How credits work in AuthorLens
Credits are only for researching other authors' books and the Amazon market. Everything about your own books is free and unlimited.
Your own books — always free
Dashboard, profit and loss, ad syncs, organic sales, keyword rankings, Ad Coach, the morning Telegram report — not a single credit.
How many credits the plan includes
credits every month
Added on the 1st of every month.
bought and gifted credits never expire
They stay on your balance until you use them.
monthly first, then the rest
Monthly credits are spent first, bought and gifted credits after that.
What 200 credits get you
a full check of one niche
An Amazon search, 5 leading books, 3 keywords, the reviews of 2 books and Opportunities.
one competitor on Watch for a month
Daily price, BSR and reviews for a month, one edition.
niche checks a month, plus 2 competitors on Watch
2 competitors on Watch (60) and 11 full niche checks (132), with 8 credits still left.
What costs a credit
| What you do | Credits |
|---|---|
| Opening another author's book or an author's pageOpening the same one again within a day is free | 1 |
| Finding the competitors of one of your booksThe same book again within 6 hours is free | 1 |
| Searching books or a keyword on AmazonOne search is one credit, however many rows it shows; the same search within 6 hours is free | 1 |
| Another book's reviewsIf we hold no reviews for it yet, nothing is charged | 1 |
| Opening Opportunities or DiscoverEach time you open them | 1 |
| A competitor's book on WatchKindle and paperback count separately | 1 / day |
| A Claude or ChatGPT question that needs the Amazon marketOne credit per call, even when it finds nothing | 1 |
| Compare (up to 4 books)It reads books already on your shelf | 0 |
| Everything about your own booksIncluding questions to Claude or ChatGPT about your own numbers | 0 |
Every charge is listed on the Credits screen: what it was for and when.
Watch: a daily check on a competitor
AuthorLens checks every watched book once a day: price, BSR, rating, reviews. Each check is 1 credit a day, about 30 a month. Each edition is its own product on Amazon, so the Kindle and paperback of one title are checked and charged separately. On Amazon.com, Watch picks the paperback, the edition print buyers compare, and asks before you add a second edition.
Watch your main competitors and only the edition you need, and 200 credits cover both watching and researching new niches. You can watch up to 25 books at a time; the monthly credits cover about 6 of them, the rest run on bought credits.
How to stop watching a book
- Research
- Books
- Watching
- open the book and press “Watching”
Daily charges for that book stop right away, and the history collected so far is kept.
Will 200 credits be enough
Filled in with a typical month for one author. Change it to yours.
55credits a month
Fits into the monthly 200, with about 145 to spare.
If you run short
Top up any time on the Credits screen. Bought credits never expire.
Questions
What happens when I run out?
Everything about your own books keeps working: profit, ads, organic, reports. New research into other books, and adding books to Watch, pause until the 1st or a top-up. Books you already watch keep being checked every day: we stop you adding books, not watching the ones you have.
Why do Kindle and paperback count separately?
On Amazon they are different products with their own BSR, price and reviews. AuthorLens checks each edition, so each costs a credit.
Do credits go when I ask Claude or ChatGPT about my own numbers?
No. Questions about your own books and ads are free. A credit is spent only when the assistant needs Amazon market data: one per call, even when it finds nothing.
I found a bug. Do I get credits?
Yes. Send a screenshot and a few words to @authorlensbot. If we confirm the bug, we gift you credits: 25 for something small, 50 for a noticeable bug, 100 for a serious one (wrong numbers, data won't load). Gifted credits never expire.
Where do I see how many credits are left?
On the Credits screen: what's left, how much of the monthly 200 is used, and every charge with what it was for. The monthly credits reset on the 1st.
See what 200 credits get you: find competitors, check a niche, watch the ones that matter.
How we estimate another book's sales and royalty — a separate page and the BSR calculator.