AI Credits
How AI credits work
Linear’s coding sessions feature is billed based on actual usage, not a fixed per-seat fee. Charges are deducted from a prepaid, workspace-level balance.
- Your balance is shown in US dollars and shown as a dollar amount everywhere in Linear
- The balance is pooled across the workspace and shared across AI features that use it
- You add funds to your balance before they are spent by topping up your credit balance
Using AI credits is opt-in. If your workspace never adds funds, you will not have access to these additional features, and you will never be charged for them.
To help you get started, workspaces on the Basic, Business and Enterprise plans will be granted $20 in promotional AI credits per seat. If you enable GitHub code access by July 11, 2026, your credits will be activated and available for 30 days from that point.
How AI credits are used
| Feature | Available on | How it's billed |
|---|---|---|
| Coding sessions | Basic, Business, and Enterprise | Per session, based on the model chosen, complexity of the work, and how long the session runs. |
Other Linear AI features are included in your plan and do not draw from your AI credits balance. This may expand to cover additional features in the future.
Typical costs
Actual cost depends on task complexity, codebase size, and how long a session runs, so pricing is presented as an estimate. As a rough guide:
| Cost | Task |
|---|---|
| $0.50-$1 | Copy and styling tweaks |
| $3 - $5 | Small bug fixes |
| $5+ | The cost of more complex tasks varies depending on the time, token consumption, and selected model |
You can see a live breakdown of usage by feature and by user in Settings → Workspace → Billing → AI Usage and credits.
Choosing a model
By default, coding sessions use the latest zero-data-retention models. You do have the option to select from a number of available models here, which may affect the quality and cost of code changes - more on this in our coding sessions docs.
Adding credits to your balance
Adding credits is restricted to Workspace admins (Owners on Enterprise workspaces). You can add credits from Settings → Workspace → Billing → AI Usage and credits.
Ad-hoc credits
To add credits on an ad-hoc basis, click the Add credits button at the top of the page. Select the amount or select Other to input an amount of your choosing - minimum top up is $10 USD.
Automatic Reload
To add credits on an automatic basis, you can set up Automatic Reload. You can choose a balance that you don’t want to go below, and then set the amount that you want automatically added when you reach the threshold - minimum auto top-up is $10 USD.
Top-ups are processed by Stripe and produce a separate invoice from your regular Linear subscription invoice.
Payment methods
- Credit cards are the only accepted payment method for buying credits in billing settings
- AI usage can use a different card than your core Linear subscription if desired
Currency and tax
Top-ups are processed in USD and sales tax is applied where applicable based on your billing address.
Expiration
- Funds you add expire 12 months after the purchase date
- Promotional balances will have their own expiration dates, visible in the Usage and credits dashboard
- Unused balance rolls over across subscription billing cycles. It is independent of your Linear subscription period.
- Expired balances cannot be refunded, transferred between workspaces, or restored
Order of use
When your workspace has multiple types of credits at the same time (for example, promotional credits alongside a top-up you added), they are consumed in this order:
- Promotional credits (one-time grants when turning on a feature)
- Credits issued by Linear support
- Credits you added yourself
Within each group, credits closest to expiry are consumed first. A single task may draw from more than one balance.
Running out of credits
If your workspace runs out of credits, features that require a balance will not be able to begin new work. You’ll receive low-balance and expiration alerts in advance.
Balances are not updated in exact real time, so your workspace may briefly go slightly negative (e.g. multiple tasks running at the same time), typically by only a few dollars. Your next top-up will first cover any outstanding amount, then add the remaining funds to your balance. For example, if your workspace credit balance is -$1 and you add $50, your new balance will be $49.
Manage your usage
Owners and admins with access to billing settings can manage everything related to usage-based billing from Settings → Workspace → Billing → AI Usage and credits. From there, you can:
- View your current workspace credit balance
- Add credits
- Review credit usage by feature and user
- View recent transactions and upcoming expirations
Usage history is retained for 12 months.
Adjustments
- If a task fails because of a Linear platform issue, please contact support so we can investigate and adjust where appropriate
- Failed runs, retries, or partial completions are billable for the resources used
- Funds you’ve added are non-refundable and non-transferable