Kaizen #34 - API Credits

Kaizen #34 - API Credits

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series.
We will be discussing an interesting topic this week - API Credits.

In this post, we will cover the following.
1. What are API credits?
2. Add-on credits and pricing details
3. How are the credits deducted?

1. What are API credits?

Zoho CRM consists of different editions to cater to its wide range of customers. Each edition in Zoho CRM has a limit associated with it, called API Credits. The system uses API credits to track API usage. Whenever you make an API call, the system deducts the credits from your account. The credits deduction is based on the type of API Call, the intensiveness of the performance, and the memory usage of the operations involved in the API calls. 

The following table shows the allocation of credits for each edition of Zoho CRM.

Edition

Allowed Credits

Maximum Credits

Free

5000 credits
5000 credits
Standard/Starter
5,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 250) + Add-on credits
100,000 credits
Professional
10,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 500) + Add-on credits
500,000 credits
Enterprise/Zoho One/CRM Plus
15,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 1000) + Add-on credits
1,000,000 credits
Ultimate
15,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 2000) + Add-on credits
Unlimited

The available API credits will be the minimum of the calculated allowed credit limit (above table) and the corresponding edition's maximum credit limit. For example, if the organization is in the Professional Edition and the user licenses are 1000, the total credits would become 510,000. However, the maximum API credit limit will still remain 500,000 (minimum between 500,000 and 510,000).

2. Add-on credits and pricing details

In certain cases, organizations may need extra credits (besides the available credits) to perform more API operations.Zoho CRM offers add-on credits to handle additional credit requirements. If an organization requires more API credits than the allowed limit for its edition, you can contact support@zohocrm.com and purchase extra credits.

The following table gives the pricing details for different credit slabs.
Add-on Credits per 24 hours
Price in $ per 1000 Credits

First 25,000

0.14
Next 75,000
0.06
Next 150,000
0.05
Next 250,000
0.025
Next 500,000
0.012

An illustration on the calculation of price for add-on credits:
Consider that an organization wants to purchase 75,000 add-on credits. For the first 25,000 credits, the price will be $0.14 and for the next 50,000 credits, it will be $0.6, for every 1000 credits, respectively.

Hence, the price for a 24-hour period will be: 
For the first 25,000 credits = (25,000*0.14)/1000  
For the next 50,000 credits = (50,000*0.06)/1000 
Total credits = 3500/1000 + 3000/1000 = $6.5. 
Thus, the price per month will be $6.5*30 = $195

Note:
1. If you want to purchase 100,000 credits, then you will be charged a total of $300 per month ($105 for the first 25000 + $195 for the next 75,000).
2. You can purchase either a maximum of 500,000 extra credits or the difference between your edition's maximum credit limit and your current API limit, whichever is lower.

3. How are the credits deducted?

API credits are deducted based on a 24-hour rolling window from the start of the call.
The 24-hour rolling window starts when you make the first API call. The system frees the API credit used after the 24 hours of each API credit consumption. 

Let us understand it better by an example. Refer to the image below. You can see that the user starts with 5000 credits and exhausts it by 18:00 GMT. Furthermore, by 02:30 GMT the next day, the 500 credits that were used up, get credited to the account. Subsequently, by 06:30 GMT, the next day, 1500 credits will be credited to the account, and so on. This is how the 24-hour rolling window works.



The number of credits deducted depends on the intensity and the memory consumption of the API call. The "intensity" varies with the type of the API. For instance, while a user makes a meta API call, only one credit is consumed from the available credits. However, when the user makes a bulk read or bulk write API call, it will cost around 50 or 500 credits accordingly.

The following table describes the number of credits deducted based on the type of API call.

API Call

Number of Credits Deducted
Get Users/Roles/Profiles
1
Get list of Modules
1
Get Field Meta Data
1
Get Module Meta Data
1
Get IDs of deleted records
2
Get records with cvid parameter
3
Convert Lead
5
Add/Remove Tags to Multiple records
1 credit for every 50 records
Insert/Update/Upsert
1 credit for every 10 records
Bulk Read Initialize

50

Bulk Write Initialize
500
All other APIs
1
So, based on the type of API call a user makes, the associated credit is deducted from the available credits for the CRM edition.

