---
title: "Credit"
description: "The signup credit, coupons, and workspace discounts."
url: "https://saved.sh/docs/billing/credit"
---

A new workspace starts with a **one-time credit against real usage** and needs no card. You
are using the full product, not a restricted trial, until the credit runs out.

```bash
curl -fsS "https://api.saved.sh/v1/workspaces/$WID/credit" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
```

```json
{
  "signup_credit": { "granted_cents": 5000, "remaining_cents": 4126, "currency": "usd" },
  "billing_profile": "subscription_0_off",
  "discount_percent": 0,
  "redeemed_codes": []
}
```

Permission: `billing:read`, which is human-only.

## The signup credit [#the-signup-credit]

|               |                                        |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Granted       | Once, when the workspace is created    |
| Amount        | **USD 50**                             |
| Applies to    | Real metered usage, on all four meters |
| Card required | No                                     |

Amounts are in **cents**. `remaining_cents` is what is left, and it draws down as usage
accrues rather than on a schedule.

<Callout>
  This is credit against usage, not a time-boxed trial. A workspace with light usage can run on
  the signup credit for a long time. A workspace archiving a terabyte will exhaust it quickly.
  What ends it is consumption, not the calendar.
</Callout>

## While on the credit [#while-on-the-credit]

A workspace on trial has [trial limits](/docs/billing/limits), which are tighter than paid
ones. The two most likely to bite:

* **Retention is capped at 7 days**, and retention is write-once, so backups created now keep
  that policy after you upgrade.
* **One artifact may not exceed 5 GiB**, which fails the run rather than the API call.

<Callout type="error">
  If you are evaluating with backups you intend to keep, add a card **before** creating them.
  Otherwise you will recreate them later to get a longer retention.
</Callout>

## When it runs out [#when-it-runs-out]

The workspace moves through billing states rather than stopping dead.

| State     | Meaning                      | New runs | Config | Reads and downloads |
| --------- | ---------------------------- | -------- | ------ | ------------------- |
| `trial`   | On the signup credit         | Yes      | Yes    | Yes                 |
| `active`  | Paying normally              | Yes      | Yes    | Yes                 |
| `warned`  | A payment problem            | Yes      | Yes    | Yes                 |
| `stopped` | Unresolved after **7 days**  | **No**   | Yes    | Yes                 |
| `blocked` | Unresolved after **30 days** | **No**   | **No** | Yes                 |

<Callout>
  **Downloads keep working in every state, including `blocked`.** Your backups are not leverage.
  What stops is new work, so the archive falls behind while the account is unpaid, but nothing
  already stored becomes unreachable.
</Callout>

Adding a valid card returns the workspace to `active`.

<Callout type="warn">
  A workspace left unresolved on that ladder for a **year** reaches a point where its artifacts
  are treated as forfeit. If a workspace matters, do not let it sit at `blocked`, and export
  what you need before abandoning one.
</Callout>

## Coupons [#coupons]

```bash
curl -fsS -X POST "https://api.saved.sh/v1/workspaces/$WID/coupons" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"code": "..."}'
```

Permission: `billing:write`, human-only. Redeemed codes appear in `redeemed_codes` on the
credit response, so a code cannot be quietly applied twice.

## Discounts [#discounts]

Separately from credit, a workspace carries a **billing profile** that applies a percentage
discount to everything, permanently.

| Profile                | Discount        |
| ---------------------- | --------------- |
| `subscription_0_off`   | 0%, the default |
| `subscription_50_off`  | 50%             |
| `subscription_100_off` | 100%            |

`discount_percent` on the credit response is the effective figure.

Non-profit, open-source, education and startup arrangements are applied this way rather than
through a code. **Ask** rather than looking for one at checkout, and say what you are doing;
this is a conversation, not a form.

<Callout>
  A discount applies to the rate, so it shows up on the invoice rather than in
  [usage](/docs/billing/usage), which reports raw quantities.
</Callout>

## Order of application [#order-of-application]

1. Usage accrues on the four meters.
2. The billing profile's discount applies to the rate.
3. The remaining signup credit is drawn down.
4. Anything left is charged to the card.

So a workspace with a 50% discount consumes its credit at half the speed.

## Next [#next]

<Cards>
  <Card href="/docs/billing/payment-methods" title="Payment methods" description="Adding a card." />

  <Card href="/docs/billing/limits" title="Limits" description="What trial caps, and why it matters later." />

  <Card href="/docs/billing/invoices" title="Invoices" description="What you were charged." />
</Cards>