What Are Credits?
Credits are the units that power Recruitier’s premium features. Credits are consumed
when you retrieve contact persons or generate outreach messages on the free tier.
Job searches (LinkedIn, Indeed, AI-powered, and internal) are completely free and do
not cost any credits.
Credit Cost Per Action
Different actions consume different amounts of credits. Here is the complete
breakdown:
| Action | Credit Cost | Description |
|---|
| AI message generation (free tier only) | 1 credit | Each AI-generated outreach message on the free plan |
| Smart search (contact discovery) | 10 credits | Discovering contact persons for a job via AI ranking |
| Lusha email-only lookup | 15 credits | Discovering just the email address for a contact |
| LinkedIn contact search | 50 credits | Searching for contact details via LinkedIn |
| Lusha full contact lookup | 60 credits | Full contact discovery (email + phone + details) |
| Job searches (LinkedIn) | Free | All LinkedIn job searches, any number of pages |
| Job searches (Indeed) | Free | All Indeed job searches, any number of pages |
| AI-powered job search | Free | AI search with classification and scoring |
| Internal job search | Free | Searching within already-indexed jobs in the database |
| AI message generation (paid plans) | Free | Message generation on Pro and Agency plans (up to 2,000/month) |
| Viewing saved data | Free | Browsing candidates, jobs, companies, notes, tags |
| Manual actions | Free | Editing profiles, adding notes, updating statuses, tagging |
All job searches are free — search as much as you want without worrying about
credits. Credits are only consumed when retrieving contact persons or generating
messages on the free tier.
Credit Allocations by Plan
| Plan | Credits Per Period | Period Type | Monthly Message Limit |
|---|
| Free Trial | 100 (one-time) | No refresh during trial | N/A |
| Tour Bonus | +10 (one-time) | One-time only | N/A |
| Pro Monthly | 1,500 | Monthly | 2,000 messages |
| Pro Quarterly | 1,500 | Monthly (refreshes monthly within quarter) | 2,000 messages |
| Pro Yearly | 1,500 | Monthly (refreshes monthly within year) | 2,000 messages |
| Agency Monthly | 5,000 per seat | Monthly | 2,000 messages per seat |
| Agency Quarterly | 5,000 per seat | Monthly | 2,000 messages per seat |
| Agency Yearly | 5,000 per seat | Monthly | 2,000 messages per seat |
Paid users also have a monthly limit of 2,000 AI-generated messages, separate from
the credit balance. This prevents excessive automated messaging while still providing
ample capacity for normal recruitment workflows.
Viewing Your Remaining Credits
You can check your credit balance in several places:
Dashboard
Your main dashboard displays a Credits card showing:
- Your current remaining credits
- Total credits included in your plan
- A visual indicator of usage vs. remaining balance
Subscription Page
Navigate to the Subscription page to see your credit allocation details:
- Total credits included in your plan
- Credits used this period
- Credits remaining
- Next refresh date
Agency Dashboard (Admin Only)
If you are an agency admin, the agency dashboard shows:
- Total credits used across all team members
- Total credits remaining across all team members
- Individual credit balances on the member leaderboard
Keep an eye on your credit balance throughout the month. If you notice credits
running low, consider prioritizing your most important searches and using free
internal job searches where possible to conserve credits.
Credit Reset Cycle
Credits refresh at the start of each billing period according to a monthly schedule:
| Plan Type | Reset Cycle | Detail |
|---|
| Monthly | Every month | Credits reset on the first day of each monthly billing cycle |
| Quarterly | Every month | Credits still refresh monthly, not just at the start of each quarter |
| Yearly | Every month | Credits still refresh monthly, not just at the start of each year |
When credits reset, your balance returns to the full allocation included in your
plan. Unused credits from the previous period do not roll over — they are
reset to the standard allocation.
The exact reset date corresponds to your subscription start date, not the
calendar month. For example, if you started your subscription on the 15th,
your credits reset on the 15th of each billing cycle. A monthly batch job
handles all credit refreshes.
