Capped AI cost: how credit pools keep an exchange's bill predictable
Every question a trader asks Hippo costs credits, based on how much work the AI did. Each exchange’s plan includes a monthly credit pool shared by its traders, and free traders also have a small personal cap. The exchange sees the pool and its heaviest users in its portal, and traders see a small credit meter in the chat. AI cost is capped and visible.
The first question a finance team asks about an AI feature is what it will cost when usage grows. Credits are how Hippo answers it.
Why meter AI usage at all?
AI cost is not flat. A simple price lookup is cheap. A research question that pulls several data sources, reasons across them and writes a long answer costs many times more. Pricing that ignores the difference either overcharges light users or leaves the exchange exposed to a few heavy ones.
Credits tie cost to work. The exchange pays for a pool; traders draw on it; the pool has a ceiling.
How does a question use credits?
Each answer is metered by how long the AI worked on it.
| Question type (illustrative) | Relative credit cost |
|---|---|
| “What’s the price of BTC?” | Low |
| “Explain funding rates” | Low to medium |
| “Why is ETH down today, and how does that affect my position?” | Higher |
Hippo also caches common answers, which keeps its own cost of serving them down. The research card format is covered in how Hippo answers a trading question.
How do the limits work?
Two limits stack.
- The exchange’s monthly pool. Each plan includes a credit pool for all of the exchange’s traders, refilled monthly.
- A personal cap for free traders. Each free trader also has a small monthly allowance of their own, so no single free user can drain the shared pool.
When the pool runs out, new questions pause until it refills next month or the exchange moves to a larger plan. The bill does not grow past the plan. That is the trade-off, stated plainly: predictability over unlimited use.
What does each side see?
| Who | What they see |
|---|---|
| Trader | A small credit meter in the chat header |
| Exchange | The pool, how much is used, and the top users, in the partner portal |
Showing traders their own meter matters. A visible limit is a fair limit; one that appears only when it is hit feels like a fault.
How do plans fit in?
Exchanges choose a plan sized to their traders. Each plan sets the number of monthly active users and the size of the credit pool, and switches on extra features where the plan includes them. Pricing comes from the current price sheet, which we share in pilot conversations rather than publish.
What about traders who want more?
Heavy users can upgrade to Trader Pro, a paid plan with a larger personal allowance. The exchange sells it through its own checkout, a step the exchange adds on its side, and keeps an agreed share of each month’s revenue. That turns the most engaged traders into a revenue line rather than a cost.
What this means for the exchange
Three things a finance team can rely on:
- A ceiling. AI cost cannot exceed the plan.
- Visibility. Usage is visible in the portal at any time, not only on the invoice.
- Control. The exchange chooses the plan, and can move up when usage justifies it.
For how to measure whether that spend pays back, see measuring an AI agent’s impact. For the wider build-or-buy cost picture, see build vs buy.
If you run product or finance at an exchange or broker, askthehippo.com has more on how a pilot works.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Hippo credit?
The unit Hippo uses to meter AI work. A quick lookup costs few credits; a multi-step research question costs more, because the AI does more work to answer it.
What happens when an exchange's pool runs out?
New questions pause until the pool refills at the start of the next month, or until the exchange moves to a plan with a larger pool. The bill does not grow past the plan.
Can one heavy user use up the whole pool?
Free traders have a small personal monthly cap on top of the shared pool, which limits how much any one free trader can draw. The exchange can also see its top users in the portal.
Where can the exchange see usage?
In the partner portal, which shows the pool, how much has been used and the heaviest users. Traders see their own credit meter in the chat header.
Hippo provides information, not investment advice.
