Pricing Frequently Asked Questions

This is our Pricing FAQ. Here, you'll find answers to common questions about payments, usage, and our pricing model. Our pricing model is based on a pay-per-usage model for computing resources and paid plans.

If you have a question that is not covered here, don't hesitate to ask us on the community platform (opens in a new tab).

How does pay-per-use pricing work?

We charge compute usage cost per second with the following formula:

Number of Instances x Instance Time (in seconds) x Instance size price

Our Instances documentation includes detailed pricing tables for the cost of different Instances. Taxes are excluded from the pricing page, but will be included in your monthly invoice.

How does charging for outbound bandwidth work?

Outbound bandwidth is not charged yet. We provide 100GB of outbound bandwidth per month for free, usage after this allowance will cost $0.04 per GB. We will notify you ahead of time once we begin charging outbound bandwidth.

How does charging for custom domains work?

We let you use 10 custom domains for free on the Starter plan and 100 custom domains for free in the Startup plan. Additional custom domains are not charged yet, but will be $0.20/month. We will notify you ahead of time once we begin charging for additional custom domains.

Custom domains are not available on the Hobby plan.

Pay-per-use example

In this example case, the user is not subscribed to a paid plan. The user runs different Services using 1 free Instance (not included on invoice), 2 nano Instances, 5 micro Instances, and 3 small Instances for the entire month.

Here is an example invoice to demonstrate the price breakdown of a month.

Are there paid plans for priority support and larger instances?

Yes, there are paid plans available for those who want priority support and access to larger instances.

The Startup plan costs $79 per month and grants you priority support and lets you deploy more Apps and Services on larger instances.

Startup plan example

In this example, an organization is subscribed to the Startup plan and using the same resources as the previous example. Here is the example invoice for this organization:

Why does Koyeb require a credit card?

We require a credit card to prevent fraud and abuse. You will not be charged as long as you only use the free resources and do not switch to a paid plan.

We verify the card you enter by placing a $1 hold and immediately canceling the hold. Depending on your card issuer, the original charge will disappear immediately, or after between 7 and 21 days. We have no control over the release speed here as it depends on your card and bank.

You join the Hobby plan without adding a credit card. The Hobby plan gives you access to one free web Service in the Frankfurt or Washington, D.C. regions with 512MB of RAM, 0.1 vCPU, and 2GB of SSD.

Am I charged when I enter my credit card?

When you enter your credit card, we place a $1 USD transaction hold to verify your card and ensure funds are available. We immediately cancel this hold after this verification is complete.

Once your card has passed this payment authorization process, you will be ready to access the platform and its resources. You start accruing charges after your resource usage surpasses the free allowances.

How long does the account validation process take?

When you enter a credit card, the account validation process begins in order to validate your payment method and prevent fraud and abuse.

This process usually only takes a few minutes and but occasionally can take up to 3 business days.

Why is my account validation taking a while to complete?

The account validation process is required to validate your payment method and prevent fraud and abuse. During this process the information you enter is evaluated and verified.

In order to prevent unnecessary delays in validation, please make sure that your payment method and all associated billing information is up-to-date and accurate. We may need to ask you for additional information to continue the validation process.

How can I track my usage?

A quick way to track your usage is with the dedicated widget at the top of the page in the control panel. This displays your current plan and outstanding balance. You can hover over it to see your total usage.

Another way to track your usage is to view your usage summary under Usage and billing (opens in a new tab).

Tracking your usage is important so you can stay within your resource limits and avoid unexpected charges.

Is there a free tier?

Yes! Each organization has access to:

• One free web Service in the Frankfurt or Washington, D.C. regions with 512MB of RAM, 0.1 vCPU, and 2GB of SSD.
• One free PostgreSQL database limited to 50 active hours, 1GB of storage, 1GB of reads, and 1GB of writes.

You can join the Hobby plan without adding a credit card. The Hobby plan can deploy a single web Service and database for free with the specifications mentioned above. You can add payment information (and continue to enjoy the free Service and database) to access the full platform experience.

How can I ensure that my current usage falls within the free credits?

You will never be charged when using the free web Service.

You can check the current usage of other Instances in the Usage and billing section (opens in a new tab) of your account.

Can I set a budget or limit on spending? Can I be notified if I exceed my spending?

We are working on a spending limits feature and hope to offer it soon. In the meantime, you can estimate your monthly costs based on our Instance documentation. You can track this feature’s progress on our public roadmap (opens in a new tab).

At what point does paid usage begin to count?

Paid usage begins when an Instance has been created and the Deployment has a Starting status. In the case of git deployments, Instances are created after the build is complete.

Will I be charged if my Services are paused?

No, you will only be charged for unpaused Services.

Do my Services automatically scale to zero when they’re not in use?

