TL;DR
Credits are lemlist's usage-based currency for enrichment, verification, AI features, and calling. Each action costs a specific number of credits. Multichannel Expert and Enterprise plans include free credits; the Email plan does not. When credits run out you can buy more at $0.01 per credit. Free credits reset (don't roll over), while purchased credits roll over. Only team Admins can buy credits.
Why This Matters
Credits control access to lemlist's data features. Without them, you can't find emails, verify contacts, enrich LinkedIn data, or use AI personalization. Understanding how credits work prevents campaign delays and helps you budget for data needs.
Multichannel Expert and Enterprise plans include free credits each month. When you run out mid-campaign, enrichment stops until you add more. Knowing credit costs upfront lets you estimate how many contacts you can process before needing a top-up.
Key Concept: What Credits Are
Credits are a pay-as-you-go unit in lemlist. Each credit equals $0.01. You spend credits when lemlist successfully finds, verifies, or enriches data for you.
Credits are only deducted when you get a valid result. If lemlist can't find an email or verify a number, you don't pay. This keeps costs tied to actual value delivered.
Your team shares one credit pool. All users pull from the same balance. Only Admins can buy credits.
Free Credits Included
Free credits are included on the following plans:
Free trial: 200 credits (one-time)
Multichannel Expert: 400 credits per user per month
Enterprise: 400 credits per team (one-time grant for new customers; existing customers keep the credit amount included at the time they subscribed)
The Email plan does not include free credits. Credits can be purchased at any time at $0.01 per credit. Only team Admins can make the purchase.
Note for existing Email Pro customers: If your account was created before December 18, you receive 1,000 credits/month per seat. If created on or after December 18, you receive 0 credits/month — the current Email plan does not include free credits. Your plan terms are not affected by the new Email plan.
What You Can Do with Credits
Email Finder & Verifier (5 credits)
Finds and verifies email addresses in one action. You're charged only when lemlist returns a deliverable or risky email. No charge for unverified or missing emails.
Uses a waterfall enrichment system that checks up to 10 data providers to locate the most accurate email.
LinkedIn Enrichment (1 credit)
Finds LinkedIn profile URLs and adds profile data to your leads. Useful when you have a name and company but need the LinkedIn link for multichannel outreach.
Phone Number Finder (20 credits)
Locates phone numbers for your leads. Charged only when lemlist successfully finds a valid, active number.
Phone Calling (4 credits per minute)
Use the lemlist in-app calling feature to make cold calls directly from Tasks.
SMS (6 credits per SMS)
Each SMS sent through campaigns or Inbox deducts 6 credits from the sender's credit balance. SMS sending is blocked automatically if the user does not have enough credits. Credits used for SMS appear in your credits history.
AI Variables Generation (1 credit per request)
Generate AI-powered custom variables to personalize emails, clean job titles, or segment leads. Charged only when AI returns a valid result.
You can connect your own OpenAI API key to use your API credits instead of lemlist credits.
Signal Agents
Signal Agents consume credits differently depending on the signal type. Most are billed only when a signal is successfully identified.
Signal type | Credit cost |
Website visitors | 20 credits per successful company identification |
LinkedIn People Profiles, LinkedIn Company Profiles, LinkedIn Keywords | 50 credits per result (billed on success) |
Custom signals | 50 credits per account per month (billed monthly per monitored account) |
Competitors new connections, Technology change, Contact changed jobs, New hire, Promotion, Company is hiring, Company raised funds, Mergers & acquisitions | 100 credits per signal identified (billed on success) |
Contact external signals, Company external signals | 1 credit per signal pushed via API |
How to Buy and Manage Credits
Check Your Balance
From any page, look at the bottom-left corner of the app to see your current credit balance.
Click the credit balance to open the credits panel.
From there, you can see your remaining credits, your next refill date, and click View history to check detailed usage.
Buy More Credits
Open the credits panel by clicking your balance in the bottom-left corner if it isn't already open.
In the credits panel, click Buy more credits.
In the Your team credits window, use the slider or preset amounts to choose how many credits you want to purchase. Review the total amount you'll pay, then click Buy [X] credits to complete the payment flow.
Additional credits cost $0.01 per credit. Purchased credits are added to your balance immediately and roll over until used.
Only Admins can purchase credits.
Credit Rules and Policies
Free vs Purchased Credits
Multichannel Expert and Enterprise plans include free credits. The Email plan does not.
Free credits reset based on your plan/billing rules
Unused free credits don't carry over
Free credits are always used before purchased credits
Purchased credits:
Roll over until used
Remain in your account even if you cancel your subscription
Can be used after your plan ends, as long as your account exists
Additionally, if a user decides to resubscribe after plan expiry, any unused purchased credits from the previous subscription will still be accessible. Free credits, however, will be reset as part of the new subscription cycle. This ensures that while free credits adhere to fixed cycles, purchased credits maintain their availability over time.
Team Sharing
Credits are shared across your entire team. Every Member and Admin pulls from the same pool. If one user depletes the balance, enrichment stops for everyone until credits are added.
Common Questions and Troubleshooting
What happens when I run out of credits mid-campaign?
Enrichment processes pause immediately. Campaigns continue sending, but leads won't be enriched until you add more credits. You'll need to manually restart enrichment after topping up your balance.
If a subscription is renewed after being canceled, any existing purchased credits will still be available for use. Free credits, however, will reset based on the new plan's cycle and the user's active subscription status.
How do I estimate how many credits I need?
Start with a small test batch. If you're enriching 100 leads with email finder only, expect to spend around 500 credits. For full enrichment including phone numbers, expect 2,500 credits per 100 leads. Actual costs depend on how many valid results are found.
Can I get a refund for unused credits?
No. Purchased credits are non-refundable and roll over until used. They remain in your account for future use.
I'm a team member and credits ran out. What do I do?
Ask your Admin to purchase more. Only Admins have permission to buy credits. Check who your Admins are in Settings → Team Members.
Will free credits roll over if I upgrade my plan mid-month?
No. Free credits don't carry over. Only purchased credits roll over until used.
Best Practices
Test enrichment on 50-100 leads before running bulk operations to estimate actual costs
Monitor your credit balance before launching large campaigns
Use waterfall enrichment to maximize hit rates without extra manual work
Connect your OpenAI API key if you use AI variables frequently to reduce lemlist credit spend
Buy credits in bulk when you know you'll need them rather than waiting until you run out mid-process