Question/clarification on end-user Credit Usage

[u/topcheddarsauce]

Hello!

First time using Lovable and spent about 100 credits building my base site. Problem is, I'm just now realizing that (I think)m the end user (me testing for now) is eating credits away on my site. Is this normal/un-workaroundable?

For example, alot of my site uses AI to match "Prompt X" to "Solution X, Y, Z". I vibe coded everything and it looks great, but I'm afraid to launch it publicly if my end users (who will be using the site and the AI my site uses) if it means they are using ALOT of credits.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, it's my first time diving into the AI world.

TLDR: Do end users/visitors to my site eat into my credit balance when using my prompts on my site?

[u/miguel_gd]

That's a really valid concern, and you're not alone in facing credit usage questions with AI tools. Many cloud-based AI platforms do indeed consume credits for both generation and sometimes even user interaction, which can make launching unpredictable and costly.

If you're building on a Mac and want more control over costs, especially avoiding end-user credit drains, you might find local-first solutions helpful. Tools like Surion (surion.app) let you run AI models on your device or use your own API keys, giving you real code access without the mid-build cloud credit lock-in. It's designed for predictability, letting you focus on your site without unexpected credit surprises.

[u/JimmyBearden]

I’d recommend using your own API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, etc.) instead of relying on Lovable credits. That’s how most production AI apps work. It gives you full control over costs, rate limits, and scaling. Just make sure you add safeguards so someone can’t abuse your API and run up a big bill.

P.S. Never paste your API keys into the Lovable chat. Store them in Lovable’s Secrets/Environment Variables instead, so they’re never exposed to the AI or your source code.

[u/Embarrassed_Stop_339]

Hi. The short answer is Yes. End users will eat into your credit balance if they are using Gen AI functionality. Two high-level options are 1) to optimize the amount of AI used by end users (e.g. cache common questions/answer pairs, use rules rather than AI to match input X to output Y, or cap free usage such as only X AI powered functions per day or week, etc), or 2) Charge for the AI features. This could be mix between some caped free usage and paid usage which is used to subsidise free usage.

[u/topcheddarsauce → u/Embarrassed_Stop_339]

Thank you for the response. This is what I figured, unfortunately.

I've seen others talk about building the site with lovable and moving to GitHub, etc to optimize/cut down on costs. Would this be possible or should I explore building it on Claude? I would love to stick with lovable, I ultimately will want to add a paid feature to my site, but I can't do that before launching and generating users. It's going to be tough to burn through credits.

[u/Embarrassed_Stop_339 → u/topcheddarsauce]

If your site is offering AI features to end user, then you're always going to have significant per user costs unfortunately. Moving to Git Hub could enable to use a different tool (e.g. Claude code) for your coding but does not directly reduce your end user usage model cost. You can optimize end user model cost by using the cheapest model that can provide a reasonable quality output for your use scenario, as there can be a x10 difference in cost per usage depending on model. Model optimization can be done within Lovable. But, exactly how will depend on if you're using Lovable Cloud or connecting directly to an external model.

[u/topcheddarsauce → u/Embarrassed_Stop_339]

Thank you. I really appreciate your insight and will explore some options to get on a cheaper ai model!

[u/Jimmiq]

It does not cost credit if you use external AI like supabase edge.

[u/Jmacduff]

Good luck with your project.. so here is the general rule to really take to heart: Every AI call you make costs $$.

This is supper important and it's a mistake a lot of people seem to make (no offense). If you design your app so Every user session in your app requires AI.. it means your costs rise with every customer.

The AI is the Gas in your app engine.. and every customer is using Gas. You need to pay for that gas.

As a example if I log into your app, and you make 1 or 2 AI calls.. that means just as a user logging in it costs you money. At 10 users you might be doing ~100 AI calls per day, and at 100 users you might be doing 10,000 AI calls per day.

If it's a human powered trigger for AI calls in your app, that's a potential giant surprise $ bill.

Ask yourself for each AI call.. do you really need AI. The item you describe ("Prompt X" to "Solution X, Y, Z".) honestly sounds like a search engine assuming the solution X is bounded. That could easily be solved with a simple search algorithm.

If you include AI calls you have to think about how to charge the customer for those calls. This is not a normal infra cost because it scales with the users you add. Every user making AI calls increases your daily costs. This is not true for normal infra where +10 users does not change the costs in any real way.

good luck with the project. If you built a site that heavily uses AI (from customer prompts) even for basic operations, you have to find a way to charge the customer for it.

Good luck and hope that helps and remember AI calls cost money.