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Understanding how Credits are Billed

Captain Data uses a result-based billing system — simple, predictable, and designed to match your actual data usage.

Guillaume O. avatar
Written by Guillaume O.
Updated over a week ago

This article explains how credits are consumed, the rules to keep in mind, and where to check details per action.

Here’s your support article draft, ready to copy-paste into Intercom:

📐 Credit Calculation Basics

1 credit = 1 result returned by an action.

Think in terms of data volume, not just inputs or number of API calls.

✅ Examples

  • Sales Navigator Search People:

    If one search returns 10 profiles → you’re billed 10 credits.

  • LinkedIn Extract People:

    Each profile URL = 1 enriched result = 1 credit.

You can always refer to the Actions Library to check what output is returned per action.

🧮 Exceptions & Multipliers

Some actions or modes include special billing logic to reflect more complex processing.

➕ identity_mode=managed

When using the parameter identity_mode=managed, we apply a 1.5x multiplier to account for added automation overhead.

Example: 1 enrichment = 1.5 credits (instead of 1)

⚖️ Ratio-Based Actions

Certain actions apply a ratio, especially those with a page_size setting. This means you’re billed based on the number of results, not the number of requests.

For example, using Extract LinkedIn Conversations, this action uses a ratio-based billing:

  • Ratio: 0.05

  • Page size: 20

  • That means: 1 conversation = 0.05 credit

  • So: 20 conversations = 1 credit

Important rule of thumb: If the action supports pagination, a ratio is usually applied.

💡 Exception: Search actions, like LinkedIn Search or Sales Navigator Search, are always billed 1 credit per result, even if paginated.

🧠 Best Practices

  • Estimate based on volume of results, not inputs.

  • Use the Actions Library to check if a ratio or multiplier applies.

Reach out if anything is unclear — we’re happy to help you optimize usage and forecast credit consumption.

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