Understand Extra Usage Credits for Imagine and the shared weekly pool

Paid Grok plans share one weekly usage pool across Chat, Imagine, Voice, Build, and related products. Imagine video and heavy stills spend more of that pool than a short chat turn. When the weekly bar is full, paid Imagine pauses until reset unless you add Extra Usage Credits, turn on Auto Top Up, or upgrade the plan.

xAI does not publish an official dollar-per-second price for Imagine video in the consumer FAQ. Ignore third-party “$1 per 10s” guesses. Read your live Usage tab for the cost you actually pay.

Read the shared meter

1. Open Settings → Usage on grok.com or in the mobile app.
2. Read the progress bar for total weekly usage.
3. Open the product breakdown and note the Imagine percentage next to Chat, Voice, Build, and API.
4. Note the weekly reset date and time.
5. Note the Extra Usage Credits balance if the tab shows one.

Chat, Voice, and free-tier allowances follow the same FAQ rules covered in Check your weekly Grok usage.

Buy Extra Usage Credits (web)

1. Stay on the web Usage tab. Extra Usage Credits are web-only today; mobile in-app purchase is listed as coming later.
2. Purchase from as little as $5.
3. Credits land on the account immediately.
4. Credits spend only after the plan’s included weekly usage is exhausted.
5. Top-up credits expire one year after purchase unless the purchase page says otherwise.

The FAQ prices Extra Usage Credits at standard rates, so each action costs more than the effective rate inside your included weekly allowance. If you buy credits most weeks, the FAQ’s advice is to upgrade for a larger weekly pool at a lower cost per action.

Auto Top Up

1. On the web Usage tab, open Auto Top Up.
2. Choose the top-up amount.
3. Set a monthly cap.
4. Leave Auto Top Up on only while you want automatic credit adds when the balance gets low.

Auto Top Up keeps paid Imagine running after the weekly bar fills. Cap it if you want a hard monthly ceiling.

Pitfalls

• There is no official consumer FAQ number for dollars per Imagine second. Quote only your Usage tab and invoice.
• Extra Usage Credits sit on the shared weekly system. They refill paid headroom for Imagine and every other product that draws from the same pool.
• A stuck reset clock is covered in Fix a weekly Grok reset that looks stuck, Auto Top Up, and 720p fallback.
• Generation failures with headroom left may be moderation or client errors. See Fix Imagine when it is not generating and Work with Imagine when NSFW is on and prompts still get blocked.