How NovelAI Anlas Work: Everything About the Credit System

Anlas are NovelAI's image generation credits, and once you understand the cost formula, managing your budget becomes much easier. The system is more transparent than most - you can calculate costs precisely before generating. ## What Anlas Cost to Generate Images Anlas cost scales with three factors: **Resolution** - This is the biggest driver. Standard 512x512 images cost around 3 Anlas. 768x768 costs more. High-resolution outputs like 1024x1024 can cost 12-16 Anlas per image. **Sampling steps** - More steps produce higher quality images but cost proportionally more Anlas. The default step count (28-32) is a reasonable balance. Dropping to 20 steps saves Anlas with modest quality reduction. **Image count** - Generating multiple images in one batch multiplies the cost directly. ## Free vs Paid Anlas NovelAI's paid tiers include a monthly Anlas allowance: - Tablet tier: 1,000 Anlas/month - Scroll tier: 1,000 Anlas/month - Opus tier: 10,000 Anlas/month Text generation is unlimited on all paid tiers. Image generation uses your Anlas pool. You can purchase additional Anlas when you run out without upgrading your tier. ## Making Anlas Last 1. **Default to 512x512 for experimentation** - Use standard resolution while developing your prompt, then upscale to high resolution only for final images 2. **Reduce steps to 20-24** - Quality difference from 28 to 20 steps is minor for most prompts 3. **Enable img2img for variations** - Image-to-image from a good base image costs fewer Anlas than starting fresh 4. **Use the Opus tier for image-heavy use** - The 10x Anlas multiplier makes it the only tier worth having if image generation is your primary use Anlas don't expire as long as your subscription is active.