We built GitLab Credits because seat-based pricing for agentic AI was not making sense.Seat-based pricing creates AI “haves" and "have-nots” for engineering teams, a fundamental misalignment with the way that modern agentic AI should be used across the software development lifecycle. Today, you have to buy a seat for every individual before they can start using AI. While this works for the few heavy users, it can be too expensive and unfair for the majority of the team with light or spiky usage. That's why in many organizations, only a portion of the team gets to have an “AI seat."Add to that, GitLab Duo Agent Platform is different from Duo Pro, Duo Enterprise, and other AI developer tools in the market. Agents and agentic workflows can be invoked by your team when they need AI assistance and triggered by SDLC events running in the background. With Duo Agent Platform, agentic AI is no longer only tied to user seats.GitLab Credits addresses these issues as our new virtual currency for usage-based pricing, starting with GitLab Duo Agent Platform. That means, every member in your organization with a GitLab account (Premium or Ultimate) can now use agentic AI capabilities without you paying for an AI seat, whether invoked by them or set up as background agents.How GitLab Credits workGitLab Credits are pooled across your entire organization. Your GitLab Duo Agent Platform usage is drawn down from GitLab Credits. That includes both synchronous and asynchronous use of agents and agentic flows. This includes:Foundational agents such as Security Analyst, Planner, and Data AnalystFoundational flows such as Code Review, Developer, and Fix CI/CD PipelineExternal agents such as Anthropic Claude Code and OpenAI CodexCustom agents and flows you build and publish in your GitLab AI CatalogAgentic Chat in the GitLab UI and in the IDE used by your developersNote: External agents are available to try at no cost in 18.8 and do not consume GitLab Credits. We will be introducing pricing next month with our 18.9 release. Custom flows are currently in beta and do not consume GitLab Credits.The amount of credits drawn down is based on the number of agentic requests by large language models (more details here). As more LLMs become available, we will certify them for use with GitLab Duo Agent Platform and add to this list, providing customers with a transparent view of how they are consumed.The total count of GitLab Credits is calculated at the end of the month based on actual usage. This model also automatically offsets usage from power users against that of lighter users, effectively lowering your total cost of AI for every individual (as compared to paying per seat for every individual).For simplicity, each GitLab Credit has an on-demand list price of $1. You can use GitLab Duo Agent Platform without any commitments and usage is billed monthly (at the end of each month). For enterprise customers that sign up for annual commitments, we offer volume discounts for monthly credits.As a limited-time promotion*, all GitLab customers that have active Premium and Ultimate subscriptions will automatically receive $12 and $24 in included credits per user, respectively. These credits will refresh every month until the end of the promotion period and give your team access to all GitLab Duo Agent Platform features at no extra cost. When you accept our billing terms, any usage above these included credits will be billed through committed monthly credits or on-demand credits.Cost governance with GitLab CreditsSizing GitLab Credits: Your account team has a sizing calculator as part of the GA of GitLab Duo Agent Platform to estimate the number of GitLab Credits you’ll need every month. This calculator was built with usage patterns we’ve observed during the beta period. In addition, as an existing or a new customer, you can request a free trial to confirm your estimated actual usage.Usage visibility: With the 18.8 release, you have detailed usage information through two complementary dashboards — one in the GitLab Customers Portal for billing managers focused on financial oversight, and one in-product for administrators focused on operational monitoring. Both provide attribution of usage, cost breakdowns, and historical trends so you always know exactly how your credits are being consumed. If you follow a cross-charging practice internally, you’ll be able to use project- and group-level rollups for cost allocations.Usage controls: You can enable or disable GitLab Duo Agent Platform access for specific teams or projects, ensuring only approved usage can tally up to your credits. We also plan to add user-level controls shortly after GA to help you manage who can use GitLab Duo Agent Platform capabilities and draw-down credits.Automated usage notifications: We’ll proactively keep you informed about your GitLab Credit usage via email alerts when you reach 50%, 80%, and 100% of your committed monthly credits, giving you time to adjust usage, purchase additional commitments, or plan for on-demand billing.Upgrading from seat-based GitLab Duo Pro/Enterprise to GitLab Credits for Duo Agent PlatformIf you’ve purchased and are using GitLab Duo Pro and Duo Enterprise, you can keep using those capabilities as supported options. You can upgrade to GitLab Duo Agent Platform at any time and do what you can with “classic” Duo and access new capabilities such as agentic chat, additional foundational agents, custom agents and flows, external agents, and more.At the time of upgrade, we will roll forward your investment in seats for GitLab Duo Pro and Duo Enterprise to GitLab Credits for Duo Agent Platform. The remaining dollar amount of seat commitments will be exchanged for monthly GitLab Credits with volume-based discounts. The monthly GitLab Credits can then be