From the top step the whole studio is visible, and so is the truth about finishing tools: they are magnificent at size and useless at rescue. An upscaler raises resolution. It has never once raised fidelity, repaired a drifted face or forgiven an unproven still.
That is why finishing money is spent last and coldest here. A frame reaches the top step only after it has passed the card at the middle step and had its repairs made at native size, where edits are cheapest and most precise. The premium model at 41 credits is judged by the same rule: it is a finishing choice for a proven composition, not a leap of faith for an unproven one.
The view cuts the other way as well. Most frames should never climb past the middle step at all — ordinary feed frames are complete at native size, and the credits saved there are the credits that fund the next sitting.
Finish little, finish late, finish only what earned it. The top step is small on purpose.