Mastering ArcGIS Online Credits: Empowering Administrators for Success

As an ArcGIS Online administrator, it is crucial to effectively manage credits within the platform. Credits are the currency used to perform various operations, such as storing data, running analysis tools, and accessing premium content. This blog post delves into vital information that ArcGIS Online Administrators need to know. We'll cover key aspects such as credit consumption, staying informed through credit reporting, providing helpful links for credit budgeting, purchasing credits, and how to expand knowledge in this area. 

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Credit Usage Scheme

Credit by Capability Indexes 

Understand credits | Credit usage by product and capability | Understand credits for spatial analysis | Geoprocessing tools that use credits 

2. Strategies for Effective Credit Management 

Monitor organizational usage: Administrators monitor credit usage with the ArcGIS Online Status Dashboard on your organization’s page. Adjust the time at the top of the app to change the time period. Stay on top of consumption by consulting the Credit Utilization Chart to see live additional details on storage, analytics, subscriber content, and published content. 

ArcGIS Online Credit Dashboard

Generate Feature Storage Report: Access a report that includes a detailed list of each feature layer, its size, owner, creation date, and last modification date (Status tab). Credit reports allow you to download a detailed breakdown of credit use in your organization in a .csv file. Additionally, you can automate schedule reporting. 

Turn on credit budgeting: Administrators can allocate a specific quantity of credits to individual users by turning on credit budgeting.  
NOTE: Credit budgeting does not apply to organizational credits used for the following purpose: 

• Storage of files, feature layers, and tiles 

• App-related activities 

• Premium content accessed through a configured resource proxy 

View a video on credit budgeting 

Track and prevent credit overages: After enabling credit budgeting, you can set a default allocation for the organization or begin allocating credits to members. You can also allocate credits as part of the invitation process. 
NOTE: Consult this ArcGIS Blog for a deeper understanding of credit allotment. 

Credit computation Awareness: It is recommended that each user utilizes the “Estimate Credits” function available on the tool pane before executing any analysis tool in ArcGIS Online. This way, the credit estimator will calculate and inform the user of the expected number of credits that will be consumed by the transaction. Empowering and educating your users with cost-awareness management tips is crucial. Additionally, provide users with the geoprocessing analysis links mentioned earlier, which will consume credits, to prevent accidental spending. 

Using Credits: Storage

Using Credits: Transactions

Limit access to credit-consuming tools: If you want full control, create and assign custom member roles with privileges to limit your credit consumption preferences. 

3. Purchasing Credits 

The user type in your subscription determines the quantity of credits you start with and have replenished annually upon subscription renewal. Additional credits can be purchased and added to your subscription at any time through your Esri Distributor Store or on My Esri. Please note that purchasing credits "requires foundational user type".  

Q: What is a foundational user type?  

A: Every subscription requires at least one foundational user type to activate and administer ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. Creator and GIS Professional are foundational user types. 

All dependent user types (Viewer, Editor, Mobile Worker, Storyteller, and Insights Analyst) must be purchased with at least one foundational user type or added to an existing organization. Dependent user types rely on a foundational user type to activate and administer ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. 

Things to know when purchasing credits: 

• Use credits to execute various workflows 

• Purchase credits in blocks of 1,000

• Use credits within 24 months 

Q: What happens when a user does not have enough credits for a specific transaction? 

A: When a user submits a transaction in Map Viewer that exceeds their budget, they will receive an error message informing them that they do not have enough credits to perform the operation. The transaction will not start if there are not enough credits. If members exceed their allocated credits, designated administrators receive an email notification that the member has exceeded their allocation. The member also receives a notification advising them that one or more administrators have been notified. Internal communication must occur between the user and their administrator to determine the next course of action. 

4. My Esri Reports 

Administrators can leverage My Esri reporting to review their purchase history of additional credits. Account Administrators can generate reports through the Licensing tab on the main menu. Once in the reporting engine, select Order History and set your Description filter to contains “ArcGIS Online Credits”. Reports can easily be exported to Excel. 

My Esri Credit Report

5. Stay Tuned Resources 

Regularly search the ArcGIS Blog, and Esri Documentation, for latest authoritative information about ArcGIS Online Credits. Enhance your knowledge by taking courses such as “Learning Path: Administer your organization” in Esri Tutorials or “Learning Plan: Manage an ArcGIS Online Organization (2016)” from the Esri Academy. Additionally, engage with other Administrators and users on the Esri Community.  

As an ArcGIS Online administrator, understanding how credits work and effectively managing them is crucial for maintaining an optimized workflow while controlling costs. By monitoring credit usage, planning workflows, and optimizing operations, administrators can make the most of their ArcGIS Online subscription. Efficient credit management ensures that organizations can leverage the full potential of the platform wisely.