# What uses credits

Two kinds of work spend credits in MAIA: what the main agent does in chat, and enrichments. Both spend from the same workspace balance, and the amount follows the research done.

Updated: 2026-09-30. Source: https://maia-analytics.com/docs/billing/usage

## What spends credits

| Work | Spends credits |
| --- | --- |
| A message to the main agent | Yes |
| An enrichment the agent runs | Yes |
| An enrichment you run from the table or the map | Yes |
| **Retry** on a cell, or **Re-run unavailable rows** on a column | Yes. The row is researched again |
| A colleague's runs in a project shared with you | Yes. One workspace, one balance |
| A run started over MCP | Yes. It is the same agent and the same balance |
| Opening a project, moving the map, filtering and sorting the table | No |

## What sets the amount

MAIA charges for the research a task takes. A question the data already answers spends the least. Three things move the amount above that.

- **How much the agent reads and reasons.** A question answered from one query spends less than one that takes many steps.
- **The lookups it makes.** Web searches, contact lookups, and mortgage records each add to the amount.
- **How many rows.** An enrichment does its research once per row.

Two rows in the same column can spend different amounts, because one took more research than the other. As a guide, from least to most per row: [Web research](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/web-research) and [Computer vision](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/computer-vision), then tenant info in [Property details](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/property-details), then [Contacts](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/contacts). [Mortgages and liens](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/mortgages-and-liens) is a records lookup, priced per lookup.

The main agent takes the cheapest route that answers. It reads what the project holds, then queries core data, and researches only when neither answers. See [Main agent](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/main-agent).

## Before a run starts

Two checks stand between you and a large bill.

- **Your row limit.** A run above it stops on an approval card that names the column and the row count. Approving spends credits. The card is shown on [Dispatch](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/dispatch).
- **Your balance.** MAIA estimates what an enrichment will take and checks the estimate against your balance. When the balance covers only part of an enrichment, MAIA offers to run the rows you can afford. See [Out of credits](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/billing/out-of-credits).

The main agent also tests a new column on a few rows before it runs the rest, so a badly worded question spends little.

## What you are charged

You are charged for the work done, not for the estimate.

| Case | Charged |
| --- | --- |
| A row that returns a value | Yes |
| A row that comes back Unavailable | Yes, when the research ran and found nothing it could support. No, when the reasoning shows the row stopped on an error |
| A row you run again with **Retry** or **Re-run unavailable rows** | Yes, again |
| A step that fails on an error, MAIA's or a provider's | No |
| A failed attempt that succeeds on a retry | The attempt that succeeded, not the one that failed |

## A run finishes once it starts

MAIA does not cut work off partway through a result. The run that takes your balance to $0 finishes, and new work waits until the balance is above $0 again. You can stop a run yourself from the chat, and MAIA keeps what it finished. See [Out of credits](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/billing/out-of-credits).

## How to spend less

- **Filter before you enrich.** The **Enrich** menu runs the list as you see it, and **All in list** on an unfiltered table runs the whole layer.
- **Sample first.** Choose **First 10 in list**, read the rows, and fix the question before the full run.
- **Ask the data first.** A fact the records hold spends less than the same fact researched on the web.
- **Save the method.** A [skill](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/skills) repeats a run without the exploring that found it.

## Related

- [Credits](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/billing/credits) explains the balance.
- [Enrichments](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/enrichments/overview) explains what a researched column is.