# Check Your Credits Before a Big Import or Research Run Check your Deck credit balance, warning level, and waiting uploads before a big import or competitor research run, then get one verdict: go, wait, or ask. - URL: https://getdeck.io/playbooks/credits-readiness-check - Author: Matt Teixeira - Published: 2026-11-01 - Updated: 2026-11-01 - Stage: Set up ## How Do You Know If You Have Enough Credits? Compare your remaining credits with Deck's own cost figure for the job before you start. Survey uploads and competitor research show a figure up front. Other imports do not, so run a test batch of 20 to 50 rows first. Then decide: go, wait for the next billing period, or ask an admin to add credits. ## Why Big Imports Stall Halfway You upload 2,000 support tickets on Friday and on Monday half of them still say Waiting for Credits. Or competitor research will not start, and nobody knows why. Credits are easy to ignore until a big job stalls, and by then the team has lost days. ## How Deck Tells You If the Work Can Start Now Deck already knows your plan, your balance, the warning level, and every upload waiting for credits. For survey uploads and competitor research it also shows a cost figure before you start. The check puts those numbers side by side and ends with one verdict and one next step. It never starts the work itself. Deck features used: - [Integrations](https://getdeck.io/product/integrations) - [Competitors](https://getdeck.io/product/competitors) - [MCP Server](https://getdeck.io/product/mcp-server) ## How to Check Your Credits Before an Import in Deck ### 1. Size the Work First Write down what you plan to run: a CSV upload, interviews, a support ticket backfill, or competitor research. Add the size, such as the number of rows, files, or competitors. ### 2. Read Your Balance Open Settings → Billing. The Current Month tab shows total, used, and remaining credits, the split between base, rollover, and overage credits, and whether overage is on. A yellow banner means less than 20% is left, and red means less than 10%. ### 3. Check for Work Already Waiting Open Manage → CSV Uploads and look for uploads marked Waiting for Credits. Those rows are saved, and Deck processes them after credits are available. There is no manual resume button. ### 4. Get Deck's Cost Figure for Imports For a survey CSV, the upload wizard shows a credit counter before you submit: respondents times free-text questions. Structured answers cost 0. Other CSV types, interviews, and tickets have no estimate, so upload a test batch of 20 to 50 rows and compare your balance before and after. ### 5. Check Competitor Research Limits In Settings → Competitors, the Sources card shows an upper-bound credit estimate for the next run. Each returned review costs 1 credit. You cannot add a competitor while research is running, and the Free plan includes one report for 2 competitors. ### 6. Decide Go, Wait, or Ask an Admin Go when Deck's figure fits well inside your balance and nothing is blocked. With overage off, Deck keeps part of the balance back, so a large upload may run partly and the rest waits. With overage on, the work runs, but overage costs money. ## Check Your Credits with Your AI Agent You need: - Deck MCP connected to your agent Your agent starts with the `explore_workspace` tool. Paste this prompt into your agent: ```text Use Deck MCP. Fetch and follow https://docs.getdeck.io/docs/agents/workflows/credits-readiness-check.md ``` Full agent workflow: https://docs.getdeck.io/docs/agents/workflows/credits-readiness-check.md ## Credits Readiness Checklist ### Credits Readiness Checklist ```text THE WORK Job: [CSV upload / interviews / ticket backfill / competitor research] Size: [rows / files / competitors] BALANCE (Settings → Billing) Remaining: [Deck count] of [total] Period ends: [date] Overage: on / off Warning banner: none / yellow / red ALREADY WAITING [ ] No uploads show Waiting for Credits [ ] No competitor research is running DECK'S COST FIGURE Survey CSV counter: [credits] Competitor research estimate (upper bound): [credits] Other imports: no estimate. Test batch of [20–50] rows used [credits] VERDICT Go / Partly / Wait / Ask an admin Next step: [one action] REQUEST TO AN ADMIN (members) We plan to run [job] of [size]. Deck shows [remaining] credits left and overage is [on/off]. Can you [turn on overage / upgrade the plan], or should we wait until [period end]? ``` ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What uses credits? AI processing: interview synthesis, feedback and survey analysis, NPS analytics, Deck Intelligence questions, and semantic search. Competitor research costs 1 credit per returned review plus the agent work. Structured survey answers cost 0 credits. ### How many credits does each plan include? Free includes 200 credits a month, Starter 2,500, Business 7,500, and Enterprise 20,000 or a contracted amount. Unused base credits roll over and expire after 60 days. ### Why do uploads wait when I still have credits? When overage is off, Deck keeps part of your credits for activation work such as feedback and theme synthesis. Large imports can pause before the balance hits zero. Waiting rows are not discarded, and Deck processes them once credits are available. ### Can Deck tell me what a full import will cost? Only for survey CSVs and competitor research. Other imports cost what the amount of text needs, so a test batch shows what those rows used. It is not a quote for the full file. ### Who can add credits or turn on overage? Only organization admins, in Settings → Billing, and overage needs a paid plan. Overage costs $0.05 per credit on Starter, $0.04 on Business, and $0.03 on Enterprise unless your contract says otherwise. Members can send the admin request in the checklist. ### Can my AI agent run this? Yes. With Deck MCP connected, paste the prompt on this page. Any role can read credits. The agent reads your plan, balance, warning level, and waiting items, and gives one verdict. It only reads, never starts research or uploads, and never asks for card details. ## Related Playbooks - [Import Survey Results from Typeform, Qualtrics, or SurveyMonkey](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/migrate-surveys.md): Move survey exports from Typeform, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, or Google Forms into Deck as CSV uploads, and turn free text answers into insights and themes. - [Competitor Gap Analysis Backed by Your Own Customers](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/competitor-gaps.md): Find where competitors are weak using their public reviews, then check each gap against your own customer feedback before it reaches your backlog. - [Customer Feedback Audit: What Your Team Actually Knows](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/workspace-audit.md): Audit every feedback source, integration, and theme in Deck, find the gaps, and get one next step for each. Run it in the app or hand it to your AI agent.