When you exhaust your available credits, the system throws the "TOO MANY REQUESTS" error.
Sample Error Response: 
{
    "code": "TOO_MANY_REQUESTS",
    "details": {},
    "message": "Many requests fired than the allowed limit for the past 24 hours.",
    "status": "error"
}

We hope you found this post useful. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or reach us out at support@zohocrm.com.

Cheers!














    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.







                              Zoho Developer Community




                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts



                                                              • Sticky Posts

                                                              • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

                                                                Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
                                                              • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this
                                                              • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how
                                                              • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

                                                                Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.
                                                              • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

                                                                Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are


                                                              Manage your brands on social media



                                                                    Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                        Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                          Zoho Books Resources


                                                                            Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                              Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                                Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                  Qntrl Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                        Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                          CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                        • Kaizen

                                                                                          Kaizen

                                                                                        • Functions

                                                                                          Functions

                                                                                        • Meetups

                                                                                          Meetups

                                                                                        • Kbase

                                                                                          Kbase

                                                                                        • Resources

                                                                                          Resources

                                                                                        • Digest

                                                                                          Digest

                                                                                        • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        • MVP Corner

                                                                                          MVP Corner









                                                                                            Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                            Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                            Get Started Now


                                                                                              Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                Zoho Writer

                                                                                                Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                  Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                                    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                        ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                • Free Webinar: Zoho Sign for Zoho Projects: Automate tasks and approvals with e-signatures

                                                                                                                  Hi there! Handling multiple projects at once? Zoho Projects is your solution for automated and streamlined project management, and with the Zoho Sign extension, you can sign, send, and manage digital paperwork directly from your project workspace. Join
                                                                                                                • Exported Report File Name

                                                                                                                  Hi, We often export reports for information. It is time consuming to rename all the reports we export on a weekly basis, as when exported their default name is a seemingly random string of numbers. These numbers may be important, I'm not sure, but I am
                                                                                                                • Automatic Refresh on Page?

                                                                                                                  Hi everyone, We use a page as a dashboard which shows data for the laboratory and tasks pending etc. Is there a way to set the page to automatically refresh on a X time? Many thanks TOG
                                                                                                                • How do I edit the Calendar Invite notifications for Interviews in Recruit?

                                                                                                                  I'm setting up the Zoho Recruit Interview Calendar system but there's some notifications I don't have any control over. I've turned off all Workflows and Automations related to the Calendar Scheduling and it seems that it's the notification that is sent
                                                                                                                • Add RTL and Hebrew Support for Candidate Portal (and Other Zoho Recruit Portals)

                                                                                                                  Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to set the Candidate Portal to be Right-to-Left (RTL) and in Hebrew, similar to the existing functionality for the Career Site. Currently, when we set the Career Site
                                                                                                                • App for Mac OS X please!

                                                                                                                  It would be awesome to have a mail app for Mac OS X that included all the cool features such as steams, calendar, tasks, contacts, etc. Most people prefer native apps, rather than running it through a web browser. I know that we can use the IMAP, CalDAV,
                                                                                                                • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                                                                                                  Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                                                                                                • Introducing Workqueue: your all-in-one view to manage daily work

                                                                                                                  Hello all, We’re excited to introduce a major productivity boost to your CRM experience: Workqueue, a dynamic, all-in-one workspace that brings every important sales activity, approval, and follow-up right to your fingertips. What is Workqueue? Sales
                                                                                                                • Default Reminder Time in New Tasks or New Event?

                                                                                                                  Any way to change this from 1:00am? Thanks, Gary Moderation Update (February 2026): With the Calendar preferences, the default reminder time for Meetings, Appointments and All-Day Meetings can be set. Read more: Calendar preferences in Zoho CRM Regarding
                                                                                                                • Dynamic Field Folders in OneDrive

                                                                                                                  Hi, With the 2 options today we have either a Dynamic Parent Folder and lots of attachments all in that one folder with only the ability to set the file name (Which is also not incremented so if I upload 5 photos to one field they are all named the same
                                                                                                                • Right Shift key not sending to Zoho Assist environments

                                                                                                                  I'm unable to use Right Shift key in Zoho environments. Zoho environments are Win10. Computer I access from is Win 11. Issue started when I changed to Win 11. Have tried: - Multiple browsers - web client AND desktop client - 3rd party mapping tools to
                                                                                                                • Unable to Filter Retail Sales Orders & Need Paid/Unpaid Filter – Zoho Books

