What exactly is a credit?
1 credit carries a $1.00 USD list value. Effective per-credit price varies by pack or plan. Credits are the unit of deliberation cost. Before each deliberation, pilot5.ai estimates the cost based on service, complexity, and context size. Credits are reserved at launch (not debited) and settled on completion — any excess is refunded. Final debit is rounded to the nearest 0.01 credit.
Can I see the cost before I start?
Yes — always. Every deliberation shows an estimated credit cost before you confirm. If actual consumption is going to exceed your reservation (e.g. an adaptive round triggers), you're prompted before additional credits are reserved. You're never charged silently.
Are any services blocked on a starter plan?
No. Credits are the only gate. Whatever pack or plan you're on, you can run The Expert, The A-Team, or The Dream Team — credits are deducted per deliberation. No daily caps, no plan-locked modes. Every feature is available on every tier. Plans differ only on credit volume and per-credit rate.
What happens if I run out of credits?
Active deliberations complete with your existing balance. New deliberations cannot start until you top up. You can enable auto-recharge in Settings → Plan & Credits: when your balance drops below your chosen threshold (default 5 credits), pilot5.ai automatically purchases the credit pack you selected. The threshold is configurable from 0.5 to 100 credits, and you can disable auto-recharge at any time.
Do unused subscription credits expire?
Every monthly grant is valid for 12 months from the date it's issued. Unused credits stay in your balance and are consumed first-expire-first-out as you run deliberations. If you don't use a month's grant, those credits sit alongside next month's grant — no percentage cap. Credit pack credits work the same way: valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.
Can I mix credit packs and subscriptions?
Yes. If you have an active subscription and purchase a credit pack, pack credits are consumed first. This lets you handle high-volume months without upgrading your plan permanently.
What AI models does pilot5.ai use?
pilot5.ai routes each deliberation to the best-suited independent AI experts based on domain and complexity benchmarks. Models are selected exclusively from providers that meet regional AI eligibility requirements for your account location. You can see which expert was selected and why in every deliberation result.
How does MCP API access work?
Two ways, same backend and same credits. MCP is the native path: add the server URL (https://mcp.pilot5.ai/mcp) to any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Continue), authenticate with your pilot5.ai account, and call deliberations from your workflow — no tab switching, no copy-pasting. If you're integrating from a backend, a workflow tool, or anything non-MCP, there is also a REST API at api.pilot5.ai: create an API key in Settings → API, POST a question, and receive the result on a signed webhook or by polling. See /docs/mcp and /docs/api. Every paid tier includes both; calls are billed in credits like any other deliberation.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every new account is granted 10 free credits at signup, with no card required — enough to run a full five-model A-Team deliberation. After that pilot5.ai is pay-as-you-go rather than freemium: every deliberation uses real AI compute. The assistant's question framing (before any deliberation) is always free and uses no credits. When you need more, the smallest top-up is a $20 Starter credit pack — 20 credits, which at standard difficulty is about 40 Expert answers, 4 A-Team deliberations, or 3 Dream Team deliberations.