Pick the unit your users already buy
Denominate rewards in the unit your pricing page already taught — credits, tokens, messages, renders, months, seats. A reward in a unit people already spend needs no explanation, and carries a price tag they already believe.
If your product meters tokens, seats, or renders, reward in kind.
Why the unit matters more than the amount
An amount only motivates through its unit. "Your post earned 25 credits" lands if credits are what the user runs out of on a busy day; they know what 25 is worth because they have paid for it. "250 reward points" makes them do a conversion first, and most won't.
The consumable case: credits, tokens, messages
If your tiers are amounts of a consumable, which is most AI products, the decision is made. Free and paid share the unit, the reward tops up the same meter, and the only question left is the amount.
The capability case: months and seats
Products without a meter denominate in access. A month of the paid plan lets a user feel the product they haven't bought, which sells the upgrade better than more of the free one. A seat turns one person's post into something their whole team gets. Both are indivisible, and that is fine: a reward has to be legible, not granular.
Side by side
| Unit | Fits | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Credits / tokens / messages | Consumable-priced products (most AI SaaS) | The meter your users already watch — a reward here needs zero explanation |
| Renders / runs / exports | Products priced per unit of output | Same property, more concrete: the reward is the thing they came to make |
| Months | Subscription products with no meter | A taste of the paid experience, time-boxed by its own nature |
| Seats | Team products priced per head | Expansion the whole team feels — one earner grows the workspace |
| Invented points | Nobody | A conversion your user has to do in their head, every time — and a number with no price tag attached |
Reward units, and who they fit.
The unit to avoid
Invented points. A point exists to blur what things are worth, which is why airlines love them, and blur is exactly wrong for a mechanic whose promise is "post this, get that." Points make the user do arithmetic to find out whether you are being generous, and suspect the answer.