Usage limits
Each organisation has a usage tier that sets how much it can use in a billing period and when unpaid usage is charged straight away. Tiers rise automatically as invoices are paid, and you can see your organisation's tier, its cap and this period's usage on Portal › Billing.
Usage tiers
An organisation starts on the first tier when it sets up billing, and moves up once its paid invoices meet the next tier's requirement. Credit purchases are paid invoices too.
| Tier | Reached with | Usage cap per billing period | Charged straight away at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 0 | Billing set up with a card | £50 | £25 |
| Tier 1 | 1 paid invoices | £250 | £100 |
| Tier 2 | 3 paid invoices and £100 paid | £1,000 | £250 |
| Tier 3 | 6 paid invoices and £1,000 paid | £5,000 | £500 |
The usage cap is a ceiling on usage, before prepaid credit and tax. Prepaid credit adds to it: an organisation with credit can use its cap plus its credit in a billing period. If you need more than your tier allows, request a higher limit from Portal › Billing.
Threshold charges
When unpaid usage in the current billing period reaches your tier's threshold, Stripe invoices it and charges your card straight away, instead of waiting for the end of the period. The rest of the period's usage is invoiced as usual. Threshold invoices appear with your other invoices on Portal › Billing.
When uploads pause
Uploads return 402 upload/spend-limit-reached while any of these applies. The error's details.reason says which:
| Reason | Applies when | Uploads resume |
|---|---|---|
usage-cap | Usage this period reaches the usage cap plus prepaid credit | At the start of the next billing period, after buying credit, or when the tier rises |
spend-limit | Usage reaches a spend limit set to pause uploads | At the start of the next billing period, or when the limit is raised |
project-budget | A project's usage reaches its budget | At the start of the next billing period, or when the budget is raised |
payment-failed | A usage invoice, such as a threshold charge, couldn't be paid | As soon as the invoice is paid; Stripe retries the card automatically |
Limits are checked as each upload arrives, so parallel uploads can't pass a limit together. Processing that is already under way finishes, and assets you already have stay available. The usage.spend-limit-reached event tells your connectors why uploads paused and when they resume, and owners are emailed when a payment fails.
A disputed payment holds the organisation on the first tier until the dispute is resolved, and refunded payments stop counting towards its tier.
Spend limits and project budgets
A spend limit is your own budget for the organisation, set on Portal › Billing. A limit that pauses uploads can be lower than the usage cap but not higher; a limit that only sends alerts can be any amount. Project budgets set a lower limit for individual projects inside the organisation's. See Pricing for alerts and prepaid credit.