# How credits work

> Tandem credits pay for candidate search, contact reveals, AI interviews and job ads. Tandem's chat, roles, pipelines and scheduling are free.

Source: https://tandem.joveo.com/support/credits/how-credits-work

## Where credits come from

You have one balance made of two kinds of credits. Plan credits come with your plan each month, and purchased credits are ones you buy. Tandem spends plan credits first.

Related: [Plan credits vs purchased credits](https://tandem.joveo.com/support/credits/plan-vs-purchased.md)

## What uses them

Each paid action has a fixed rate, such as 3 credits per candidate for a candidate search. Job ads are different: you choose a pack, and ads use purchased credits only.

Some actions reserve credits first. A job ad reserves its pack, and an AI interview invite reserves credits until it is used or expires.

Related: [What uses credits, and what is free](https://tandem.joveo.com/support/credits/what-uses-credits.md) · [Reserved credits](https://tandem.joveo.com/support/credits/reserved-credits.md)

## When you run out

Paid actions pause, and a banner shows what is paused with a `Buy credits` button. Candidates who need credits to move on wait in `Needs review` as `Waiting for credits`. Your roles, candidates, scheduling and Tandem's chat keep working.

To carry on, [buy credits](https://tandem.joveo.com/support/billing/buy-credits.md) or wait for your plan credits to reset.

## Where to see your balance

Open `Settings → Usage` to see your balance, what is reserved and where your credits went.

Related: [Read your Usage page](https://tandem.joveo.com/support/credits/usage.md)