Guide 06 · Getting Started · 5 min read

How Credits Work: Earn 2, Spend 1

Credits keep the exchange fair. You give real attention to other members' websites, earn credits for verified views, then spend those credits when members visit yours. No credit is created by merely opening a tab and walking away.

The basic ratio

That means one verified surf can fund two future visits to your own site. Ten good surfs earn 20 credits, which can send 20 verified visitors. The ratio rewards participation without pretending attention is unlimited.

Your first 50 credits

A new free account starts with 50 starter credits. Assign them to a site from your dashboard and visitors can begin arriving before you have surfed. Use the first batch to test whether your page loads correctly, whether delivery receipts match your analytics and whether strangers understand your headline.

Do not judge a page by the first handful of visits alone. Look at dwell patterns, countries, devices and whether anyone takes a second step. Our seven-day first-visitors plan shows how to use the evidence.

What counts as a verified surf?

The view must survive the timer and pass human checks involving behaviour, response timing, tab visibility and server-measured dwell. A correct challenge answer by itself is not enough; automation can answer questions while still moving and responding like a machine. Failed or suspicious views earn nothing.

For the detailed trust checklist, read Real vs Bot Traffic: 7 Checks.

Assigning credits to your sites

Free members can list up to 15 sites. Each site can have its own assigned credits, target country and daily cap. That lets you send a small, controlled test to a new landing page while keeping an established site on a slower, steadier flow.

• Assigned credits: the balance reserved for that website.
• Daily cap: the maximum delivery you want in a day.
• Country targeting: worldwide reach or a specific market where geography matters.
• Health checks: broken or unresponsive sites can be paused so members do not waste attention and you do not waste credits.

A worked example

Suppose you join today and receive 50 starter credits. You assign all 50 to one new article. Over the next two days you also complete ten verified surfs during tea breaks, earning 20 more credits. Your total potential delivery is now 70 verified visitors, minus whatever your daily cap allows each day.

If those visitors reveal that mobile readers cannot see your main button, the credits bought more than traffic: they bought a diagnosis before advertising money entered the room.

What credits are not

Credits are not money. They cannot be cashed out, traded as currency or treated as a wallet balance. They buy reach inside this exchange and nowhere else. Saying that plainly avoids the confusion created by platforms that blur rewards, tokens and cash into one suspicious soup.

Credits also do not buy rankings. They buy verified human attention. Rankings are earned through useful pages and legitimate links, as explained in our honest SEO guide.

How to spend your first credits well

1. Send the first batch to one clear page, not your entire site at random.
2. Use a daily cap so the evidence arrives at a readable pace.
3. Compare delivery receipts with your analytics.
4. Fix one obvious friction point.
5. Surf consistently instead of trying to game the timer.

Related guides: What Is a Traffic Exchange? · Your First 100 Visitors · Free Website Traffic · All guides