What Is Automation Credit?
ProductSync is built around automation. Background jobs, scheduled imports, API integrations, and rule-based updates run continuously—often without any human interaction at all. Because the real cost of running the platform scales with the number of automated operations rather than the number of users, we significantly reduced per-user pricing and instead charge for the automated work the system actually performs. This charge is called automation credit.
Automation credit is a way to track and understand your costs. Every credit translates directly to a monetary charge.
What Counts as One Automation Credit?
Each of the following actions consumes one automation credit:
| Action | Example |
|---|---|
| A record is created or updated by an automated process | Importing a product, syncing stock from a supplier |
| An automatic operation is triggered | A scheduled job runs, a rule fires |
| An API call is made | An external system pushes or pulls data via the ProductSync API |
Example
You import 1,000 products from a supplier feed. As part of the same import, the importer also creates 1,000 category records. That single import run consumes 2,000 automation credits—1,000 for the products and 1,000 for the categories.
Why This Model?
A flat per-user fee does not reflect actual platform usage. A team of three power users running large nightly syncs places a very different load on the system than a team of ten people who browse the catalog manually. Automation credit aligns the cost with the work done, so small, manual-first teams pay less while high-volume automated workflows are priced accordingly.
Free Starter Credits
Every new workspace receives a batch of free automation credits so you can explore and set up your automations without worrying about cost from day one. Use them to:
- Run your first full catalog import.
- Test scheduled sync jobs end-to-end.
- Experiment with API integrations.
Once the free credits are used, standard billing applies.
Tips for Managing Automation Credits
- Check the operation log to see exactly which jobs and imports are consuming credits and at what volume.
- Deduplicate your imports. If your feed re-sends unchanged records, configure the importer’s skip-unchanged option to avoid crediting records that haven’t actually changed.
- Schedule wisely. Running a sync every 15 minutes uses 96× more credits per day than a daily sync. Choose a frequency that matches how often your data actually changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does manually editing a record consume automation credits? No. Credits are only consumed by automated processes—scheduled jobs, background rules, and API calls. Manual edits made in the UI are free.
Is automation credit the same as AI credit? No. Automation credit covers automated operations within ProductSync. AI credit covers the token costs charged by the underlying AI provider. See What Is AI Credit? for details.
What happens when my automation credits run out? Automated processes (scheduled imports, background rules, API writes) will be paused until you top up your balance. Manual work in the UI is not affected.