Trial Credits
Trial users have a special credit structure:
- 100 starter credits are granted at registration (specifically at email verification)
- 10 bonus credits are awarded for completing the guided tour (one-time)
- Trial credits do not refresh during the 14-day trial period
- The maximum possible trial balance is 110 credits (100 + 10 tour bonus)
Since job searches are free, trial credits are primarily spent on contact retrieval
and message generation. Here is what you can do with 110 credits:
| Scenario | Credits Used | Remaining |
|---|
| Start with trial + tour bonus | 0 | 110 |
| Unlimited job searches (LinkedIn/Indeed) | 0 | 110 |
| Discover contacts for 5 jobs (smart search) | 50 | 60 |
| Generate 10 outreach messages | 10 | 50 |
| 1 Lusha email lookup | 15 | 35 |
| 1 Lusha full contact lookup | 60 | -25 (insufficient) |
With 110 credits and free unlimited searches, you can thoroughly explore the job
market. Credits are only needed for retrieving contact persons and generating
messages during the trial.
What Happens When You Run Out
If your credit balance reaches zero before the end of your billing period:
- Contact retrieval pauses — Contact discovery and message generation (free tier)
are unavailable until credits are replenished
- Job searches remain available — You can continue searching for jobs even with
zero credits
- Existing data remains accessible — You can still view and manage your candidates,
jobs, companies, and outreach history
- Manual actions continue — Editing profiles, adding notes, updating statuses,
tagging, and pipeline management all work without credits
- Outreach flows pause — Any queued email sends that require message generation
will wait until credits are available
When your credits reset at the start of the next billing period, all AI-powered
features resume automatically. You do not need to take any action.
Managing Your Credit Usage
Track Consumption Patterns
Use the credits display on your dashboard to understand your usage patterns. If you
consistently run out of credits before the end of the period, analyze which actions
are consuming the most credits:
- High-cost actions to watch: Lusha full lookups (60 credits each), LinkedIn
contact searches (50 credits each)
- Medium-cost actions: Smart search contact discovery (10 credits), Lusha email
lookups (15 credits each)
- Low-cost actions: Message generation on free tier (1 credit each)
- Free actions: All job searches (LinkedIn, Indeed, AI-powered, internal)
Prioritize High-Value Actions
Not all actions have equal return on investment. Prioritize:
- Targeted searches with specific criteria over broad, exploratory searches
- Candidate matching for your best candidates first
- Outreach to the highest-quality leads
- Contact discovery only for companies you plan to actively pursue
Use Free Features Strategically
Several features are free and can supplement your credit-consuming actions:
- Internal job search — Search the existing database for free before running a
new smart search
- Saved searches — Re-run previous searches to find new results without
rebuilding from scratch
- Manual data entry — Add notes, tags, and pipeline updates without credit cost
- Existing contact details — Review already-discovered contacts before running
new lookups
For Agency Admins
Monitor individual credit balances through the member leaderboard on the agency
dashboard. If one team member is consuming credits faster than others, discuss
whether their usage patterns are optimal or whether they need guidance on
efficient search strategies.
Credits are non-transferable between team members in an agency. Each member has
their own independent credit balance that is tied to their seat. One member cannot
borrow credits from another member’s balance.
Advanced
Credit Refresh Mechanism
Credit refreshes are handled by a monthly batch job that runs at the scheduled
refresh date for each user:
- The system checks each active subscription for upcoming refresh dates
- For each user whose refresh date has arrived, the credit balance is reset to
the plan’s full allocation
- The refresh is recorded in the billing system for audit purposes
- The user’s dashboard updates to reflect the new balance
Key behaviors:
- Credits reset to the plan amount (they do not add to existing balance)
- Unused credits from the previous period are forfeited
- The refresh happens regardless of whether the user is logged in
- Trial accounts do not receive credit refreshes
Per-Action Credit Deduction
When you perform a credit-consuming action:
- The system checks your current credit balance before executing the action
- If you have sufficient credits, the balance is decremented atomically
- The action proceeds (search, lookup, generation, etc.)
- If the action fails for any reason, the credits are not refunded automatically
(contact support for failed action credit refunds)
- If you have insufficient credits, the action is blocked and you see a notification
Message Limit vs. Credit Balance
Paid users have two separate limits:
- Credit balance — Consumed by all AI-powered actions (searches, lookups, messages)
- Monthly message limit — Caps the number of AI-generated messages at 2,000 per month
These limits are independent. You could run out of credits while still having message
capacity remaining, or vice versa. The message limit resets monthly regardless of
billing frequency.