Billing and Credits
Prepaid credits, payment methods, auto top-up, and receipts
EmpirioLabs AI uses a prepaid balance system. You add funds in USD and API usage debits your balance based on per-model pricing.
How credits work
- Top up — add funds through the dashboard Billing page.
- Use the API — each request debits credits based on the model’s pricing (tokens, images, seconds, etc.).
- Monitor — check your balance and usage history on the dashboard at any time.
If your account runs out of credits, API requests will return a 402 Payment Required / insufficient_credits error until you add more.
Top up credits
Use the dashboard Billing page to add funds. If you top up 10 USD, your account balance increases by 10 USD before any volume bonus. You can add any amount between 5 USD and 2,500 USD per transaction. Supported payment methods include:
- Credit and debit cards
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- PayPal
- Cash App
- Crypto
International payments are accepted and automatically converted to USD at the current exchange rate.
Volume bonuses
For example, adding 1,000 USD gives your account a 1,050 USD balance increase.
You may see “WHOP*EMPIRIO” on your card statement.
Auto top-up
Auto top-up automatically purchases more credits when your balance drops below a threshold you configure.
Requirements:
- A saved card on file (added via the Billing page)
- Minimum threshold: 5 USD
- Minimum top-up amount: 2x your threshold. For example, a 10 USD threshold requires a top-up amount of at least 20 USD.
Only card payment methods support automatic off-session billing. PayPal, Apple Pay, and other methods require manual checkout.
When auto top-up succeeds or fails, EmpirioLabs sends a confirmation email.
Receipts
- Payment confirmation — you receive an email receipt for every successful credit purchase.
- Usage records — per-request cost records are available in the dashboard Usage Logs page.
- Statement descriptor — charges appear as “WHOP*EMPIRIO” on your bank statement.
