How can I use fewer AI assistant credits when building things?
Every message and round trip with the AI assistant uses credits, and a longer back and forth costs more, so the biggest saving is less back and forth. Put all your requirements, your full plan, in the first message instead of asking for one change at a time (make this button red, then change that word). A very short prompt makes the AI assume things, which then forces more edits that you pay for. If you only say create an AI receptionist for a dental office, the assistant makes its own assumptions: it may not book or cancel appointments, send confirmations, or use the colors and layout you like. Describe the steps, appointments, emails, colors and layout up front. The more detail you give, the closer the first result is to what you want. A quick way to give detail is to click the dictation (microphone) button in the assistant and talk through what you want.
A useful habit is to plan first in a chat with no tools:
- In the model picker, choose a model that has no tools, such as Google Gemini.
- Talk through the plan and requirements until you have a plan document.
- Start a new chat in agent mode, which is connected to the platform tools, and say build this according to my plan.
This works for agents, apps and websites.
Start a new chat for every task or thing you build. A new chat has no history, and the less history a chat has, the fewer credits each message costs. It also keeps the AI on track.
For small tweaks, such as changing a logo or some text on a website, use the built-in website builder, which does not need the AI. The drag and drop tools, such as the website builder and the workflow builder, work without AI credits. The assistant is simply faster, because it builds from a description in minutes.
Pick the right mode. Faster uses fewer credits than Medium, and Smarter uses more. Faster is fine for basic tasks and for logic such as automations, but use Medium or higher for websites and other creative work.
If you would rather not spend Votel AI assistant credits at all, connect your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription (or another AI client) to Votel through the built-in MCP server, under Settings, then API / MCP. Work you do through your own AI uses your own subscription instead of AI assistant credits, with the same platform tools. Other usage, such as text messages or AI media, is still billed as normal.