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 now includes 2,000 credits that can be used immediately.
Can I see what used my credits?
Yes. Open GovTribe AI and select Usage in the left navigation to review the work you’ve completed, including credits, conversations, automations, outputs, and individual activity.
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 2,000 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.
See what you're getting out of GovTribe AI
Open the Usage tab in GovTribe AI to review your credits, conversations, automations, outputs, and recent activity. Switch between 7-, 30-, and 90-day views to see how your usage changes over time.
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.
Cache repeat-use MCP data locally
If you repeatedly work with the same data, consider pulling it on a schedule and caching it locally. One GovTribe user created a cron job that pulls data from different sources, caches it locally, and refreshes it every one or two weeks. They can then parse and work with the cached data without making constant MCP calls, reducing usage when real-time data isn’t necessary.
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. Usage reporting captures completed AI work and its associated credits, so the total for a conversation can reflect more than just the text you see in the final response.
Stay in control
See what you're getting out of GovTribe AI
GovTribe AI now has a dedicated Usage tab to help you keep an eye on the work you're completing and the credits behind it. Open GovTribe AI and select Usage above Automations in the left navigation.
Check your snapshot
See credits, completed conversations, automation runs, and generated outputs at a glance.
Change the time period
Switch between the last 7, 30, or 90 days to understand recent activity and longer-term usage patterns.
Review individual activity
See completed conversations and automations along with their Skill, date, credits, and available outputs to understand where your usage is going.
Managing a team? Account Owners and Account Administrators can switch to the account view to review workspace-wide totals and team activity.
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.
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