shared across every team member in your organization you allow, not just the users who had assigned Duo seats before.Competitive comparison: GitLab Credits vs. seat-based pricingBenefitGitLab CreditsSeat-based pricingAI for everyoneEvery approved team member gets AI access from day oneCreates AI "haves" and "have-nots" — forces seat rationingNo upfront InvestmentStart small with included credits, increase commitment as ROI becomes clearMust purchase seats upfront before proving valuePay for what you useOnly the AI work actually performed above included tier is billedPay per seat regardless of actual usageOptimized spendShared credit pool allows you to offset power users with light usersMust pay for light users, overages for premium requests from power usersDetailed visibilityUsage dashboards with detailed attribution and historical trendsLimited insight into which users drive valueGranular cost controlsChoose who can access, proactive alerts, and upcoming budget controls to limitLimit who gets a seat to control costsSizing flexibilityCalculator to estimate monthly credits, with more unit discounts with volumeCount who gets a seat multiplied by price per seatSimplified contracts and billingSingle SKU and bill covers all agentic capabilities across the DevSecOps lifecycleMultiple AI licenses required across different third-party toolsGetting startedFor existing Premium/Ultimate customers: With GA, GitLab Duo Agent Platform will be available for customers with active Premium and Ultimate licenses**. GitLab.com SaaS customers will gain access automatically. GitLab Self-Managed customers will gain access when they upgrade to the GitLab 18.8 release (with the planned Duo Agent Platform general availability). GitLab Dedicated customers will be upgraded to GitLab 18.8 during their scheduled maintenance window in February and will be able to use Duo Agent Platform from that point.Enable GitLab Duo: Ensure GitLab Duo Agent Platform is enabled in your namespace settings.Start exploring: Use your included monthly GitLab Credits to try GitLab Duo Agent Platform capabilities.Go beyond included credits: You will be able to opt-in to GitLab Credits for expanded usage beyond included credits at the on-demand list price. For volume discounts with commitment, please contact us to get a quote for your specific usage level.Visit our GitLab Duo Agent Platform documentation to learn more about getting started.Notes* These included promotional credits are available for a limited time at GA, and subject to change at GitLab’s discretion.** Excludes GitLab Duo with Amazon Q and GitLab Dedicated for Government customers.To learn more about GitLab Duo Agent Platform and all the ways agentic AI can transform how your team works, visit our GitLab Duo Agent Platform page. If you are an existing GitLab customer, reach out to your GitLab account manager or partner to schedule a live demonstration of our platform capabilities.GitLab Credits FAQ1. What are GitLab Credits and why did GitLab introduce them?GitLab Credits is a new virtual currency for usage-based GitLab capabilities, starting with GitLab Duo Agent Platform. GitLab introduced this model because seat-based pricing was forcing organizations to ration AI access within engineering teams, and Duo Agent Platform usage is not just tied to seats. Credits are pooled across your entire organization, allowing you to give every team member access to AI capabilities, or set up background agentic workflows, without requiring individual seat purchases upfront.2. How does credit consumption work?Credits are drawn down based on the number of agentic requests made, with different rates depending on which LLM is used. For example, you get two model requests per credit for Claude-sonnet-4.5 (the default for most features), and 20 requests per credit for models like gpt-5-mini or claude-3-haiku.3. What's included for existing Premium and Ultimate customers?As a limited-time promotion, customers with active Premium and Ultimate subscriptions automatically receive included credits free of charge alongside the GA release of Duo Agent Platform in GitLab 18.8:$12 in credits per user per month for Premium$24 in credits per user per month for UltimateIncluded credits are at a per-user level, refresh monthly, and enable access to all GitLab Duo Agent Platform features at no extra cost. Usage above these included credits will be billed separately. These included promotional credits are available for a limited time after GA, and subject to change at GitLab’s discretion.4. How can I control and monitor credit usage?GitLab provides multiple governance tools: detailed usage dashboards in both the Customers Portal and in-product, the ability to enable/disable access for specific teams or projects, upcoming user-level controls, and automated email alerts at 50%, 80%, and 100% of committed monthly credits. We also expect to offer a sizing calculator to estimate your monthly credit needs.5. How do I get started with GitLab Duo Agent Platform?Once GA, for existing Premium/Ultimate customers, access is automatic on GitLab.com SaaS. Self-Managed customers gain access when upgrading to GitLab 18.8 with the planned Duo Agent Platform general availability. Simply enable GitLab Duo Agent Platform in your namespace settings and start exploring using your included monthly credits. For usage beyond included credits, you can opt-in to on-demand billing or contact GitLab for volume discounts with annual commitments.This blog post contains "forward‑looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially. Further information on these risks and other factors is included under the caption "Risk Factors" in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements after the date of this blog post, except as required by law.