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Accounts, plans and credits
Everyone signs in to Pencel. To do AI work you then need one of three things: free starter credits, a paid plan, or your own API key. This page explains each, what a credit is, and how to manage your plan.
Signing in
Sign in with Continue with Google, Continue with GitHub, or an email and password. Signing in is required even if you use your own API key, and it stays signed in between launches. See Install Pencel for the first-launch steps.
Verify your email. Google and GitHub accounts are verified automatically. If you signed up with email, Pencel sends you a 6-digit code:
- Open Settings ▸ Account.
- Under Verify your email, type the code and click Verify. Didn't get it? Click Resend code.
Your account page shows Signed in, Email verified and your plan once everything is set.
Three ways to power the AI
| Option | What it is | Who pays for the AI |
|---|---|---|
| Free starter credits | $5 of credits (50 credits) added to new accounts. They last 30 days. | Included |
| A paid plan (Solo or Pro) | A monthly allowance of credits. No API keys to manage, and you can use Pencel Auto and Pencel Private. | Your plan |
| Your own API key | A key from Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, added in Settings ▸ Credentials. | You pay the provider directly. No credits are used. |
You can combine them. If you're on a plan and also add your own key for a provider, work that uses that provider's models goes straight to the provider with your key instead of using credits.
Getting the starter credits
Starter credits are added automatically once two things are true: your email is verified, and anonymous usage data is on (Settings ▸ Privacy ▸ Opt in, or the checkbox you saw when accepting the terms). Each account gets them once.
Plans
| Free | Solo | Pro | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $20/month or $200/year | $99/month or $990/year | Talk to us |
| Credits | $5 of starter credits, once (30 days) | 80 a month, about ten agent runs | 450 a month, about a hundred agent runs | Pooled |
| After that | Your own API key | Top up or your own key | Top up or your own key | |
| Rooms on a schedule | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Work running at the same time | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pencel Auto and Pencel Private | While starter credits last | Yes | Yes |
Annual plans get two months free. Plan credits reset at the start of each billing period and don't carry over.
On the Free plan you can save up to 5 workflows, 10 agents and 15 connections. Solo and Pro remove those limits.
Teams. Pencel is a single-user app today. Shared workspaces, pooled approvals and single sign-on are being built with pilot customers. If that's you, talk to us.
What a credit is
One credit is $0.10 of AI usage, so 10 credits cost $1. Pencel charges AI usage at cost, so how many credits a piece of work uses depends on how much there is to read and write.
Some rough examples (it varies with the work):
- One RFP search usually uses 4 to 24 credits, with about 8 being typical.
- Scanning for RFPs every day comes to about 220 credits a month.
- An inbox check with no new mail uses no credits.
To see what you've actually spent, open Settings ▸ Cost & Usage. It shows totals for today, this week, this month and all time, plus a breakdown by task, by workflow run and by chat. Each run in Studio ▸ Jobs also shows its own cost in credits.
Which credits go first
Pencel spends your monthly plan credits first, then any top-up credits, then starter or invite credits.
Manage your plan
Open Settings ▸ Plan & Billing.
Upgrade. Choose Solo or Pro, choose monthly or yearly, and click Upgrade to Solo or Upgrade to Pro. Checkout opens in your browser. When you come back, your plan and credits update on their own. Click Refresh if they don't.
Top up. On a paid plan, the Credit Balance card shows how many credits you have left. Under Top Up Credits, click 40 credits ($19) to buy more.
Change or cancel. Click Manage Subscription to open the billing portal in your browser, where you can update your payment details or cancel. If you cancel, you keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for, and Plan & Billing shows the date it ends. After that you're on the Free plan. Your workspace and documents stay on your computer exactly as they were.
Running out. If you see "You're out of credits", top up, wait for next month's credits, or add your own API key in Settings ▸ Credentials. See Control what you spend to set spending limits.
Use your own API key
- Get a key from Anthropic, OpenAI or Google AI Studio.
- Open Settings ▸ Credentials and click the row for that provider.
- Paste the key and click Save & test.
The key is stored encrypted on your computer. Requests that use it go straight from your computer to the provider. See Supported models for which models each key covers.
Invite codes
If Pencel gave you an invite code, redeem it for free credits:
- Make sure you're signed in.
- Turn on anonymous usage data in Settings ▸ Privacy (click Opt in). Redeeming a code requires it.
- Open Settings ▸ Credentials. Under Have an invite code? Redeem it for free testing credits, enter the code and click Redeem.
The invite box appears only when you have no Anthropic key and Pencel-managed AI isn't already active on your account. Invite credits expire 30 days after you redeem them.