Purchase prepaid credits on the xAI Console

Buy prepaid API credits for an xAI team so inference spend draws down a balance you control instead of waiting on an end-of-month invoice alone. Official Manage Billing documents prepaid credits as the common path: open Billing → API spend management, purchase credits for the selected team, view the current balance there, and apply a promo code when you have one. Credits belong to the team in the Console picker, so every user on that team shares the same pool. Start at console.x.ai as someone who can change billing for the team you intend to fund.

What you need

The correct team selected before you change anything on Billing (docs warn that billing edits affect all users on that team), a payment method you can complete through Guest Checkout, and a clear amount that covers expected traffic until the next top-up. Monthly invoiced billing is disabled by default and needs a sales request or the Billing page contact path when your enterprise wants invoices instead of prepaid. For day-to-day spend visibility after purchase, use the Usage explorer page named in the same billing guide. Neighboring jobs include Set auto top-up on the xAI Console, Check prepaid credit balance via the xAI Management API, and Enable Zero Data Retention on the xAI Console when compliance settings sit beside spend controls. More API jobs live on the API hub.

Buy credits on API spend management

1. Sign in to console.x.ai and set the team picker to the team that should receive the credits.
2. Open Billing → API spend management.
3. Review the current prepaid credit balance shown on that page so you know the starting point before you purchase.
4. Start a prepaid purchase for the amount you need. Official docs note that prepaid purchases currently complete through Guest Checkout because of regulatory requirements.
5. Enter a promo code on the same API spend management surface when you have one, then finish payment.
6. If you pay by bank transfer instead of card, allow two to three business days for processing; credits appear after that process completes, not at the moment you submit the transfer.

When you make a purchase, xAI keeps the payment method on file for the next buy. You can also add a payment method manually under Billing → Billing details → Add Payment Information. The Console currently does not let you remove the last payment method on file.

After the purchase

Confirm the balance on API spend management matches the amount you expected after taxes and promo handling. Open Billing → Invoices when you need the prepaid purchase receipt or later monthly invoices. Set billing address and optional tax information carefully under Billing → Payment because that text prints on invoices and xAI cannot regenerate invoices today. If you want the team to refuse traffic once prepaid is empty instead of accruing postpaid charges, keep the invoiced billing limit at the default $0 on Billing → API Credits so only prepaid credits fund requests.

Pitfalls

Buying while the wrong team is selected funds a pool your production keys never see. Assuming bank-transfer credits are live the same day leaves keys failing until the two-to-three-day processing window finishes. Leaving the invoiced billing limit at $0 without enough prepaid balance causes automatic request rejection when credits run out. Editing billing address after invoices already issued cannot rewrite those PDFs. Treating SuperGrok consumer billing on grok.com as the same ledger as Console API prepaid credits mixes two products that invoice separately.