Credits & Refund Policy

Last updated: September 29, 2026

This policy explains how prepaid credits work on LarkTide API, which is operated by LarkTide Technologies LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company ("LarkTide", "we", "us"). It covers what credits are, what they cost, how usage is deducted, and when and how you can get a refund. LarkTide API is in an invite-only beta, and this policy applies to every credit purchase made during the beta and afterward. It is part of, and should be read together with, our Terms of Service. If this policy and the Terms of Service differ on credits, credit purchases or refunds, this policy applies.

On this page

• Summary
• What credits are
• Purchase limits and the platform fee
• How usage is deducted
• No expiry
• Refunds
• Account closure
• Refunds required by law
• Chargebacks and disputes
• Promotional credits
• Changes to this policy
• Contact

Summary

• Credits are prepaid US-dollar credits, bought by card, that can be used only for LarkTide services.
• Each credit purchase carries a 5% platform fee. A $100 purchase adds $95 of credits.
• The maximum is $500 per purchase and $1,000 in purchases per account per day (UTC).
• Usage is deducted from your balance per request, at the per-token rates on our pricing page.
• Credits do not expire.
• Unused paid credits from a purchase can be refunded within 7 days of that purchase. The 5% platform fee and credits you have already used are not refunded.
• If you close your account, or LarkTide closes it other than for a violation of our Terms or Acceptable Use Policy, your remaining paid credit balance is refunded on request.
• Refunds go back to the original payment method.

The sections below are the full policy. LarkTide API is for software developers and businesses that are at least 18 years old and use it for business or professional purposes. It is not for consumers. It is not offered in mainland China, in any country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions or embargoes, or to persons on U.S. restricted-party lists, or where the relevant model provider does not offer its service. The Terms of Service set out who is eligible to use the service.

What credits are

Credits are a prepayment for LarkTide services. Specifically:

• Prepaid and denominated in US dollars. US$1.00 of credits pays for US$1.00 of usage at the rates published on the pricing page.
• For LarkTide services only. Credits can be applied only to usage of LarkTide API and have no use outside it.
• Not legal tender or a deposit. Credits are not legal tender and are not a deposit. They earn no interest.
• Non-transferable. Credits are tied to the account that bought them. They cannot be transferred, sold or exchanged between accounts, and any attempt to do so is not permitted.
• No cash-out. Credits cannot be cashed out or redeemed for cash. Money is returned to you only through a refund under this policy.
• No expiry. Credits do not expire (see No expiry).

Purchase limits and the platform fee

Credits are purchased by card. Card payments will be processed by Stripe, our payment processor. Stripe handles your card details, and LarkTide never sees your full card number (see our Privacy Policy). All amounts are in US dollars.

Credit packs and limits

• Credits are sold in packs of $10, $20, $50, $100, $200 and $500.
• The maximum is $500 per purchase.
• The maximum is $1,000 in purchases per account per day, where the day is the calendar day in UTC. For example, two $500 purchases reach the daily limit.
• A purchase that would exceed either limit will be declined.

The 5% platform fee

LarkTide charges a 5% platform fee on credit purchases. The fee is part of the amount you pay, not an extra charge on top of it. The rest of your payment is added to your account as credits. The fee is charged once, when you buy credits. Model usage is charged at each model provider's official list price. Prices exclude taxes where applicable, and the examples on this page do not include taxes. If tax applies to a purchase, how it is treated on a refund follows applicable tax law.

Worked example

You buy a $100 pack. You pay $100. The platform fee is 5% of $100, which is $5, and $95 of credits is added to your balance.

How usage is deducted

Each API request is deducted from your credit balance when it is processed, at the per-token rates published on the pricing page. Rates are set per model for input tokens, cached input tokens and output tokens, plus cache writes where the pricing page lists them. Reasoning ("thinking") tokens are billed as output tokens. Rates follow the model providers' official list prices. If a provider changes its prices, we post the change on the pricing page before it applies. Per-key usage tracking and spending limits will be available to help you monitor how your credits are used.

Illustration

The rates below are illustrative and only show the arithmetic. They are not tied to any particular model. See the pricing page for real rates.

If your balance runs out

Credits are prepaid, so you need a positive balance to keep using the API. A request that is in progress when your balance reaches zero is still charged, and it may leave a small negative balance (a balance slightly below zero). It is deducted from your next purchase: it is offset against the credits that purchase adds. Until you buy more credits, you may not be able to make further requests.

Example: your balance is $0.01 and a request costs $0.04, so your balance becomes -$0.03. You then buy a $10 pack, which adds $9.50 of credits. The $0.03 is deducted and your balance becomes $9.47.

No expiry

Credits do not expire. Credits you have bought stay on your account until you use them, they are refunded under this policy, or your account is closed and the balance is handled as described in Account closure. That credits do not expire does not make them refundable at any time. Refunds are available only as described in this policy.

