Message credits

SMS and WhatsApp both run on message credits. There is one pool covering both channels, so you do not have to guess in advance how much of your budget goes to each. Buy credits once, then send whichever way suits the moment.

Where to find it

1. Open Billing in your dashboard.
2. Click the Addons tab.
3. Scroll to Message credit packs (SMS + WhatsApp).

Your current balance is shown on the card, just under the description. It also appears at the top of your messaging area, so you can check it without leaving what you are doing.

How message credits work

Message credits are not one credit per message. What a single send costs depends on two things:

• Where it is going. Every country has its own rate, so a text to one country can cost several times what the same text costs to another.
• How long it is, or what kind it is. A long SMS is split into more parts before it goes out, and each part costs. On WhatsApp, the cost depends on the category of message you are sending rather than its length.

That sounds fiddly, but you never have to work it out yourself. When you build a message, the composer works it out for you and shows Estimated debit for that send alongside Your balance, so you can see whether one covers the other before you commit. For SMS it also shows Segments per message, which is how many parts your text is being split into.

Like every other credit balance in TribeNest, message credits never expire. What you do not use this month is still there next month.

Buying credits

Credits are sold in packs. Each pack holds a fixed number of credits for a fixed price, both printed under the Packs field.

1. Open Billing and click the Addons tab.
2. In Message credit packs (SMS + WhatsApp), set Packs to how many you want. The field accepts 1 to 100.
3. Check the summary beside it. Total credits and Total update as you change the count.
4. Click Buy credits.
5. Complete the secure checkout you are sent to.

After checkout

Payment can settle a moment after you are returned. The confirmation screen covers every outcome:

• Confirming your payment. A spinner, with a note that it usually takes a few seconds.
• Credits added. A green check, your new balance, and an automatic return to Billing.
• Still processing. An amber notice telling you the credits will be granted automatically once payment clears. Check the balance again in a minute.
• Something went wrong. A clear error and a way back to billing.

If you were charged but nothing landed, contact support and mention when you bought.

Your purchase history

Message credit purchases sits below the buy card and lists every message credit pack you have bought, including ones that are still pending and ones that failed. Each row shows:

• Date of the purchase.
• Packs bought.
• Credits granted.
• Amount paid.
• Status, colour coded.

The list is paged, ten at a time. If you have never bought a pack, the card is hidden entirely.

Running out mid-campaign

Because cost varies by destination, a broadcast to a wide international list burns credits faster than the same broadcast to one country.

If your balance will not cover the whole send, the composer says so before you start, with an amber warning and a Buy credits link that drops you straight onto the Addons tab. Send anyway and the messages go out until the balance runs dry, then stop. The rest of your audience simply does not get it.

So the safe habit is to read Estimated debit against Your balance in the composer, and top up before you press send rather than after.

Where to go next

• Write and send the broadcast itself, see messaging.
• Set up the templates WhatsApp requires before you can send, see WhatsApp templates.
• Get your account cleared to send SMS, see registering to send SMS.
• Sending email instead? That runs on a separate balance, see email credits.