# Pricing & Billing (/docs/pricing)


Pricing Model [#pricing-model]

Yunxin uses a **pay-as-you-go** pricing model. You are charged based on the tokens consumed (for text models) or units generated (for image, audio, video models).

Pricing is transparent and based on the upstream provider costs plus a small service margin.

Token-Based Pricing [#token-based-pricing]

For text models (chat, completions, embeddings), pricing is per **1,000 tokens**:

* **Input tokens** — the prompt you send
* **Output tokens** — the response generated
* Output tokens typically cost more than input tokens

Model Pricing [#model-pricing]

Pricing varies by model and provider. Check the **Models** page in the dashboard for current pricing for each model.

Factors that affect pricing:

* **Model size** — larger models cost more per token
* **Provider** — different providers have different pricing
* **Modality** — image, audio, and video generation have per-unit pricing
* **Features** — reasoning tokens (for o-series models) may have separate pricing

Billing Cycle [#billing-cycle]

* Charges are calculated in real-time as you make API requests
* Usage is tracked per API key and per model
* View detailed usage breakdown in the **Analytics** dashboard

Budget Controls [#budget-controls]

Set spending limits to prevent unexpected charges:

1. Navigate to **Dashboard → Settings → Billing**
2. Set a **monthly budget limit**
3. Configure **alert thresholds** (e.g., 50%, 80%, 100%)
4. Choose action when limit is reached: **warn** or **block**

Subscription Tiers [#subscription-tiers]

Yunxin offers four subscription tiers with increasing benefits:

| Tier           | Access Level                                              | Priority | Rate Limit  |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----------- |
| **Free**       | Access to open-source and entry-level models              | Low      | 10 req/min  |
| **Basic**      | Access to standard models from all providers              | Normal   | 50 req/min  |
| **Pro**        | Access to premium models including GPT-4, Claude, Gemini  | High     | 100 req/min |
| **Enterprise** | Full access to all models including experimental releases | Critical | Unlimited   |

Tier Benefits [#tier-benefits]

Each tier provides different benefits:

| Feature            | Free       | Basic      | Pro         | Enterprise   |
| ------------------ | ---------- | ---------- | ----------- | ------------ |
| **Priority Level** | Low (1)    | Normal (2) | High (3)    | Critical (4) |
| **Rate Limit**     | 10 req/min | 50 req/min | 100 req/min | Unlimited    |
| **Webhooks**       | ❌          | ❌          | ✅           | ✅            |

Request Priority [#request-priority]

Your subscription tier determines your **request priority level**:

* **Low (1)** — Free tier requests are processed with standard priority
* **Normal (2)** — Basic tier requests receive normal processing priority
* **High (3)** — Pro tier requests are prioritized over Free and Basic
* **Critical (4)** — Enterprise tier requests receive the highest priority

The priority level is included in API responses via the `X-Request-Priority` header and is also available in your user profile at `/api/auth/me`.

Model Access [#model-access]

Model access is controlled by the `min_tier` setting on each model. If your account tier is lower than a model's requirement, the API will return a `403 Forbidden` error with code `model_tier_restricted`.

Free Tier [#free-tier]

New accounts receive a starter credit to explore the API. This includes:

* Access to Free-tier models
* Full API functionality
* Dashboard and analytics access

To access higher-tier models, upgrade your subscription in **Dashboard → Settings → Billing**.

Cost Optimization Tips [#cost-optimization-tips]

1. **Use smaller models** for simple tasks — check the Models API for available options
2. **Set `max_tokens`** to limit response length
3. **Use Batch API** for non-urgent bulk processing
4. **Cache responses** for repeated identical requests
5. **Monitor usage** in the Analytics dashboard to identify optimization opportunities