How Billing Works

Quota uses dollar-denominated balances. Users see real dollar amounts, not abstract credits.

Balance Basics

Balances are in US dollars (e.g., "$8.50 remaining")
Costs are deducted automatically in dollars when you make API calls
Your balance cannot go negative — requests return 402 at zero
Balance never expires

Purchase Packages

Users buy balance in tiered packages. Larger packages get a better rate because Stripe's fixed fees are spread over a bigger purchase:

Package	Price	Balance You Get	Effective Rate
Starter	$5.00	$4.05	19% markup
Basic	$10.00	$8.50	15% markup
Plus	$25.00	$22.50	10% markup
Pro	$50.00	$46.50	8% markup

Cost Calculation

Costs are calculated based on token usage, which varies by model. The base cost is determined by Quota's pricing table. If the developer's app has a markup percentage set, the user pays the base cost plus the markup:

effective_cost = base_cost * (1 + developer_markup_percentage)

See the pricing page for current per-model rates.

Checking Your Balance

You can check your balance at any time:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $QUOTA_API_KEY" \
  https://api.usequota.ai/v1/balance

Purchasing Balance

Buy balance via Stripe checkout. The flow has two steps:

1. List available packages

curl https://api.usequota.ai/v1/packages

Response (no auth required):

{
  "packages": [
    { "id": "starter", "name": "Starter", "price_cents": 500, "balance_display": "$4.05" },
    { "id": "basic", "name": "Basic", "price_cents": 1000, "balance_display": "$8.50" },
    { "id": "plus", "name": "Plus", "price_cents": 2500, "balance_display": "$22.50" },
    { "id": "pro", "name": "Pro", "price_cents": 5000, "balance_display": "$46.50" }
  ]
}

2. Create a checkout session

curl -X POST https://api.usequota.ai/api/payments/checkout \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QUOTA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "package_id": "basic",
    "success_url": "https://yourapp.com/success",
    "cancel_url": "https://yourapp.com/cancel"
  }'

Response:

{
  "checkout_url": "https://checkout.stripe.com/...",
  "session_id": "cs_..."
}

Redirect the user to checkout_url. After payment, Stripe sends a webhook and balance is added to the account automatically.

Transaction History

Every transaction is recorded in an immutable ledger. Use the Analytics API to query your usage, revenue, and cost breakdown.

Developer Markup

Developers set a markup percentage on their app. Users pay the base cost plus the developer's markup. Developers keep 100% of their markup — no platform fee. Payouts are sent via Stripe Connect daily (with a 7-day delay for chargeback protection).