Scale-to-zero allows you to reduce your costs by automatically scaling down your resources when they are not in use. While this feature is in the works, you can manually pause your Services to reduce resource consumption. You can track this feature’s progress on our public roadmap (opens in a new tab).

Where can I find my monthly invoice?

On the first of the month, we send you a copy of your invoice by email, via our payment provider, Stripe (opens in a new tab). To ensure you receive your invoices on time, make sure the email address associated with your Koyeb account is up-to-date.

You can also access your invoice history by going to the Usage and billing (opens in a new tab) section. Under Billing details, click Manage Billing to view your invoice history. Stripe manages the portal where you can find your invoice history.

When in the month will my card be charged?

Plan subscriptions start at the first of the month and end at the end of the month. On the first of the month, you will receive an invoice for your previous month’s charges. You will be automatically charged for those charges on the first of the month.

If you decide to upgrade your plan, you will be immediately upgraded to that plan and charged on the spot. This initial charge will be prorated based on how far into the month it is when you upgrade.

How will I be charged?

If you need to pay for a previous month’s usage, you will receive an invoice on the first of the month that follows. The card you have on file will be automatically charged for the amount due on the first of the month.

How can I change which card is on file?

To change your payment method, log in to your Koyeb account and navigate to the Usage and billing (opens in a new tab) section. Under Billing details, click Manage Billing to modify your payment method.

How can I delete my card?

You can delete a credit card by visiting the Usage and billing (opens in a new tab) section of your account so long as you have an alternative credit card on file. Payment methods are processed and stored by our payment processor, Stripe (opens in a new tab). You must always have at least one valid form of payment associated with your account when using the Starter or Startup plans. If you want to delete all of your payment methods, you will need to deactivate your account or switch to the Hobby plan.

Why is my payment overdue? What happens if my payment fails?

Your payment is considered overdue if we fail to charge your payment method for your outstanding balance.

We will contact you via email to notify you in case of payment failure. It is important to keep the email address associated with your Koyeb account up-to-date to ensure you receive your invoices on time.

Here are the important milestones to not miss to prevent service interruption in case of payment failure:

• 7 days: your payment is considered late and we might suspend the creation of new resources on your account,
• 14 days: we pause all your Instances,
• 21 days: we begin the account suspension process and permanently delete your resources.

If the card on file is no longer valid, you will need to update your payment method. To change your payment method, log in to your Koyeb account and navigate to the Usage & billing (opens in a new tab) section. Under Billing details, click Manage Billing to modify your payment method.

How can I upgrade to a paid plan?

You can upgrade your plan from the control panel at any time by visiting your organization’s Settings and clicking the Usage and billing (opens in a new tab) section.

You will be charged on a prorated basis if you switch plans after the first of the month.

Please note: After you switch your plan, you will need to wait 5 minutes before you can switch your plan again.

How can I cancel my plan?

If you are on the Startup plan and would no longer like to be on this plan, you can switch to the Starter plan in the Usage and billing (opens in a new tab). The Starter plan is free and you are only charged for the resources you use beyond the free Instance included with all plans.

If you are using more resources than allowed on the Starter plan, you will first need to delete those resources.

How am I charged if I change my plan before the end of the month?

If you switch your plan during the month, you will be charged a prorated rate for the time of the month you had a paid plan. For example, if you stop using the Startup plan in the middle of the month, you will be given a credit for the unused portion of the Startup plan time.

If I cancel my plan, can I be refunded?

If you cancel your plan before the end of the month, you will be credited the remaining balance.

Which cards and payment methods does Koyeb accept?

We accept all major credit and debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners, Discover, and China Union Pay. Your payment information is securely stored and processed by our payment processor, Stripe (opens in a new tab).

Will taxes be included in my monthly invoice?

Yes, taxes are computed and automatically included on your invoice based on the address associated with your payment method.

If you’re in an EU country, VAT will be charged according to the regulations:

• If you're buying as an individual: you’ll be charged for your local VAT.
• If you are purchasing for a business: you can enter your company name and VAT number when adding a payment method to be exempt from VAT. If you don’t provide a VAT number with your payment method or if you're in France, you’ll be charged the amount associated with your local VAT.

The pricing page (opens in a new tab) and Instance documentation do not include taxes.

Which currency will I be charged in?

USD.

What happened to the $5.50 monthly credit?

The $5.50 credit, provided during public preview in 2022 and 2023, has been discontinued.

As outlined in our sustaining free compute in a hostile environment (opens in a new tab) blog post, we are committed to providing a forever free tier and keeping Services affordable:

• The $5.50 credit has been replaced by the free Instance type, which provides 512MB RAM and 0.1 vCPU.
• Eco Instances (opens in a new tab) allow you to deploy for as little as $1.61 a month in select regions.

The $5.50 in free credit will be removed from all accounts starting on February 1, 2024. To avoid being charged, migrate your usage to the free Instance before that time.

Have another question?

Let us know on our community platform (opens in a new tab).