Credits and billing

E3D Pilot is prepaid. Calls spend credits you bought, so nothing can run up a bill beyond your account balance. One credit wallet belongs to your account, not to a key: the website and every API key spend from it.

Buying credits

On the billing page choose a pack. You do not need an API key. Payment runs on Stripe Checkout; we never see or store card details. Credits are added after Stripe confirms the payment and appear in your purchase history with the pack, amount and status. A purchase is completed, partially_refunded, refunded or disputed.

The credits are added to your account. The website and any key can spend them, subject to each key's cap.

What a debate costs

Each debate uses credits based on how much the models read and write, rounded up to whole credits (at least 1). Before you start, the Ask page shows the most the debate can use, and sets that many credits aside while it runs. You are charged for what the models actually used, never more than that maximum, and the unused part returns to your balance. The maximum depends on your question, the length you chose and the models on your panel, so no debate has a fixed price. The Ask page shows it as "Estimate: up to N credits"; if a question could use more than one debate may, it says so and you shorten the question or choose a shorter length in Settings, Debate defaults (Quick, Standard or Thorough). If your balance is below the estimate, the page says so and links to buying credits. If the estimate changes between asking and submitting, the page shows the new one and asks you to submit again.

Web search is priced inside the same maximum. Search is on by default for every model company and is charged per search. The estimate includes search while it is on. Turn it off for your account in Settings, Debate defaults ("Use web search") to see and pay the lower maximum, or pass web_search: false from a connected client for a single debate.

As an illustration only, not a promise: a short question to a four-model panel for two rounds might use about 4 credits without search and about 17 with it, against maximums of 19 and 53. A short debate can use only a few credits; yours may use more or less. From apps like ChatGPT or Claude, your per-debate maximum and spending limit apply, and the result says what was used.

Where a debate was charged ("Web" or a key label) appears in Usage and History, with the credits it used.

Spending caps

• Each API key has three limits, all counted against what it has held and spent: a limit per run (no single debate's maximum may be above it), a limit per UTC day (a default applies when you set none) and an optional lifetime limit. They are set when a key is created and can be changed later on the key; a change applies to new requests. Older keys may instead carry a monthly or lifetime cap, which keeps working.
• A request that would pass a limit is refused before any model is called, and the refusal names the limit (key_cap_per_run, key_cap_daily, key_cap_total; see Errors and limits). A looping script or agent can therefore spend no more than the key's limits, even when it sends requests in parallel.
• The service records when a key's daily use passes 50% and 90% of its daily limit.
• The website has its own daily cap.
• An account-wide daily ceiling limits everything the account spends in a UTC day, whatever it is spent through.
• A leaked key can spend only up to its cap and never more than the account balance.

How a debate is priced and settled

1. Set aside. Before any model runs, the maximum shown on the Ask page is reserved from your account balance, for a few minutes. If the balance is too small, or a cap or limit applies, the request is refused before any model is called and nothing is charged.
2. Run. The debate runs.
3. Settle. A debate that completes is charged what the models actually used (rounded up to whole credits, at least 1), never more than the maximum, and the unused part returns. A debate that cannot finish is not charged. A hold that is never settled expires and is returned in full.

The usage page lists each settled request with its tool, outcome, models, credits and what it was charged to. Token numbers are estimates.

Refusals

When a call is refused, the tool result says why. The common reasons:

• Insufficient credits (insufficient_credits). The most a debate can use is more than your account balance. Buy credits.
• A usage limit has been reached (limit_reached). A key's spending cap, the account-wide daily ceiling, or a rate or open-request limit applies. Wait for the next UTC day, raise the key's cap, or see Errors and limits.
• Billing is suspended (suspended). The balance went negative (for example after a refund or a lost dispute) or a dispute is open. Buy credits to clear a negative balance; contact support about a dispute.
• Unknown principal. The key was revoked or never existed.
• The account is closing or closed. No new requests, keys or purchases are accepted.

A refused request is never charged and is remembered, so retrying the identical request gives the same answer; change the request or top up and ask again.

Refunds and disputes

A refund removes the matching credits. If some were already spent the account balance can go negative, and billing stays suspended until you buy more credits. A payment dispute does the same and also blocks closing the account until it is resolved.

Closing your account

Closing forfeits the account's unspent credits after you confirm, revokes keys and ends sessions. It is refused while a balance is negative, a dispute is open, or a request is still in progress. A payment that arrives after closing is not credited and is flagged for a manual refund; email support@pilot.e3d.ai.