AI Credit Guardrail

Real-time abuse protection and a kill switch for indie devs giving away free AI credits

Problem

A startup lost $4k overnight to a fraud attack on its free AI credits: mass signups, rotating IPs, spoofed device fingerprints. Small teams usually only have basic IP rate limits, discover the anomaly after the quota is burned, and sometimes take the service down with it.

Solution

Drop a lightweight risk layer into the signup and free-credit call path: device and browser fingerprinting, signup-spike detection, per-account graduated limits, and a one-click kill switch for free credits. Includes a daily dashboard of anomalous signups and spend with Slack or email alerts.

Users

Indie developers and early AI product teams offering free trial credits

MVP

Fingerprint SDK or middleware; signup-spike and spend-anomaly rules; graduated limit configuration; one-click free-credit kill switch; alert notifications

Revenue

Monthly subscription tiered by request volume, plus managed custom rules at higher tiers

Why now

AI products rely on free credits for acquisition while credit farming has become an organized gray market, and enterprise anti-fraud tools are too heavy and pricey for small teams