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How billing works

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How do I pay for FlexAI?

Pay as you go. You’re billed for what you actually use — per token for inference, per GPU-hour for training and fine-tuning — at the rates published on flex.ai/pricing. There’s no subscription, and no commitment beyond your usage.

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Do I need a card to get started?

No. You can create an account, create an API key, browse the model catalog, and run the in-browser demos on flex.ai without entering any payment details. What a card unlocks is spending. Inference draws against your account balance, so until the account is funded — by a top-up or by credit — requests come back 402 Payment Required rather than running. That lets you wire a key into your code and your deploy pipeline before any money is involved. When you’re ready to send real traffic, add a billing address and card from the billing page and top up by any amount from $5.

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Where credits come from

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How do I get FlexAI credits?

Credits arrive with a program or an agreement rather than automatically at signup:
  • Verified first top-up match — verify your identity and we match your first top-up, dollar for dollar, up to $100. US-dollar accounts only, and claimed by emailing us rather than applied automatically. See how the match works below.
  • FlexAI Startup Program — accepted startups receive $1,000 in Token Factory credit, then 50% off their first three months and 30% off the next three. Apply on flex.ai/startups.
  • Negotiated and invited offers — for an evaluation, a proof of concept, or a committed-use agreement, talk to commercial@flex.ai.
Credit never arrives automatically at signup — each of the above is something you apply for, qualify for, or claim. If you are looking for the monthly free-credit offer advertised previously, it was retired on 2026-08-20.

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How does the first top-up match work?

Verify your identity, then make your first top-up, and we add the same amount again as credit — up to a $100 match. A $25 top-up becomes $50 of balance; a $100 top-up becomes $200. Above $100 the match stays at $100. There is no minimum beyond the platform’s own $5 top-up floor, so a $10 first top-up earns the full $10. Two conditions, both deliberate:
  • Verification comes first. The match is tied to a verified identity rather than to an email address, which is what lets us offer it at this size.
  • It is once per account, and once per verified person. It applies to the first top-up you make after verifying — so topping up before you verify does not use it up — and verifying again from a second account does not earn a second match.
The match is on US-dollar accounts only. Accounts in the EU region bill in euros (see the changelog entry on EU billing), and the offer does not apply to them. Both individuals and companies are eligible. To claim it, email support@flex.ai and we’ll walk you through verification and apply the match — we’re handling these by hand while the self-serve flow is being finished, so it won’t appear as a button in the dashboard yet.

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Are existing users eligible for credits?

Yes — credits aren’t limited to new accounts. Reach out to commercial@flex.ai with your workload and we’ll tell you what applies.

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Using credits

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How is credit usage calculated?

Credits draw down against your usage at the same published rates you’d otherwise pay: per million input and output tokens for inference, per GPU-hour for training and fine-tuning. Per-model rates are in the model catalog, and the full picture is on flex.ai/pricing. Credit is not held apart from the money you top up — both are the same balance, and usage draws on the one number. Your card is charged when funds are added, either because you topped up or because an auto-recharge rule fired, and never per request. So credit makes the balance last longer rather than postponing the start of billing, and the first top-up match applies in that order too: you top up and are charged, then the match lands on the balance.

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Do credits expire?

Each grant carries its own terms, including any expiry, and those terms are stated when the credit is applied to your account. Check the billing page for your current balance, or ask commercial@flex.ai if you’re unsure which terms apply to you.

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What happens when my credits run out?

For the Inference API, requests return 402 Payment Required and start succeeding again as soon as you top up — no key regeneration needed. See Billing & Quotas for the exact response and how to add funds. For training and fine-tuning workloads, talk to us before you run out and we’ll help you plan the transition.

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How do I track my credit usage?

Your balance and spend are on the billing page, updated within a few minutes of each request.

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Will I be notified if credits are running low?

Yes. You’ll get an email when your balance falls below a fifth of what it was after your last top-up, and another if it reaches zero. If you have auto-recharge switched on we send only the second one — the rule exists to top you up before the first would fire, so a zero balance with auto-recharge on means a recharge did not go through. We also reach out directly on larger accounts to discuss next steps before anything interrupts.

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Rules and restrictions

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Can I transfer credits to someone else?

No. Credits are tied to the account they’re granted to. They aren’t transferable, and credits from separate accounts can’t be pooled.

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Can I withdraw credits as cash?

No. Credits are usable on the FlexAI platform only.

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Can I combine credits with other offers?

Credits generally don’t stack with other promotional offers. Where a program says otherwise — the Startup Program’s credit and its staged discounts, for instance — the program’s own terms apply.

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Need more help?

Email support@flex.ai or join our Slack community. For anything commercial — credits, committed use, or a quote — commercial@flex.ai is the faster route.