> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.surfais.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Extra audits & credits

> How your plan's audit allowance and one-off purchased credits work together.

Audits work on two separate mechanisms: the **allowance** included in your plan, and **purchased credits** you can buy when you want to run one sooner than your allowance permits. They're tracked independently, and only one of them is ever spent on any given run.

## Your plan allowance

Every paid plan includes a regular audit allowance — see [Running your first audit](/audits/running-your-first-audit#allowances-per-plan) for the exact cadence per tier. This isn't a balance that depletes and refills on a calendar date; it's a minimum gap enforced automatically between audits for a given brand. Run within that gap and it's your scheduled audit — nothing is deducted, because there's nothing to deduct from.

## Purchased credits

If you want to run an audit before your plan's next scheduled one is due, you can buy a credit instead of waiting:

* **A single credit** — one extra audit, run whenever you like.
* **A 5-pack** — five credits at once, at a lower effective cost per audit than buying five singles.

Both are one-time purchases, not subscriptions, offered contextually right at the point you try to run an audit before your next scheduled one is due. For current pricing, see [surfais.com/pricing](https://surfais.com/pricing).

<Info>
  Purchased credits belong to your organisation, not a single brand — buy one and it's available to spend on any brand you manage, whenever you choose to use it.
</Info>

## When each is used

The rule is simple: **your plan allowance is always used first.** A purchased credit is only ever spent when running an audit right now would otherwise be blocked because your last audit for that brand was too recent.

* If your brand's next scheduled audit is due (or this is its first-ever audit past the warm-up window), clicking **Run new audit** uses your plan allowance — no credit is touched, even if you have some sitting unused.
* If your last audit for that brand is still within your plan's cadence window, the button instead shows you're up to date, with the exact date your next audit becomes available, plus the option to buy a credit and run one immediately.
* If you already hold a credit and choose to run anyway, Surfais confirms exactly what will happen before charging anything: which credit will be spent, or that this run is actually your scheduled one and nothing will be spent at all — because the app can't always tell in advance which side of the cadence window a click falls on, so it asks rather than silently spending a credit you didn't mean to use.

## Buying at the gate

When you're up to date and try to run again anyway, the gate you see includes both purchase options directly:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Try to run an audit outside your allowance">
    Click **Run new audit** on a brand whose next scheduled audit isn't due yet.
  </Step>

  <Step title="See the gate">
    A card explains you're up to date, names the date your next audit unlocks, and offers **Buy an extra audit** or **Buy 5-pack**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete checkout">
    Either option takes you through a standard, one-time checkout. Once it completes, you're returned to Surfais with the credit applied and the option to run your audit immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Once you hold a credit, it also shows as a small banner on the Audits page, so you always know it's there without hitting the gate again.

## Related pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Running your first audit" href="/audits/running-your-first-audit">
    The warm-up window and allowance per plan.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What audits check" href="/audits/what-audits-check">
    What every audit — scheduled or purchased — actually assesses.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Plans & limits" href="/billing/plans-limits">
    Full detail on what each plan includes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add-ons" href="/billing/add-ons">
    Other ways to extend your plan beyond audits.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
