Every AI action in Pergamon, from uploading an AI resource to generating a complete document, consumes Pergami tokens. Understanding how tokens work helps you plan your usage, anticipate costs before they are charged, and get the most from your subscription. This article explains what Pergami tokens are, how each action is priced, when charges are applied, and how to manage your balance.
What is a Pergami token?
A Pergami token is the unit that measures AI consumption in Pergamon. Each action has a fixed token cost, so you always know what an operation costs before it runs. Rather than exposing variable compute costs, Pergamon maps every AI action to a predictable token value.
Your token balance is shared across your workspace and replenishes at the start of each billing cycle. You can check your balance at any time from the token indicator in the upper right of any page.
You can also view your token balance from Avatar (top right) > Workspace settings → My tokens → Pergami Tokens.
Pergami tokens replaced the legacy two-token system — Pergami Tokens and Manual Creation Tokens with a single unified balance. If you were on Pergamon before this change, see Migrating from the legacy token system for details on what happened to your existing balance.
How tokens are consumed
When are tokens charged?
Creating a document in Pergamon involves AI token charges at various stages of the workflow. Each charge corresponds to a specific AI action, and the cost varies depending on the action performed. Before any tokens are deducted, Pergamon shows you a confirmation modal with the exact cost broken down by component and your current balance. No tokens are deducted until you confirm.
Create Publication is a separate action from document creation and carries no token cost. Toggling it on or off at the document creation stage does not affect the charge shown in the confirmation modal.
Token costs at a glance
Every AI action in Pergamon has a fixed token cost:
| Action | Unit | Tokens |
|---|---|---|
| AI Assembly | Per document | 4 × Blueprint Level |
| Document creation (via Blueprint) | Per document | 400 × Blueprint Level |
| AI Writing Assistant prompt | Per prompt | 1 |
| AI resources upload | ||
| Image | Per file | 1 |
| Text or PDF | Per file | 2 |
| Audio | Per file | 2 |
| Video | Per file | 3 |
| Translation | Per 100 words | 1 |
Assembly and Blueprint costs are flat charges per document. They do not vary based on content length or the number of questions answered. All other token charges round up to the nearest whole token. For example, a 250-word translation costs 3 tokens, not 2.5.
Document creation cost model
The total token cost to create a document using AI assembly is the sum of every AI action performed across the end-to-end workflow. Each component is metered independently. The five components that contribute to the total are:
- Blueprint
- AI Assembly
- AI resources
- AI Writing Assistant prompts
- Translation
Blueprint
When you select a product in Pergamon, the system determines how complex that product's document needs to be. This complexity is reflected in a blueprint level which is a value from L1 to L4 that Pergamon assigns automatically in the background. You never set it manually; it is determined by the product type you select.
The blueprint level is the single largest cost driver in the workflow, typically accounting for 80–90% of the total token cost of a document. A simple product like a power cable sits at a lower level than a complex appliance like a professional oven and the token cost reflects that difference.
The Blueprint token cost is calculated by multiplying 400 by the blueprint level number. An L2 document costs 800 tokens, L3 costs 1,200 tokens, and so on. The table below shows the cost for each level.
| Blueprint level | Tokens |
|---|---|
| L1 | 400 |
| L2 | 800 |
| L3 | 1,200 |
| L4 | 1,600 |
The blueprint cost is not charged when AI Assembly starts. It is charged separately at the document creation step, when you confirm document generation.
AI Assembly
Running AI Assembly to create a document incurs a single flat charge. This covers the AI processing that takes place during the questionnaire phase. Pergami reads your uploaded reference files, answers questions automatically where it can, and prepares the inputs needed to generate your document.
The charge is applied once per document when you confirm and start AI Assembly. It is not charged per question answered or per file processed, regardless of how long the session takes or how many questions are involved.
The AI Assembly charge is calculated by multiplying 4 by the blueprint level number. An L2 document costs 8 tokens, L3 costs 12 tokens, and so on. The table below shows the cost for each level.
| Blueprint level | Tokens |
|---|---|
| L1 | 4 |
| L2 | 8 |
| L3 | 12 |
| L4 | 16 |
AI resources
AI resources are the product files you upload to Pergamon before AI Assembly begins. Pergami uses these files to answer questionnaire questions automatically.
