AI monetisation

How to monetise AI features

There are two clean ways to charge for AI: sell credits that your tools spend, or gate premium tools behind a paid plan. Most apps use both. Stripe handles the money end to end into your own account, and access or credits are granted on the signed payment webhook, never a redirect.

See payments & access How credits work

01 / TWO MODELS

Usage or access. Often both.

Pick the model that matches where your value sits. If cost tracks how much someone uses the AI, charge for usage with credits so heavy users pay more. If the value is simply having the feature, charge for access with a plan. A common shape is a paid tier that includes a monthly credit allowance, which is both at once.

Sell credits

Price each AI tool in credits and sell packs. Usage-based, so a customer pays in proportion to what they run. Best for expensive or variable AI calls.

Gate a plan

Put premium tools behind an entitlement and sell a subscription that grants it. Access-based, predictable revenue. Best when the feature itself is the upgrade.

02 / SELLING CREDITS

Packs the customer buys.

Give each AI tool a credit price, then let customers buy packs. Every call spends from their balance, and the purchase is a normal Stripe payment.

Buy a credit packJavaScript

await g.payments.buy("credits-500");        // a configured product
const { balance } = await g.credits.balance();

Credits sit on a grant, and credit packs never expire. See how charging credits works.

03 / GATING A PLAN

Premium tools behind a subscription.

Require an entitlement on your premium AI tools, then sell a plan that grants it. The customer subscribes through Stripe, and their plan gates what they can run.

Subscribe, then gate on the planJavaScript

await g.subscriptions.checkout("pro");                 // start checkout
const sub = await g.subscriptions.mine();             // { plan, status } or null
// A tool that requires "access:pro" runs only when the plan grants it.

04 / HOW THE MONEY FLOWS

Stripe end to end. Access on the webhook.

Gemmein never holds, moves, or processes money. Payments run through Stripe into your own account, and Gemmein only records who is on which plan. Crucially, access and credits are granted when Stripe's signed webhook arrives, not when the browser returns from checkout.

This is the detail AI-written checkout code usually gets wrong: granting access on the success redirect, which anyone can forge. Gate fulfilment on the signed webhook, the record Stripe signs, and access lands only on a real payment. In Gemmein that path is built in.

05 / FOR YOUR CODING AGENT

Give your agent the full task.

Building with Cursor, Claude, Bolt, or Lovable? Paste this so your agent wires the money side correctly.

Prompt for your coding agentCopy and paste

Read https://docs.gemmein.com/llms.txt. I want to monetise the AI features in my app. Show me both models: selling credit packs that AI tools spend (g.payments.buy, g.credits.balance) and gating premium tools behind a paid plan (g.subscriptions.checkout, g.subscriptions.mine, requiring an entitlement). Explain that Stripe handles the money into my own account and access is granted on the signed payment webhook, not the redirect.

npx gemmein devRead the getting-started guide

06 / FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Credits or a subscription: which should I use?

Use credits when cost tracks usage, such as expensive AI calls, so heavy users pay more. Use a subscription when access is the value, such as a Pro tier. Many apps combine them: a plan that includes a monthly credit allowance.

Do credits expire?

Credits sit on a grant, such as a credit pack. Credit packs never expire.

Does Gemmein take a cut of payments?

No. Gemmein never holds, moves, or processes money. Stripe handles all payments end to end and the money goes to your own Stripe account; Gemmein only records who is on which plan from Stripe's webhook.

When is access actually granted?

On the signed payment webhook, not the checkout redirect. A redirect can be faked; the webhook is the record Stripe signs, so access and credits only land on a real payment.

07 / RELATED

See if Gemmein fits your app.

Point your coding agent at docs.gemmein.com/llms.txt and ask it to confirm the fit before it builds.

Read the builder guide