Help

Billing And Credits Help

Resolve plan, credits, and usage-model questions with practical selection and support guidance.

Who This Topic Is For

Users choosing plans, managing credits, or resolving billing uncertainty.

Before You Start

Use this checklist to make sure the workflow guidance applies cleanly to your current task.

Expected scan volume and feature requirements are known.
You can identify whether your usage is recurring, bursty, or mixed.

Step-By-Step Guidance

Follow these steps in order for a reliable and repeatable outcome.

Model expected usage before choosing plan.
Estimate monthly scan cadence, likely reruns, and growth expectations so plan selection reflects real operations rather than optimistic assumptions.
Map required capabilities to tier support.
Confirm team, automation, and reporting requirements against plan capabilities before purchase to avoid fit gaps later.
Decide subscription vs PAYG vs mixed model deliberately.
Use recurring subscriptions for predictable cadence, PAYG packs for variable bursts, and mixed usage when both patterns coexist.
Track credit consumption against workflow behavior.
Monitor usage trend and rerun cadence so you can adjust plan strategy before credits become an operational bottleneck.
Escalate account-specific billing uncertainty early.
Use support contact path for account-specific billing questions, especially before major execution windows.

Operational Playbook

Use this long-form guidance to execute the workflow consistently across planning, implementation, and validation.

Forecast Real Workload Before Selecting Commercial Model

Billing fit is strongest when grounded in realistic workload forecasting. Estimate how often scans will run, how frequently reruns are expected after remediation, and whether upcoming releases may create temporary usage spikes. Include both routine cadence and burst scenarios in planning. Teams that only estimate baseline usage often under-provision and create friction during critical windows. Forecasting should also consider growth in asset scope, team size, and governance review frequency. A realistic forecast helps you choose between subscription, PAYG, or mixed strategy with fewer later corrections.

Map Feature Requirements To Plan Capabilities Explicitly

Commercial decisions should not be made on scan volume alone. Confirm required features such as team workflows, automation needs, reporting depth, and operational continuity expectations. Build a simple capability checklist and compare it against the intended plan before purchasing. This prevents situations where credits are available but required workflow controls are not. If your organization has multiple user personas, include each persona's needs in the checklist so plan fit is evaluated across the full operating model. Explicit capability mapping reduces rework and supports clearer budget approvals because the plan is justified by operational requirements rather than assumptions.

Use Mixed Strategy For Mixed Behavior

Many teams operate with both predictable baseline scanning and occasional surge demand. In those cases, a mixed commercial strategy is often more resilient than forcing one model to cover all behavior. Use subscription for steady cadence and supplement with PAYG for burst scenarios when needed. Review this mix quarterly or after major delivery changes to keep model alignment current. Mixed strategy planning is especially useful for organizations with seasonal release cycles or variable client onboarding patterns. By aligning billing to actual behavior, teams avoid avoidable cost stress and reduce urgency-driven purchasing decisions during high-pressure periods.

Track Consumption Trends As An Operational Metric

Credit consumption should be monitored as an operational indicator, not just a finance artifact. Track usage against planned cadence and investigate significant variance quickly. Rising consumption may indicate healthy rerun discipline, increased asset scope, or inefficient workflow loops; each has different implications. Reviewing trend data regularly enables proactive adjustments before execution is constrained. Include this metric in periodic security operations reviews so technical and commercial teams maintain shared visibility. When consumption trends are understood, billing decisions become strategic and predictable rather than reactive.

Escalate Billing Ambiguity Before Critical Milestones

If billing or credit behavior is unclear, escalate early with clear account context and expected workflow timeline. Waiting until a release-critical week increases risk of delay and creates unnecessary coordination pressure. A strong escalation request should include current model, expected workload window, and the specific uncertainty blocking planning. Early clarification improves confidence for both technical execution and stakeholder communication. Comprehensive help content should reinforce this habit so users treat billing clarity as part of delivery readiness, not a separate administrative task.

Link Billing Reviews To Security Program Planning

Commercial planning improves when it is integrated with security program planning rather than handled in isolation. During roadmap or quarterly planning, review expected scan scope, rerun intensity, and governance obligations together with billing strategy. This aligns budget expectations with operational reality and prevents mid-cycle trade-offs that can reduce security confidence. Include a simple decision log for plan changes so future reviews can trace why adjustments were made. If usage expands unexpectedly, update both operational cadence and commercial assumptions together. This integrated planning model helps teams sustain quality without recurring cost surprises and supports stronger leadership confidence that security execution is both effective and financially predictable.

Validation Checklist

Use this checklist to confirm the workflow was completed correctly.

Usage estimate is documented before plan selection.
Required capabilities are available in selected tier.
Billing model selection matches actual workload pattern.
Billing clarification path is known for edge cases.
Credit consumption trend is reviewed regularly.

Common Problems And Fixes

If something does not match expectation, check these common failure modes first.

Underestimating recurring usage

Review scan cadence and growth expectations before finalizing plan choice.

Choosing tier without feature fit check

Confirm that automation, team, and reporting capabilities match operational needs before purchase.

Using one billing model for mixed workload behavior

Mixed workloads often need a mixed strategy. Revisit model choice when usage shifts from baseline to burst and back.

Leaving billing clarification until launch week

Resolve billing and credit questions early so execution plans are not delayed by avoidable account uncertainty.

Use these links to continue your workflow without losing context.