Out of credits mid-campaign — what happens & how to fix it
You hit zero credits and operations start getting skipped. See exactly what pauses, what each action costs, and how to top up and get running again.
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Read the symptom: operations started getting skipped
A campaign stalled, or you noticed operations getting skipped. You’ve hit zero credits: credit-consuming actions — AI drafting, lead finding, contact verification — can’t run without balance, so they skip or pause. Some non-AI actions still complete normally.
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What still works vs. what stops
Imports still land, but the verification step is skipped — you’ll see an amber banner: “Contacts imported but not verified — insufficient credits.” AI email drafting and AI Leads sourcing both need credits, so at zero they can’t generate — which is often why a campaign goes quiet. See My campaign isn’t sending if that’s what you’re seeing.
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Understand what costs what
Budget with the real numbers: AI Leads is 1 credit per lead found (as shown on the harvester screen) plus 0.2 credits per contact for cleaning; AI emails are 2 credits (Standard) or 8 credits (Premium); a manual email is 1 credit. The full authoritative per-action table lives in Understand credits & billing — check it if a number here looks off, since different screens in the app can show slightly different figures for the same action.
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Top up
Click the “Top up credits” link on the banner, or go to Billing → Buy top-up credits. Pick a quick amount ($50 / $100 / $250 / $500) or enter a custom amount (minimum $50, maximum $10,000) — $1 = 100 credits. Checkout completes through Dodo.
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Resume the skipped work
Once credits land, re-run whatever skipped: re-verify the imported-but-unverified contacts (0.2 credits/contact), and confirm the campaign starts drafting and sending again.
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Prevent the next stall
Turn on the low-credit alert in the Alerts center so you’re warned before hitting zero, and top up in advance of any big lead-sourcing run.
Pro tips
Hard-won shortcuts that keep warm-up on track.
You don’t lose imported contacts
Running out of credits doesn't lose your imported contacts — it just skips verifying them. Top up, then re-verify at 0.2 credits each.
Budget before big runs
AI Leads costs roughly 1 credit per lead found plus 0.2 to clean each. Source 1,000 leads and your balance needs to match.
$1 = 100 credits, $50 minimum
Buy a buffer so a mid-campaign zero never stalls your sends.
Turn on the low-credit alert
Getting warned at a threshold beats discovering zero when a campaign goes silent.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my operations start getting skipped?
You hit zero credits. Credit-consuming actions (AI drafting, lead finding, verification) can’t run without balance, so they skip or pause until you top up.
Did I lose the contacts I imported?
No. Imports still complete at zero credits — only the verification step is skipped, shown as “imported but not verified.” Re-verify after topping up.
What does each action cost?
AI Leads is around 1 credit per lead found plus 0.2 per contact to clean; AI email is 2 (Standard) or 8 (Premium); manual email is 1; contact cleaning is 0.2 each. The full authoritative table is in the billing/credits tutorial.
How do I add credits?
Billing → Buy top-up credits. Choose $50/$100/$250/$500 or a custom amount ($50–$10,000). $1 = 100 credits. Payment goes through Dodo.
Is there a minimum top-up?
Yes, $50. The maximum is $10,000 per purchase.
Will my campaign auto-resume after I top up?
The skipped AI actions can run again once you have balance — re-check the campaign and re-verify any contacts that were skipped.
How do I avoid this next time?
Enable the low-credit alert and top up a buffer before large lead-sourcing runs.
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