer balance, a cloud promotion, and a startup grant. Mixing them up is how people end up buying the wrong plan or chasing "free credit" offers that don't exist.

Here is a plain breakdown of the main kinds, how they're metered, and how to find legitimate free ones.

1. App credits (consumer and prosumer tools)

Many image, video, and chat apps sell a monthly plan that includes a fixed number of credits. Each generation, upscale, or long-context request costs some of them. Key points:

They are tied to one product and usually can't be used anywhere else.

They often reset monthly and may not roll over.

The "cost per credit" varies by action, so compare plans by what you actually do (e.g. images per month), not by raw credit count.

2. API credits (developer billing)

API credits are a prepaid or granted dollar balance on a developer platform.…