> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hyperline.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# AI monetization
> Use Hyperline to monetize AI products with usage-based billing, prepaid credits, wallets, subscriptions, and customer-facing balance workflows.
AI products often combine predictable subscriptions with variable consumption. Customers may pay for seats, token usage, model calls, generated images, agent runs, data processing, or prepaid credit packs. Hyperline helps you turn those signals into billable products without building a separate billing system for AI usage.
Use this page as an entry point when you are designing how to price, package, and bill AI consumption.
## Common AI monetization use cases
| Use case | Example | Hyperline capabilities to use |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Token or model usage | Charge based on tokens consumed by each model tier | [Usage events](../usage/send-usage-data), [aggregators](../usage/aggregators), and [usage-based products](../products/overview#usage) |
| Prepaid AI credits | Sell 10,000 credits that customers can spend across models, agents, or generations | [Credit products](../credits/overview) with weighted aggregators |
| Included allowance and overages | Include 1M tokens in a monthly plan, then bill additional usage | [Usage-based billing](../usage/getting-started) and [subscriptions](../subscriptions/manage) |
| Enterprise budget control | Let customers prepay a balance, consume it over time, and top up when needed | [Credits](../credits/overview), [wallets](../wallets/balance), and [customer portal](../customers/portal) |
| AI add-ons | Add premium models, extra automation runs, or advanced features on top of a base subscription | [Products and prices](../products/overview), subscriptions, and usage-based products |
| Customer-facing consumption visibility | Show customers how usage or credit balances evolve over time | [Customer usage](../usage/customer-usage), [credits](../credits/overview), and [customer portal](../customers/portal) |
## Choose a billing model
### Usage-based billing
Usage-based billing works well when customers should pay for exactly what they consume during a billing period. Hyperline receives usage events, converts them into billable metrics with aggregators, and applies the price configured in your product catalog.
Use it for token volume, API calls, workflow runs, image generations, storage, compute time, or any metric that should appear on the next invoice.
Start with:
* [Getting started with usage-based billing](../usage/getting-started)
* [Send usage data](../usage/send-usage-data)
* [Aggregators](../usage/aggregators)
* [Usage-based products](../products/overview#usage)
### Prepaid credits
Credits work well when customers should buy a package upfront and spend it flexibly across multiple AI actions. One credit balance can be consumed by several aggregators, each with its own weight.
For example, one lightweight model call can consume `1` credit, a premium model call can consume `5` credits, and an image generation can consume `10` credits from the same balance. This lets customers understand a single balance while your pricing still reflects different underlying costs.
Start with:
* [Credits overview](../credits/overview)
* [Credit products](../products/overview#credit)
* [Set up credit-based billing for an AI platform](/guides/credit-based-billing-ai)
### Subscriptions with allowances and overages
Many AI products use a hybrid model: a recurring subscription gives access to the product and includes a usage allowance, while overages are billed separately. This is useful when customers want predictable pricing, but your costs still depend on consumption.
Use this model when you want to package AI usage into tiers such as **Starter**, **Scale**, and **Enterprise**, while still charging for heavy usage beyond the included allowance.
Start with:
* [Configure usage-based billing](/guides/configure-usage-based-billing)
* [Products and prices](../products/overview)
* [Manage subscriptions](../subscriptions/manage)
### Wallets and customer balances
Wallets are useful when you want to manage a monetary balance for a customer. Credits are usually better for productized AI consumption units, while wallets are useful for prepaid cash balances, manual adjustments, or commercial credits that should offset future invoices.
Start with:
* [Wallet balance](../wallets/balance)
* [Customer portal](../customers/portal)
* [Coupons and credits](../coupons/overview)
## Suggested setup path
1. Define the unit you want to monetize: tokens, requests, agent runs, documents processed, generated assets, or another AI-specific metric.
2. Send usage events to Hyperline, or use a data connector if your usage data already lives in another system.
3. Create aggregators that transform raw events into the billable metrics you want to price.
4. Choose the commercial model: usage-based billing, prepaid credits, subscription allowances, wallet balance, or a mix of those models.
5. Add the products to subscriptions, quotes, or self-serve flows so customers can buy and renew them.
6. Use customer usage, credit balances, invoices, and the customer portal to make consumption visible to your team and your customers.
For most AI platforms, start with usage events and aggregators. They are the foundation for both usage-based billing and credit consumption.
## Related documentation
Connect usage data and configure billable usage metrics.
Sell prepaid credit packs and deduct usage from customer balances.
Follow a complete example for credit-based billing on an AI platform.
Let customers view balances, invoices, and payment information.