Understanding Tokens
What tokens are and how they work on Coffeescribe
What Are Tokens?
Tokens are the currency used by AI models to process text. When you create a scribe, the AI reads your instructions (input tokens) and generates content (output tokens). Both use tokens from your monthly balance.
How Tokens Work
Think of tokens as pieces of words:
- 1 token is roughly 3/4 of a word — a teaching ratio, not an amount to track
- A typical page of text is a small fraction of your allowance
- A full scribe chapter uses a modest portion of your allowance
When you create a scribe, tokens are used for:
- Input — Your topic, instructions, and any context sent to the AI
- Output — The text the AI generates (chapters, sections, content)
Token Allowance by Tier
| Tier | Allowance | Carry-over |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Welcome credit on signup (one-off) | n/a |
| Pro | Generous monthly allowance | Up to one extra month |
| Creator | Larger monthly allowance | Up to one extra month |
What Can You Create With Your Tokens?
The exact number of scribes depends on the AI model you choose and the length of each scribe, but as a rough guide:
- Budget models: More scribes per allowance
- Standard models: Moderate allowance usage
- Premium models: Fewer scribes per allowance, higher quality
A typical 10-chapter scribe with a standard model uses a meaningful portion of a monthly allowance — bigger than a quick experiment, but well within Pro or Creator's monthly bucket.
Carry-over Rules
- New credits are added at the start of each billing cycle
- Unused credits roll over to the next month, up to one extra month's worth of allowance
- If you're already at the carry-over cap when renewal hits, the new monthly grant is silently absorbed up to the cap — we never reduce your existing balance
- Top-up credits (Creator only) sit outside the cap and never expire
The Token Meter
Your balance shows up as a meter in the navbar, your Library, and the Workspace. The meter has four states — Plenty / Getting low / Very low / Empty — that tell you what you actually need to know without exposing a raw token count. Free, Pro, and Creator all see the same meter. The exact token quantity for a top-up purchase is shown once at the moment of purchase (Creator only).
Running Low on Tokens
What happens depends on your tier:
- Free — Generation pauses and you're prompted to upgrade. Existing scribes, highlights, and notes stay accessible.
- Pro — Coffeescribe gives you extra tokens to finish your work — once per billing cycle. After that, further generation is paused until you upgrade to Creator (the increase covers the rest of the cycle) or your renewal arrives.
- Creator — Coffeescribe gives you a one-time goodwill grant per billing cycle to finish your current work the first time you empty out. Once that's spent, buy a top-up any time — top-ups are added to your balance immediately and never expire.
Top-Up Credits (Creator only)
Top-ups are a Creator feature. Buy a top-up from your Settings or billing page; the new tokens are added to your balance immediately, never expire, and can push your balance above the carry-over cap (because they're purchased separately). Top-ups are not available on Free or Pro.
See Also
- Token Costs by Model — How costs vary between AI models
- Plans and Pricing — Compare tier token allocations