Each file is charged a flat token cost at the point of upload, regardless of the blueprint level of your document. The token counter in the upload screen updates in real time as you add or remove files, so you always see the running cost before confirming.
| File type | Tokens per file |
|---|---|
| Image | 1 |
| Text or PDF | 2 |
| Audio | 2 |
| Video | 3 |
| Archive | 2 |
If you use Restart during AI Assembly to add new reference files, only the newly added files consume tokens. Files that Pergami has already processed are not charged again.
AI Writing Assistant prompts
Each AI prompt consumes one token, regardless of how long or detailed your request is.
AI Writing Assistant prompts are charged during document editing when actively interacting with the Assistant in the editor after the document is created.
The table below shows typical prompt usage by blueprint level, based on a standard editing session. Actual usage varies. There is no cap on the number of prompts per document.
| Blueprint level | Typical prompts | Estimated tokens |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | ~6 | 6 |
| L2 | ~9 | 9 |
| L3 | ~12 | 12 |
| L4 | ~15 | 15 |
Translation
Translation is a separate, per-language action in Pergamon. Creating translation jobs does not consume tokens. Tokens are only charged when you run Translate by AI on a language job, and each language job is charged independently.
The token cost for each language job is calculated by dividing your source document's word count by 100 and rounding up to the nearest whole number. For example, a document with 1,416 words rounds up to 1,500, giving a cost of 15 tokens per language job.
| Blueprint level | Avg. word count | Tokens per language |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | ~500 | 5 |
| L2 | ~1,000 | 10 |
| L3 | ~1,500 | 15 |
| L4 | ~2,000 | 20 |
Word count figures above are averages based on typical documents at each blueprint level. Your actual translation cost is calculated from the real word count of your generated document.
All translation token charges round up to the nearest whole token. A 250-word document costs 3 tokens per language, not 2.5.
Token cost in practice
The following example shows the full token cost for a typical L2 document, equivalent to a product like a household toaster translated into 15 languages.
| Component | Calculation | Tokens |
|---|---|---|
| AI Assembly | 4 × 2 (L2) | 8 |
| AI resources | 2 text/PDF (4) + 2 images (2) + 1 audio (2) | 8 |
| Blueprint (document generation) | 400 × 2 (L2) | 800 |
| AI Writing Assistant prompts | ~9 prompts × 1 | 9 |
| Translation | 1,000 words → 10 tokens per language job × 15 jobs | 150 |
| Total | 975 |
The 150-token translation cost above assumes all 15 language jobs are individually translated using Translate by AI. Tokens are charged per language job. If you run Translate by AI on fewer jobs, only those jobs are charged.
At the Creator Flex token rate, this document costs approximately $15.89 USD.
The Blueprint cost (800 tokens) makes up the largest share of a document's total, typically 80–90%. AI Assembly, AI resources, and prompts are small by comparison. Translation is charged separately, per language job. The total translation cost depends on the word count of your source document and how many language jobs you choose to translate by AI.
Scaling languages on the same document
Increasing the number of language jobs from 15 to 20 adds 50 tokens, assuming all 20 jobs are translated using Translate by AI (5 additional jobs at 10 tokens each). All other cost components remain unchanged.
Full cost reference by blueprint level
Full cost reference by blueprint level
Component costs
| Level | Blueprint | AI Assembly | AI Resources (est.) | AI Prompts (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | 400 | 4 | ~5 | ~6 |
| L2 | 800 | 8 | ~8 | ~9 |
| L3 | 1,200 | 12 | ~12 | ~12 |
| L4 | 1,600 | 16 | ~14 | ~15 |
Total document cost by language scenario
| Level | Words | Per Lang | No Translation | 15 Languages | 20 Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | ~500 | 5 | 415 | 490 | 515 |
| L2 | ~1,000 | 10 | 825 | 975 | 1,025 |
| L3 | ~1,500 | 15 | 1,236 | 1,461 | 1,536 |
| L4 | ~2,000 | 20 | 1,645 | 1,945 | 2,045 |
Greyed values (~) are estimates based on typical usage. Actual costs depend on your specific uploads and editing session. Language totals assume all language jobs are translated using Translate by AI.
Your token balance and plans
All prices are in USD.
| Plan | Monthly tokens | Price/month | Rate per token |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator Flex | 3,000 | $49 | $0.0163 |
| Creator Pro | 20,000 | $299 | $0.0150 |
As a rough guide, Creator Flex covers approximately 2 documents per month at L2 complexity with 15 target languages. Creator Pro covers approximately 10 documents per month on the same basis, with significant headroom for L3 and L4 complexity documents or additional language jobs.
