The AI usage dashboard gives you a real-time view of how your AI credits are being spent across Vista Social. You can see your total credit balance, how different features are contributing to your usage, and which agents are costing the most, all in one place.
How to access AI usage
You can get to the AI usage dashboard from two places:
- Settings → Plan and Billing → AI usage tab
- Ask Vista: click the AI usage link directly from the Ask Vista panel
What you'll see on the AI usage tab
Credits remaining
At the top of the page, you'll see your current credit balance alongside your total plan allowance (for example, 3,891 / 5,000). The approximate dollar value of your remaining credits is shown just below.
A progress bar shows how much of your credit bundle has been used. You'll also see a breakdown of your total credits:
- Credits included in your plan
- Credits from any additional bundles you've purchased
If you're running low, click Buy a credits bundle to top up.
What your AI is worth
Vista Social tracks the estimated value your AI activity generated over the past 30 days, giving you a clear picture of what your AI spend is actually delivering.
This insight appears in your AI usage dashboard and updates automatically based on your activity.
How the estimate works
- Saving now shows your current estimated monthly value based on active agents and AI usage.
- Could be saving shows the potential value you'd unlock by activating paused agents or exploring new ones.
- Time saved is calculated at an estimated $30/hr, which reflects a conservative blended cost of completing the same work manually.
Content created
Below the savings estimate, you'll find a breakdown of the content your AI generated in the past 30 days, including:
- Images created
- Videos created
- AI chat answers generated
This section also shows your total credit spend alongside an estimated equivalent cost if the same content were sourced from freelancers or stock platforms, calculated at industry-rate estimates.
What used your credits
This section shows a rolling 30-day breakdown of credit consumption by feature category:
- Images: AI-generated images
- Videos: AI-generated videos
- Chat: usage from Ask Vista conversations
- Agents: usage from automated agents running on your behalf
Each category shows the percentage of total usage, the number of credits consumed, and the approximate dollar value.
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Note Credits free up as older usage ages out of the 30-day window. |
Top agents by cost
This section lists your agents ranked by estimated monthly run cost. Each entry shows the agent name, how frequently it runs, and its projected monthly spend.
This is helpful for understanding which agents are driving the most credit usage and whether the cost is proportionate to the time they're saving you.
How credits are counted
Different AI features consume credits at different rates:
- Image generation: 10 credits per image
- Video generation: priced by size × length (rounded up to the nearest 10 credits).
- Video repurposing analysis: 2 credits per minute of source video (10-credit minimum). Clip rendering is currently free.
- Ask Vista chat and agents: credits vary based on the amount of work completed; there's no fixed cost per chat or per agent run
For agent usage specifically, the credit cost depends on how much the agent does during each run. Agents that process a large number of profiles or perform more complex tasks will use more credits than lighter runs.
Rolling 30-day window
Your credit usage is tracked on a rolling 30-day basis. Here's how it works:
- Usage is calculated as the sum of everything generated in the past 30 days.
- Credits free up automatically as usage older than 30 days drops off.
- Unused credits do not accumulate or carry forward.
- Purchasing a bundle increases your available credits immediately.
Understanding agent costs
When an agent completes a run, its credit consumption is logged and reflected in the Top agents by cost section. The estimated monthly cost is calculated based on the agent's run frequency and average credit usage per run.
To put agent costs in perspective: an agent that costs around $10 to $11 per month and saves you 6 hours of manual work per month is replacing work that would otherwise cost significantly more at typical contractor rates.
AI credit limit notifications
Vista Social can alert you when your AI credits are running low or fully used up, so you're never caught off guard mid-workflow. You can receive these alerts via email, dashboard, or Slack.
What this does
Two notifications help you track your AI credit usage:
- Approaching your AI credit limit: sent when your usage reaches [X]% of your total AI credit allocation
- AI credit limit reached: sent when your AI credits are fully consumed
How to set it up
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Go to Settings → Notifications
- Scroll to the Other notifications section and expand it
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Find AI credit limit reached and Approaching your AI credit limit
- Check the boxes under your preferred delivery channels: Email, Dashboard, or Slack
Changes save automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Where do I buy more AI credits?
A: Go to Settings → Plan and Billing → AI usage and click Buy a credits bundle in the upper right.
Q: Do unused credits roll over?
A: Credits included with your plan do not roll over. Your usage resets every month.
Q: Why does my agent cost vary from run to run?
A: Agent credit usage depends on the amount of work completed during each run, including the number of profiles processed and the complexity of the tasks. A run that covers more profiles or does more work will cost more credits.
Q: Can I see which specific agent used how many credits?
A: Yes. The Top agents by cost section on the AI usage tab shows each agent's name and estimated monthly run cost. Individual run costs are displayed within the agent itself after each run completes.
Q: Is there a way to set a credit usage limit or alert?
A: Credit limit controls are not currently available. Monitor your balance regularly from Settings → Plan and Billing → AI usage.
Need help?
If you have questions about your AI credit balance or usage, our awesome support team is here to help. 💙
Related Reading:
Getting Started with Ask Vista
How to generate images with AI on Vista Social
AI Training & Knowledge: Getting started
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