AI Credits
This page covers AI credits for some of Linear’s AI features. For plan and seat-based billing, see Billing and plans.
How AI credits work
Linear’s Coding Sessions is billed based on what you actually use, not a fixed seat fee. You pay for this from a prepaid dollar balance held at the workspace level.
- Your balance is denominated 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.
Usage-based billing is opt-in. If your workspace never adds funds, no usage-based features will run, and you will never be charged for them.
What uses your balance
| Feature | Available on | How it's billed |
|---|---|---|
| Coding Sessions | All plans | Per task, based on tokens used by the underlying model and compute used by the sandbox |
Other Linear AI features remain included in your plan and do not draw from your balance. We may add more features to usage-based billing over time.
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:
- Coding Sessions: around $5 to $7 for bug fixes and short tasks. Multi-turn coding sessions vary more widely.
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 state-of-the-art model. If you prefer more predictable cost, you can pin Coding Sessions to a specific model.
Adding funds
Adding funds is restricted to users with access to the Billing settings - on Enterprise workspaces this is workspace owners, and on all other plans this is workspace admins. You can add funds from Settings → Workspace → Billing → AI Usage and credits. 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.
- If you need invoice, ACH, or purchase-order payment, contact support.
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 may have their own expiration dates, visible in the Usage 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 balances at once (for example, a promotional balance alongside funds you added), they are consumed in this order:
- Promotional balances (one-time grants when turning on a feature)
- Included balances (bundled with a feature)
- Balances issued by Linear support
- Funds you added yourself
Within each group, balances that expire soonest are consumed first. A single task may draw from more than one balance.
Running out of funds
If your workspace runs out of funds, 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 when multiple tasks run 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 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 balance
- Add funds
- Review 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 and we can adjust your balance.
- Failed runs, retries, or partial completions are billable.
- Funds you’ve added are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Workspace cancellation
If a workspace is deleted, any remaining balance expires and cannot be recovered or transferred. Linear will warn you clearly before you confirm workspace deletion.