How many documents can your balance create?
Pergamon provides a live estimate of how many documents you can create with your current token balance. To view it, click the token indicator in the upper right of any page in Pergamon.
The estimate is calculated based on L2 blueprint complexity and 15 target languages. It updates automatically as your balance changes. The modal also shows a breakdown of estimated token costs by blueprint complexity level, so you can see how document complexity affects your remaining capacity.
The estimate assumes L2 complexity and 15 target languages per document. Documents at higher blueprint levels, or with more language jobs, will consume more tokens and reduce your actual capacity accordingly. Use the blueprint complexity levels table in the modal as a guide for your specific workload.
Token rollover
Token rollover behaviour depends on your plan.
- Creator Flex: Unused tokens do not carry forward. Your balance resets at the start of each billing cycle.
- Creator Pro: Unused tokens carry forward for one month. Any remaining carry-forward tokens expire at the end of the following billing cycle.
- Top-up tokens: Do not expire and are consumed only after your monthly allowance has been depleted.
Top-up packs
If your monthly token allowance is exhausted before the end of your billing cycle, you can purchase additional tokens via top-up packs. Top-up tokens are consumed only after your monthly allowance has been depleted and do not expire.
For current top-up pack pricing and to purchase additional tokens, go to your Avatar (top right) > Workspace settings → Expand Your Plan.
Migrating from the legacy token system
Prior to this update, Pergamon used two separate token currencies: Pergami Tokens for AI actions (prompts, uploads, translations) and Manual Creation Tokens which was a flat charge of one token per document regardless of complexity or language count. These have been replaced by a single unified Pergami token balance.
What this means for your existing tokens
- Your tokens are merging. Your previous Pergami Token balance and Manual Creation Token balance have been converted into a single unified Pergami token balance. You now manage one balance instead of two.
- Nothing you had is lost. Your existing balances were converted at a generous rate. The total value of your new unified balance is equal to or greater than what you held across both legacy currencies.
- Your plan delivers the same output. Creator Flex still covers approximately 2 documents per month. Creator Pro still covers approximately 10 documents per month. The accounting changed; the practical capacity did not.
- You now have greater transparency. Rather than a flat per document charge, you can see exactly what each step of the process costs. A simple short-form document costs less than a complex long-form one and your balance reflects that accurately.
Legacy Pergami Tokens and Manual Creation Tokens are no longer active after migration. Your unified Pergami token balance is the single source of truth for all AI consumption.
Frequently asked questions
Why has my token balance changed after the update?
Your previous Pergami Token and Manual Creation Token balances have been merged into a single unified Pergami token balance. The conversion was applied at a generous rate. Your new balance represents equal or greater value than what you held across both legacy currencies.
How do I know how many tokens my document will use before I start?
Pergamon shows you a cost confirmation modal before each charge stage. At the start of AI Assembly, you see the exact Assembly and AI resource upload costs. At the document creation step, you see the exact Blueprint cost. No tokens are deducted until you confirm. You can also use the Token cost in practice section and blueprint level table in this article as a reference.
Why am I charged twice?
The two charges correspond to two distinct stages of the workflow. AI Assembly and AI resource uploads are charged when Assembly starts, because those resources are processed immediately. The Blueprint (document generation) is a separate, larger operation charged only when you actively choose to create the document.
Can I get a refund if I cancel after Assembly starts?
The Assembly and AI resource upload tokens are non-refundable once processing starts, as shown in the confirmation modal. The document creation (Blueprint) charge has not been applied at this point and is not deducted unless you proceed to the document creation step.
What happens when I run out of tokens?
If your balance is insufficient to cover the cost of an action, Pergamon will not proceed and will notify you. You can purchase a top-up pack in Avatar (top right) > Workspace settings > Expand Your Plan to continue without waiting for your next billing cycle.
Does toggling Create Publication on or off affect my token usage?
No. Create Publication is a separate action from document creation and carries no token cost. You can toggle it freely without affecting the charges shown in the confirmation modal.
What blueprint level will my document be?
Blueprint levels are assigned automatically by Pergamon based on the product category you select. You do not set this manually. The level determines the Assembly and Blueprint token costs and is shown in the cost confirmation modal before any charge is applied.
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