💳 Credit Usage & Costs Explained
What actions consume credits — and why
Credits are only used when Droplink performs real data queries in the background.
This article explains exactly which actions cost credits, how much they cost, and why some actions are more expensive than others.
If you ever wondered “Why did this use credits?”, this is the answer.
⚙️ When credits are used
Credits are consumed only when Droplink has to actively fetch, analyze, or process data.
Credits are not used for:
Clicking through the app
Viewing already loaded results
Managing products or orders
Fulfillment, payments, or subscriptions
You only spend credits when you request new data.
🔍 Discover Products & Trending Products
Actions:
Search
Apply filters
Cost:
50 credits per search or filter action
Why:
Each query checks a large product database, updates pricing, shipping availability, and supplier data in real time.
🤖 AI Search
Actions:
AI-powered search
Cost:
100 credits per search
Why:
AI Search processes:
natural language input
multiple product interpretations
cross-category matching
This requires more computing and data processing than a standard search.
📢 Ad Library & Trend Radar
Actions:
Search
Apply filters
Cost:
50 credits per search or filter action
Why:
Each query scans active ad data across platforms like Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest, including creative and advertiser signals.
📈 Shop Tracker
Actions:
Shop search / analysis
Filtering tracked shops
Cost:
100 credits per shop analysis
50 credits per filter action
Why:
Shop Tracker runs deep analyses, including:
traffic estimation
order estimation
revenue and growth calculations
This is one of the most data-intensive features in Droplink.
🧠 Why different actions cost different amounts
Not all queries are equal.
Simple searches → lower credit cost
Deep analyses → higher credit cost
This ensures:
fair usage across all users
stable performance
accurate and up-to-date data
You’re only paying credits when Droplink is actually doing heavy work for you.
💡 Smart credit usage tips
Explore broadly first, then filter
Avoid re-running the same search repeatedly
Use AI Search for discovery, not fine-tuning
Run Shop Tracker analyses only on stores that matter
Credits are most valuable when used for decisions, not curiosity.
✅ Summary
Credits are consumed when Droplink:
🔍 Searches or filters large datasets
🤖 Runs AI-powered queries
📊 Performs deep market or shop analysis
Each credit cost reflects the amount of data and processing involved — nothing more, nothing hidden.
Once you understand this, credit usage becomes predictable and easy to control.