Refunds

The 7-day refund

You can request a refund of the unused paid credits from a credit purchase if we receive your request within 7 days after that purchase. The time of the purchase is the time recorded in our purchase records. Each purchase is treated separately.

• What is refunded: the paid credits from that purchase that you have not used, calculated from your usage records when we process the request. Usage after you send your request and before we process it counts as used.
• What is not refunded: the 5% platform fee, and credits you have already used.
• Where the money goes: to the original payment method, that is, the card used for the purchase. We cannot refund to a different card, pay by another method, or issue cash.
• Which credits count as used: for this purpose, usage is counted against credits in the order they were added to your account, oldest first. A negative balance that was offset against a purchase (see How usage is deducted) counts as used credits of that purchase.
• Your balance: when a refund is issued, the refunded credits are removed from your balance.
• Currency: refunds are issued in US dollars. Your card issuer may show a different amount in your own currency because of the exchange rate it applies.

After the 7 days have passed, credits from that purchase are no longer eligible for this refund. The refunds described in Account closure and Refunds required by law are separate and are not limited to 7 days.

Worked example

Three days ago you bought a $100 pack, which added $95 of credits. Since then you have used $20 of those credits. You request a refund.

If you had used none of the credits, the refund would be $95.00. The $5.00 fee would still not be refunded.

How to request a refund

1. Email support@larktide.com from the email address on your account, within 7 days after the purchase.
2. State that you are requesting a refund of the unused credits from a specific purchase, and include the purchase date, the purchase amount and your receipt or transaction reference.
3. We may ask for further information to confirm that the request comes from the account holder and to identify the purchase.
4. We will tell you the amount we are refunding and then issue the refund to the original payment method through Stripe.

How long a refund takes

Once we issue a refund, how quickly it appears on your statement depends on your card issuer, and it can take several business days or longer. We do not control your card issuer's timing and cannot promise a specific date. If a refund has not appeared after a reasonable time, please check with your card issuer first, and then contact us at support@larktide.com with your request details. If a refund to the original payment method fails, please contact us at the same address.

Account closure

• You close your account. On request, we refund your remaining paid credit balance to the original payment method.
• We close your account, other than for a violation. If LarkTide closes your account for any reason other than a violation of the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Use Policy, we refund your remaining paid credit balance to the original payment method on request. If LarkTide stops offering LarkTide API, we treat that as closing your account for a reason other than a violation.
• We close your account for a violation. If LarkTide closes your account because of a violation of the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Use Policy, you are not entitled to this account-closure refund. Refunds required by law are still honored.

The 7-day limit does not apply to account-closure refunds. The refund is of your remaining paid credit balance, so the platform fee you paid on earlier purchases and credits you have already used are not part of it. If your balance came from purchases made with different payment methods, we refund each part to the method used for the purchase it came from. To request an account-closure refund, email support@larktide.com from the email address on the account. Promotional credits (see Promotional credits) are not refunded.

Refunds required by law

If applicable law requires us to refund a payment, we will do so. Nothing in this policy limits a refund right that the law gives you and that cannot be waived by agreement.

Chargebacks and disputes

If you have a problem with a charge, please contact us at support@larktide.com before you dispute it with your card issuer. We can often resolve it directly, and a refund you are entitled to under this policy does not require a dispute.

• Account suspension. An account with a disputed payment is suspended until the dispute is resolved. While the account is suspended, use of the API with that account's keys is paused.
• If the payment is reversed. If the disputed payment is returned to you through your card issuer, the credits from that purchase are removed from the account. If some of those credits have already been used, your balance may become negative and is handled as described in How usage is deducted.
• No double recovery. A payment that has been returned through a dispute cannot also be refunded under this policy. Please do not dispute a payment that we have already refunded or agreed to refund.
• Records. We may give Stripe and the card issuer the records we hold about the disputed purchase so that we can respond to the dispute.

Governing law (Wyoming) and limits of liability are set out in the Terms of Service.

Promotional credits

LarkTide may, at its discretion, add credits to an account without payment ("promotional credits"). Promotional credits are identified as promotional when they are added. They have no cash value, cannot be refunded, cannot be transferred, sold or exchanged, and can be used only for LarkTide services. They are not "paid credits" for the purposes of the refunds described on this page.

Changes to this policy

We may change this policy. The current version is always published at larktide.com/refunds with its "Last updated" date. A change applies to credit purchases made on or after the date it takes effect, and it does not reduce the refund rights that already apply to your earlier purchases, except where a change is needed to comply with law.

Contact

For refund requests, billing questions and legal notices, email support@larktide.com. Other ways to reach us are listed on the contact page. Current rates are on the pricing page, and our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your data.