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Team, Recently you introduced Retail – Standard and Retail – Premium templates for Sales Orders. However, in the Sales Order module we still cannot filter or segregate Retail Sales Orders separately from normal B2B sales orders. Because of this,
                                                                                                                • About Meetings (Events module)

                                                                                                                  I was working on an automation to cancel appointments in zoho flow , and in our case, we're using the Meetings module (which is called Events in API terms). But while working with it, I'm wondering what information I can display in the image where the
                                                                                                                • PDF Annotation is here - Mark Up PDFs Your Way!

                                                                                                                  Reviewing PDFs just got a whole lot easier. You can now annotate PDFs directly in Zoho Notebook. Highlight important sections, add text, insert images, apply watermarks, and mark up documents in detail without leaving your notes. No app switching. No
                                                                                                                • Ability to assign Invoice Ownership through Deluge in FSM

                                                                                                                  Hi, As part of our process, when a service appointment is completed, we automated the creation of the invoice based on a specific business logic using Deluge. When we do that, the "Owner" of the invoice in Zoho FSM is defaulted to the SuperAdmin. This
                                                                                                                • How do you do ticket add ons in Backstage?

                                                                                                                  Hi Everyone, If you wanted to have general admin tickets and allow for add ons, like camping, or car or Carbon offset. What would you do? Peace Robin
                                                                                                                • From Zoho CRM to Paper : Design & Print Data Directly using Canvas Print View

                                                                                                                  Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce a new addition to your Canvas in Zoho CRM - Print View. Canvas print view helps you transform your custom CRM layouts into print-ready documents, so you can bring your digital data to the physical world with
                                                                                                                • validation rules doesn't work in Blueprint when it is validated using function?

                                                                                                                  I have tried to create a validation rule in the deal module. it works if I try to create a deal manually or if I try to update the empty field inside a deal. but when I try to update the field via the blueprint mandatory field, it seems the validation
                                                                                                                • Pull cells from one sheet onto another

                                                                                                                  Hello all! I have created an ingredients database where i have pricing and information and i want to pull from that database into a recipe calculator. I want it to pull based on what ingredient I choose. The ingredients database has an idea and i want
                                                                                                                • Emails Failing with “Relaying Issues – Mail Sending Blocked” in ZeptoMail

                                                                                                                  Hello ZeptoMail Support Team, We are facing an email delivery issue in our ZeptoMail account where emails are failing with the status “Process failed” and the reason “Relaying issues – Mail sending blocked.” Issue Details Agent Name: mail_agent_iwwa From
                                                                                                                • How does Zoho handle support operations for our EU users?

                                                                                                                  Dear Zoho users, We have some news and reminders about how we handle support operations for Zoho users in the EU Data Center. This is part of our broader commitment to ensuring GDPR compliance and providing secure data handling for all users. We'd like
                                                                                                                • Layout Adjustment.

                                                                                                                  Hello Latha, Hope you are doing well. I wanted to check with you about adjusting the layout columns in the Service Report from the backend, as currently there is no capability for us to customize the layout from our end. Below is the output that I am
                                                                                                                • Anyone in Australia using Zoho Books AND has their account with NAB?

                                                                                                                  Hi I have an account with both NAB and Suncorp. Suncorp transaction come in the next day however NAB transactions take 4-5 business days to appear. eg: A deposit made today in my Suncorp will be imported into Zoho tomorrow. A deposit made today to the NAB account will be imported maybe Saturday (Friday overnight). I have contacted both Zoho and NAB but noone seems to know why. I was just wondering if anyone else in Australia uses NAB and has this issue (or doesn't) maybe we could compare notes and
                                                                                                                • Zoho Often Lag

                                                                                                                  Desk Team, We've noticed that Desk, Creator & other apps seems to lag more these days. We often refresh multiple times.
                                                                                                                • Offer already made- but I withdrew it

                                                                                                                  I made an offer letter, but made a mistake on it. I withdrew the offer but now I can't recreate the correct offer. Zoho keeps saying that "A same offer has already been made". I look in the "offers" and there are NO offers (this is the first time I've
                                                                                                                • Importing into the 'file upload' field

