Credits & Billing
Tchavi uses a credit-based billing system — each API request consumes credits based on the model used and the number of tokens processed.
Tchavi uses a credit-based billing system. Each API request consumes credits based on the model used and the number of tokens processed.
How credits are calculated
- Chat models: Credits = (input_tokens × rate + output_tokens × rate) per 1K tokens
- Image models: Flat credit cost per image based on resolution
- TTS (text-to-speech): Credits per 1K characters of input text
- Transcription (Whisper): Credits per minute of audio
- Video models: Credits per second of video, varies by resolution (some models add a surcharge when audio is generated)
Response headers
Every API response includes metadata headers:
| Header | Description |
|---|---|
X-Credits-Used | Credits consumed by this request |
X-Credits-Remaining | Your current credit balance |
X-RateLimit-RPM-Limit | Your requests-per-minute limit |
X-RateLimit-RPM-Remaining | Requests remaining in the current minute |
X-RateLimit-TPM-Limit | Your tokens-per-minute limit |
X-RateLimit-TPM-Remaining | Token budget remaining in the current minute |
X-Request-Id | Unique request ID for support/debugging |
Retry-After | Seconds to wait before retrying (on 429 responses) |
Example credit calculation. A gpt-4o-mini request with 500 input tokens + 200 output tokens at the Budget tier (e.g. 1 cr/1K input, 2 cr/1K output) costs:
(500/1000 × 1) + (200/1000 × 2) = 0.9 credits→ rounded up to 1 credit. The exact rate for each model is shown in the Models table.
Recharging
Buy credit packs from your billing dashboard using Wave, Orange Money, MTN MoMo, and 30+ mobile money operators. Credits are added instantly after payment.
See also Rate Limits and Error Handling.