Billing

Updated 2026-09-15

Billing is prepaid: top up first, then pay for what you actually use. Each instance settles in a single currency, and prices, balances and bills are all shown in it.

Where your balance comes from

• Top-ups: place an order on the console Top-up page and pay online. Unpaid orders close after 30 minutes.
• Redemption codes: credited as paid balance or gift credit, depending on the code.
• Gift credit: from trials and campaigns. It has an expiry date and is cleared when it expires.

Charges use the gift credit that expires soonest first, then paid balance. Gift credit only works on models marked "accepts gift credit" in the catalog, and it cannot be refunded or invoiced.

How prices work

Each model has its own price, published on the pricing page and the model page:

• Each call locks the price version in effect when it starts; later price changes do not affect that call. New prices take effect at least 5 minutes after they are set, and price increases are announced.
• If a model has no separate cache price, cached tokens are billed at the input price. Reasoning tokens are already part of output tokens and are not billed twice.
• Each item is rate × quantity, rounded half-to-even to the smallest currency unit, and the items are then added up.

What is not charged

• Failed or canceled calls are free.
• Calls whose result never arrives and stays unknown are free.
• If a stream is cut off midway, you pay for the usage already produced. When exact usage is unavailable, the charge is estimated and marked "estimated" in your billing lines.

Low balance and arrears

• Before each call the platform estimates the maximum cost (estimated input plus the allowed maximum output). If your usable balance cannot cover it, the call returns billing.insufficient_credit (HTTP 402). When a small balance remains, one call is still allowed through.
• The actual cost can push paid balance below zero. The account is then in arrears and new calls return billing.in_arrears (HTTP 403). Gift credit does not offset arrears; top up to zero or above to continue.
• Media tasks such as videos hold the estimated cost when created, settle at the actual cost on success, and release the hold on failure or cancellation.

Refunds and invoices

• Only the unspent paid amount of an order can be refunded, and the request asks for your login password.
• Invoices are issued for paid top-up orders only; gift credit is not invoiced.