How many credits do features use?

Since credit use is calculated based on a task’s complexity, different features on Sudowrite use different numbers of credits. Simple, targeted features like Rewrite or Describe are often very credit-efficient—whereas asking Sudowrite to generate a full chapter of prose from your Scenes is complex, and will consume quite a few credits.

Where it gets complicated is… there’s no way to predict how many credits features will use, and even the same feature may use different numbers of credits depending on the Prose Mode or AI model selected (and/or the input context).

Here’s an example using the Write button. I’ve asked Sudowrite to generate 200 words that continue my story, once with Muse, once with Claude 4.1 Opus, and once with GPT-5 Nano.

Each time, Sudowrite read the exact same stuff—some context from Story Bible, including Character and Worldbuilding details, as well as a chapter and a half of my existing work. But the credits used varied wildly. I can view my credit use by clicking the gear icon (⚙️) in the upper right and choosing “Show Recent Activity.”

In this case, the super efficient GPT 5 Nano model used only about 70 credits, whereas the costly Claude 4.1 Opus model used over 8,000 credits—that’s over a 100x difference to Write the same number of words! Whether it’s “worth it” is ultimately a matter of taste. Do you prefer the voice of one AI model over another?

Prose Modes are intended to simplify things and maximize value, giving you great quality prose for reasonable credit use. Also, while credits do power Sudowrite’s AI features, not every feature of Sudowrite uses up credits. Our Quick Edit and Chat features are included with your Sudowrite plan, and free to use by default. (Though an optional High Quality mode, which will use credits, is available in both.) We’ve also been known to introduce free-to-use models and free beta tests on a time-limited basis.