> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pdfbase.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pricing

> Prepaid credits. Pay for what you use. No monthly subscriptions, no use-or-lose.

## How it works

PDFBase uses prepaid credits. Buy a pack, use them whenever. No monthly commitments, no unused credits going to waste.

**1 credit = 1 successful PDF operation** (generation, render, merge, extract, etc.)

Failed requests cost 0 credits. You only pay for successful output.

## Credit packs

| Pack    | Credits | Price per credit | Savings |
| ------- | ------- | ---------------- | ------- |
| Starter | 1,000   | \$0.010          | —       |
| Growth  | 5,500   | \$0.009          | 10% off |
| Scale   | 25,000  | \$0.008          | 20% off |

Credits are valid for **12 months** from purchase date. Unused credits after 12 months expire.

## Free tier

Every new account gets **100 free credits**. No credit card required. Build, test, and ship before you pay anything.

Free credits work identically to purchased credits — no watermarks, no feature restrictions, no rate limit differences.

## Auto-refill

Set a threshold and a pack size. When your balance drops below the threshold, we automatically purchase the selected pack using your saved payment method.

```
Example: Refill 5,500 credits when balance drops below 500.
```

Configure auto-refill in your [dashboard billing settings](https://app.pdfbase.dev/billing).

<Tip>
  Auto-refill prevents service interruptions. If your balance hits 0 without auto-refill, API calls return `402 Payment Required` until you purchase more credits.
</Tip>

## What costs a credit

| Operation                  | Credits           | Phase   |
| -------------------------- | ----------------- | ------- |
| Generate PDF (HTML or URL) | 1                 | Phase 1 |
| Render template            | 1                 | Phase 1 |
| Each item in a batch       | 1 per item        | Phase 1 |
| Merge PDFs                 | 1                 | Phase 2 |
| Split PDF                  | 1 per output file | Phase 2 |
| Add watermark              | 1                 | Phase 2 |
| Office-to-PDF conversion   | 1                 | Phase 2 |
| Generate thumbnail         | 1                 | Phase 2 |
| Extract text               | 1                 | Phase 3 |
| OCR extraction             | 1                 | Phase 3 |
| Table extraction           | 1                 | Phase 3 |
| AI structured extraction   | 2                 | Phase 3 |

<Note>
  AI structured extraction costs 2 credits because it runs an LLM inference step on top of text extraction. All other operations cost 1 credit.
</Note>

## What's free (0 credits)

* Failed requests (any error response)
* Retrieving PDF metadata (`GET /v1/pdfs/:id`)
* Listing resources (`GET /v1/pdfs`, `GET /v1/templates`)
* Template CRUD (create, update, delete)
* Webhook endpoint management
* Debug mode (no extra credit cost — just pass `debug: true`)
* Request replay from dashboard

## Balance headers

Every API response includes your current credit balance:

```
X-Credits-Remaining: 4,287
X-Credits-Used: 1
```

When your balance is low (below 100 credits), responses include a warning header:

```
X-Credits-Warning: Balance low. 47 credits remaining.
```

## When credits run out

If your balance reaches 0, API calls that consume credits return `402 Payment Required`:

```json theme={null}
{
  "error": {
    "type": "payment_required",
    "code": "insufficient_credits",
    "message": "Your credit balance is 0. Purchase more credits at https://app.pdfbase.dev/billing",
    "param": null,
    "credits_remaining": 0
  }
}
```

Read-only operations (GET endpoints, listing resources) continue to work with 0 credits.

## Payment processing

Payments are processed by [Dodo Payments](https://dodopayments.com). All major credit cards, UPI, and international payment methods are supported. Invoices are available in your dashboard.

## Enterprise

Need custom volume pricing, SLAs, or dedicated infrastructure? [Contact us](mailto:enterprise@pdfbase.dev).