---
title: "How credits are reserved and refunded"
description: "Why AI Glot holds the full estimate when you approve a translation, and what happens to the held credits on success, failure and cancel."
canonical: "https://ai-glot.com/docs/platform/how-credits-are-reserved"
updated: "2026-10-16"
---

# How credits are reserved and refunded

This page explains why AI Glot holds credits before a translation starts, and what happens to them afterwards. For the cost of each quality mode and the plan allowances, see [Credits and plans](/docs/platform/credits-and-plans). For the steps to launch a translation, see [Translate a file](/docs/platform/translate-a-file).

## Why credits are held before the work starts

A large translation can run for a long time and spend its credits in many small steps. So AI Glot holds the complete estimate at the moment you approve the plan. The held credits are the **reservation**.

Because of the reservation, a job never starts without the credits it needs to finish. You also know the most it can cost before it begins.

Analysis and planning are free. Nothing is held until you approve, and a free sample holds nothing at all because it consumes zero credits.

## One word-count rule for the estimate, the reservation and the charge

The estimate on the review screen, the reservation and the final charge all use the same word-count rule. The number you approve is the number that is held, and a finished translation is charged that same number. The rule is described in [Credits and plans](/docs/platform/credits-and-plans#translation-cost).

## What happens to the reservation

| Outcome                          | What happens to the held credits                                                                                           |
| -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The translation completes        | The reservation becomes the final charge. The balance is never briefly returned in between.                                |
| The translation fails            | AI Glot refunds the full reservation exactly once. Work a provider did before the failure does not leave a partial charge. |
| You cancel a running translation | You pay only for the work already completed. AI Glot releases the rest of the reservation.                                 |

## Why two jobs cannot spend the same balance

AI Glot reserves each accepted estimate in a single step. If two jobs start at the same time, the second job cannot reuse the credits the first job reserved.

When the balance is too low for a job, AI Glot does not start it. You can [buy exactly the credits you need](/docs/platform/buy-credits) and approve the plan again.