Credits-Based AI Billing & Onboarding Without Login
AI usage is now metered with a credits system — every AI action spends from a daily and one-time credit balance. You can also complete the full onboarding form before creating an account.
Two things that have been on the list for a while. The credits system replaces the blunt subscription gate on AI features — now every action has a cost, a daily allowance, and proper refund logic when things go wrong. It's a more honest model: you can see exactly what you're spending and when your balance resets.
The onboarding-without-login change is about reducing friction at the top of the funnel. Someone shouldn't have to create an account to find out what Tracsio does with their idea. Now they can go through the whole form first, and the account creation happens at the moment it actually matters — when we're about to build their workspace.
- Credits-based billing: AI features now run on credits instead of a flat subscription gate. Every AI action — chat messages, lean canvas generation, hypothesis generation, summaries — has a defined credit cost. Your balance resets daily if you're on an active plan, and one-time credits carry over.
- Credit balance in the sidebar: your current credit balance is visible in the sidebar at all times. No surprises before you run an AI action.
- Idempotent AI usage tracking: every AI request is tracked with a stable operation key. If a request fails, the credits are refunded. No charge for broken responses.
- Onboarding without a login: you can now fill out the full project onboarding form before creating an account. At the final step, your data is saved locally and you're prompted to create an account — after which your workspace is generated automatically.
- Billing settings page redesigned: the settings page now shows your credit balance, daily reset time, and usage history alongside your plan details.
- Dashboard and workspace no longer gated by subscription: access to your dashboard and workspace is no longer blocked by subscription status. The credit balance governs AI usage; everything else stays open.
- AI chat shows insufficient-credit errors: if you run out of credits, the chat panel surfaces a clear message rather than a generic error.