GovTribe credits power advanced AI features, including AI chats, MCP usage, and automations. The best part? You only pay for what your team needs.
Need AI for a one-off task? Pay as you go. Planning a longer project or using AI regularly? Save with a prepaid credit pack.
If your needs change, your approach can too. Track usage as you go and adjust whenever it makes sense for your team.
In this guide, you’ll learn how credits work and how to get the most out of them.
In this guide
What uses credits? · GovTribe AI or MCP? · How many credits do I need? · How should I pay? · How can I save? · How do I track usage? · Frequently asked questions
Quick answers
GovTribe credits, in under a minute
Do I need credits to use GovTribe?
No, your subscription gives you access to the GovTribe platform. Credits are only used for advanced AI features.
Can I try AI before buying credits?
Yes, every free trial includes 1,000 credits that can be used immediately.
Can I see what used my credits?
Yes, just click your profile icon in the top right corner, select Credits, and then click Usage to review consumption by tool, user, or month.
What credits power
Use credits for AI, MCP, and automations
Chat with
GovTribe AI
Chat with GovTribe AI to research opportunities and tackle everyday govcon tasks, from researching competitors and making bid/no-bid decisions to building price-to-win models and proposal compliance matrices.
Connect GovTribe
to other AI tools
Connect GovTribe to Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT, or another MCP-enabled AI assistant. Once connected, you can work with GovTribe intelligence, team files, CRM data, and other systems all in one place.
Automate repetitive
govcon work
Let GovTribe AI automatically handle repetitive work for you, from finding and qualifying new opportunities to monitoring your pipeline and competitors.
Choose the right experience
GovTribe AI or GovTribe MCP?
The difference is how much guidance you want and where you want to work.
More guided
GovTribe AI
Chat with GovTribe AI in the platform when you want more of the work done for you. Its built-in govcon skills understand common tasks, guide the process, and help you get useful results with less setup and fewer prompts.
Best for: capture reviews, proposal planning, compliance work, market intelligence, pricing support, and complex document analysis.
GovTribe AI may use more credits because it does more behind the scenes, but it can save you time and reduce trial and error.
More do-it-yourself
GovTribe MCP
Connect GovTribe MCP to Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT, or another MCP-enabled AI assistant so you can work with GovTribe capabilities alongside team files, CRM data, and other systems.
Best for: custom research, internal assistants, existing AI workflows, and teams comfortable directing their own tools.
MCP can use fewer GovTribe credits for focused searches and actions, but your AI provider may charge separately for its own usage.
New to GovTribe?
Every free trial includes 1,000 credits
Use them to test GovTribe AI, MCP, and automation workflows before deciding how you want to purchase more. Trial accounts need a paid subscription before they can buy additional credits.
Choose the right amount
How many credits should you get?
Use these estimates as a starting point based on real customer data.
Your actual credit usage, cost, and time savings will depend on how you use GovTribe AI, MCP, and automations. The monthly cost estimates above use the Pay-As-You-Go rate of $0.09 per credit to give you a clear starting point—but you can save significantly with prepaid credit packs.
Save with credit packs
How should you pay for credits?
Choose the option that fits how often you use AI. You can always change your approach later.
Want the best value? Prepaid credit packs lower your cost per credit, and larger packs save you even more.
Get more value
Make every credit go further
Here are a few tips for getting the most value from your credits.
Use GovTribe skills
In GovTribe AI, start with a skill built for your task to help you get better results faster with less trial and error.
Include all criteria in the first prompt
Explain your goal, relevant capabilities, decision criteria, and exclusions up front. One complete request is more efficient than several rounds.
Use one conversation per topic
The longer a conversation, the more credits you'll use because AI has more context to carry forward. Start a new conversation when you move to a different opportunity, buyer, proposal, or research question instead of keeping one endless thread.
Choose the right model and reasoning
Click Tune GovTribe AI (the sliders icon below the chat box) to match the model and reasoning level to your task. The right choice can help you get a strong answer without using more credits than you need.
Keep an eye on credit usage
Check the Credit Usage box in the top right corner of GovTribe AI at any time to see how many credits the current chat has used and how many remain.
Tell AI when enough research is enough
AI may perform multiple searches or retrieve additional context behind the scenes. Give it a reasonable limit so it does not keep looking for diminishing returns.
Example: “Review the five most relevant results. If you cannot find strong evidence after three searches, stop and explain what is missing.”
Say what you need
Be direct about the output you're looking for—a shortlist, compliance matrix, decision table, etc. The AI will spend less effort trying to read your mind.
Share only what the task needs
Attach or add only the files and background information needed for the task. Large or unrelated documents add processing and may use more credits without improving the answer.
GovTribe AI
How to choose a GovTribe AI reasoning model
Every GovTribe AI conversation starts at about 10 credits, regardless of model. After that, credit usage depends on the model and the length of your conversation.
Deepest reasoning
Sol
Best for difficult or ambiguous govcon work where deeper judgment, connecting many sources, and getting the strongest possible answer matter.
Balanced reasoning
Terra
Best for structured work with a clear goal, such as opportunity analysis, competitor research, qualification, and first-draft capture work.
Lightest reasoning
Luna
Best for focused tasks such as extracting information, summarizing documents, and reformatting content.
Rough credit comparison: If the same task uses 25 additional credits on Sol, it would use about 10 on Terra or 1 on Luna. But keep in mind, exact usage varies depending on how each model handles the task.
Why one prompt can create several usage entries
Some AI work happens behind the scenes. A single request may involve multiple searches, retrieved records, document processing, and other work behind the scenes. The Usage page reports those metered events, so one answer may appear as more than one usage row.
Stay in control
Easily monitor usage
Your Credits page shows your balance and month-to-date usage. Open Usage for a deeper look at which tools and users are consuming credits.
Review by tool
Compare GovTribe AI, MCP, automation, and other metered usage.
Review by user
See how usage is distributed across the people on your account.
Set usage alert
Account owners can receive an email when month-to-date usage reaches a chosen threshold.
FAQS
Frequently asked questions
Can I accidentally be charged for AI?
No, credit-powered usage must first be enabled on the account. Pay-As-You-Go also requires an active paid subscription, payment information on file, and available Pay-As-You-Go access.
Who controls credits?
Credits are managed at the account level. Only the account owner can enable or disable them, buy packs, configure Auto-Refill, or set monthly usage alerts. If you’re interested in allocating different amounts for different team members, please contact us.
What happens when prepaid credits run out?
With an active subscription and payment method on file, you can use Pay-As-You-Go for additional usage. Otherwise, prepaid credits are required.
What happens if credits are disabled?
Credit-powered GovTribe AI, MCP tools, and automations may pause. Billing-exempt tools may remain available, and any unused prepaid credits will stay in your account for future use.
-1.png?height=200&name=PORTCO%20(5)-1.png)
.png?height=200&name=Blog%20Featured%20Images%20(16).png)
.png?height=200&name=Blog%20Featured%20Images%20(12).png)