16-9 AI Billing Guide (Subscriptions vs Credits)

"I'm on ChatGPT Pro — why doesn't this work?" ObsiKO's AI features draw from two different wallets. This page ends the confusion once and for all!

← Back: 16 AI Agent · Home: ObsiKO 101

What's the ⓒ badge?

Features marked with a small ⓒ (credit) badge in menus and dialogs are paid features that call the API keys you entered in Settings. Hover the badge (long-press on mobile) for a quick explanation.

Two wallets — subscription login vs API credits

ObsiKO's AI billing splits two ways. They are completely separate wallets — no matter how premium one plan is, the other holds none of it.

	🪪 Subscription login	💳 API credits (ⓒ)
What	Account login for Claude Code / Antigravity CLI (agy, Gemini) / Codex CLI	API keys in Settings (OpenAI · Gemini · Anthropic)
Billed via	Monthly subscriptions — ChatGPT Plus/Pro, Claude Pro/Max, Google account	Prepaid credits / usage billing at platform.openai.com etc.
Powers	Agent conversation, writing, note organizing (the full agent's brain)	Image generation, AI read-aloud (TTS), audio/video transcription, AI spellcheck, AI tidy/summary, Bases AI fill, chat-only mode

Remember one line: "Conversation runs on login; multimedia (images, speech, transcription) runs on credits."

Three common misconceptions

1. "I'm on ChatGPT Pro but transcription fails with 429." A ChatGPT subscription and OpenAI API credits are separate balances. Transcription and image generation call the API directly, so you need credits at platform.openai.com billing. (Note: if OpenAI transcription fails, ObsiKO automatically retries with Gemini when a Gemini key exists.)

2. "If I ask the agent to draw, does it use my login?" No! The agent's conversation runs on your login (subscription), but when it draws, the generate_image tool calls the OpenAI/Gemini image API with your API key (credits). Same for read-aloud and cloud transcription. Whether you draw via right-click or by asking the agent, images always use credits.

3. "No credits — can't I use AI at all?" You can. The desktop full agent works on subscription login alone — conversation, writing, research, mind map generation. And Gemini has a free tier (limited but genuinely usable): grab a free key at Google AI Studio to start transcription, images, and TTS at no cost.

Billing source by feature

Feature	Billed via
AI agent conversation/writing/organizing (desktop)	🪪 Subscription login (or API key)
Chat-only mode (mobile/web) → 16-8 Chat-only Mode (Mobile & Web)</td> <td>16-8 Chat-only Mode
AI image generation (right-click AND agent "draw me…")	💳 OpenAI or Gemini key
AI read-aloud (TTS)	💳 OpenAI or Gemini key
Voice memo & audio/video transcription	💳 OpenAI (audio) / Gemini (audio·video) key
Post-transcription AI summary · document AI tidy	💳 API key
AI spellcheck	💳 API key (or desktop agent login)
Bases ✨ AI fill	💳 API key
Image search · dictionaries · EN/JA spellcheck (LanguageTool)	Free (no badge)

💡 Bonus: helper features like AI spell check, transcript summaries, auto memory capture and Bases AI-fill automatically use lighter, cheaper models (haiku / mini / flash tier) — no setting needed, it just saves money. Quality-critical spots like writing-check questions and the main conversation stay on the full model.

Creating API keys

Gemini (free tier — recommended starting point): aistudio.google.com/apikey → create key → paste into ObsiKO Settings
OpenAI: platform.openai.com/api-keys → create key + add credits (min $5) in billing
Anthropic (Claude): console.anthropic.com → API Keys

🔒 Keys are stored on your device only (encrypted on desktop, Keychain on iOS). They are never sent to an ObsiKO server — ObsiKO doesn't even have one!

Troubleshooting

429 "quota exceeded" → that API account is out of credits. Top up or use another provider's key.
401 "invalid key" → typo or revoked key. Issue a new one.
Transcription auto-falls back to Gemini when OpenAI fails (if a Gemini key exists).

← Previous: Chat-only Mode (Mobile & Web) · Home · Next: AI Sources & Privacy →