Credits power AI features across GovTribe, including GovTribe AI chats, GovTribe MCP usage, and automations.
In this guide, you’ll learn how credits work and how to make the most of them.
Quick answers
GovTribe credits, in under a minute
Do I need credits to use GovTribe?
No. Your subscription gives you platform access, and credits pay for metered AI work.
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. 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 making bid/no-bid decisions and researching competitors to building price-to-win models and proposal compliance matrices.
Connect GovTribe
to other AI tools
Connect GovTribe to Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT, or any MCP-enabled AI assistant. Bring GovTribe intelligence together with your team’s files, CRM, and other systems so your AI can use them together.
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
Choose GovTribe AI when you want a more done-for-you experience. Its govcon skills are designed for common government-contracting tasks, so you waste less time teaching the AI what to do.
Best for: capture reviews, proposal planning, compliance work, market intelligence, pricing support, and complex document analysis.
Guided work may use more credits, but it can also reduce setup, experimentation, and repeated prompting.
More do-it-yourself
GovTribe MCP
Choose GovTribe MCP when you want to bring GovTribe data and tools into an AI application you already use. You control more of the instructions, workflow, model, and output.
Best for: custom research, internal assistants, existing AI workflows, and teams comfortable directing their own tools.
MCP can be a more economical option for focused retrieval and workspace 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, based on current GovTribe user activity, to find a starting point for your needs.
Actual credit usage and time savings may vary depending on how you use GovTribe AI, MCP, and automations.
Choose the right PAYMENT METHOD
How should you pay for credits?
You can always change your approach after reflecting on your usage.
Looking for the lowest effective rate? Prepaid packs include discounted pricing compared with Pay-As-You-Go, with larger packs offering greater value.
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, exclusions, and desired format up front. One complete request is usually more efficient than several rounds of “not quite—try again.”
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 adjust your model and reasoning level to your task. These settings can greatly affect credit usage, so use lighter settings for routine work and save more powerful models and higher reasoning for complex analysis.
Keep an eye on credit usage
Open the Credit Usage box in the top right corner of GovTribe AI to see how many credits the current chat has used and how many remain. Check it during longer tasks so you can adjust before spending more than expected.
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.
Why one prompt can create several usage entries
Some AI work happens behind the scenes. A single request may include searches, retrieved records, document processing, input context, and generated output. 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 AI, MCP, memory, and automations may pause. Any unused prepaid credits remain available 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=2025%20Q2%20Quarterly%20Roundup%20(24).png)