How do lead credits work - when are they consumed during setup?

Lead credits are consumed when you use Acquisity Lead Database / AI Lead Search, not when sending emails. Credits are deducted when a confirmed lead search delivers verified leads into your campaign.

AI Lead Search finds and verifies emails live during import. It does not charge you for previewing filters, and it does not charge for people whose email cannot be found or verified.

If Instantly is connected to Acquisity, duplicates are different: the preview may still show leads that already exist in your lead lists. Those duplicates can consume credits during import, then get blocked when the platform tries to upload them to the campaign.

Here's when credits are used:

During Acquisity Lead Database / AI Lead Search - Credits are consumed as verified leads are found for your import.
Before campaign launch - Credits are used during lead generation, even if you haven't started sending emails yet.
Not refundable - If you cancel a campaign after verified leads are delivered, credits are not automatically refunded.

Credits are not consumed when:

Uploading your own CSV file
Sending emails to existing leads
Creating campaigns without AI lead scraping

Tips to avoid wasting credits:

Use the preview and a smaller first request to sanity-check targeting before spending a large number of credits.
For campaign performance learning, use enough volume to learn from: 1,000-1,500 leads for a quick test, or 2,000-2,500 when you already know the niche is worth testing
If Instantly is connected, treat AI Lead Search preview counts as gross counts, not deduped net-new counts.
Review your lead criteria carefully before starting a scrape
Use the preview feature if available to check lead quality before committing

If credits were consumed accidentally during testing or a walkthrough, use Feedback in the sidebar and contact support with the workspace, campaign, and timing so they can check the submission log.

Related

On this page