                                                                                                                  Can you import attachments into the file upload field. I would expect it to work the same way as attachments do, But can't seem to get it to work. Moderation Update: The option to import into File Upload and Image Upload fields has been supported. Read
                                                                                                                • Layout Rules Don't Apply To Blueprints

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho the conditional layout rules for fields and making fields required don't work well with with Blueprints if those same fields are called DURING a Blueprint. Example. I have field A that is used in layout rule. If value of field A is "1" it is supposed to show and make required field B. If the value to field A is "2" it is supposed to show and make required field C. Now I have a Blueprint that says when last stage moves to "Closed," during the transition, the agent must fill out field A. Now
                                                                                                                • Why is the ability Customize Calls module so limited?

                                                                                                                  Why can't I add additional sections? why can't I add other field types than the very limited subset that zoho allows? Why can I only add fields to the outbound/inbound call sections and not to the Call Information section?
                                                                                                                • Zoho Desk blank screen

                                                                                                                  opened a ticket from my email, zoho desk comes up blank, nothing loads. our receptionist also gets the same thing under her login on her computer. our sales rep also gets same thing on zoho desk at his home on a different computer. I tried clearing cache/history/cookies,
                                                                                                                • Optimum CRM setup for new B2B business

                                                                                                                  Can some advise the most common way to setup Zoho CRM to handle sales for a B2B company? Specifically in how to handle inbound/outbound emails. I have spent hours researching online and can't seem to find an accepted approach, or even a tutorial. I have
                                                                                                                • filter on sheets mobile (iOS, iPadOS) does not work

                                                                                                                  I have this issue on every spreadsheet, whether imported or created natively in Zoho Sheets. I can use on desktop without issue: desktop screenshot on iOS the filter dropdowns are not there and there is no way to add them mobile iPadOS looks the same
                                                                                                                • 【Zoho CRM】商談タブへのデータインポート

                                                                                                                  Zoho使用前にエクセルで管理していた商談情報を、Zoho一括管理のため、商談タブにインポートしたいのですが、お客さまの氏名だけが紐づけられませんでした。 「Zoho CRMにインポートする項目を関連付ける」のところが画像のようになっています。 (弊社では、「姓」を「★個人データ名」という項目名に変更し、フルネームを入れて使用しています。) どのようにしたら氏名をインポートできるかご存じの方がいらっしゃいましたら、ご教示いただきたく、よろしくお願いいたします。 (投稿先が間違っていましたらご指
                                                                                                                • Canva Integration

                                                                                                                  Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,
                                                                                                                • Can't edit Segments

                                                                                                                  Happening with 2 different Zoho One environments, in different browsers. Please fix.
                                                                                                                • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

                                                                                                                  Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?
                                                                                                                • Transfer ownership of files and folders in My Folders

                                                                                                                  People work together as a team to achieve organizational goals and objectives. In an organization, there may be situations when someone leaves unexpectedly or is no longer available. This can put their team in a difficult position, especially if there
                                                                                                                • Consumer Financing

                                                                                                                  Does Zoho currently have a payment gateway (such as Stripe, Square, etc) which offers financing for customers? So, let's say the estimate we give the customer is greater than what they can afford at the time, but we can sell the service now, letting them
                                                                                                                • Subform edits don't appear in parent record timeline?

                                                                                                                  Is it possible to have subform edits (like add row/delete row) appear in the Timeline for parent records? A user can edit a record, only edit the subform, and it doesn't appear in the timeline. Is there a workaround or way that we can show when a user
                                                                                                                • Zoho CRM - Option to create Follow-Up Task

                                                                                                                  When completing a Zoho CRM Task, it would be very helpful if there was an option to "Complete and Create Follow-Up Task" in the pop-up which appears. It could clone the task you are closing and then show it on the screen in edit mode, all the user would
                                                                                                                • Deluge function to copy parent record file upload field to child record file upload field

                                                                                                                  I'm stuck trying to write a deluge function that is triggered via automation in child record "Appointments," confirms if a file is in file upload "Report" field of parent "Contacts" record via Contacts lookup field "Contact_Name". If no file is in parent
                                                                                                                • Next Page