Platform

Billing, credits & plans

Ares runs on credits. Every model simply consumes credits — faster models consume more, lighter models less — and you can always see exactly where they went.

Credits

Credits are the only unit you'll ever deal with. You buy them in packs (they never expire), every request consumes some, and your balance is visible in the console, on your dashboard, and in the desktop app. New accounts start with free welcome credits — enough to genuinely try the platform, no card required.

Auto-reload keeps work from stopping mid-task: when your balance drops below a threshold you set, Ares tops it up automatically and emails you a receipt. Sensible minimums are enforced so the service never stalls between requests.

The two ways to pay

Subscriptions ($10 Starter · $30 Pro · $100 Max)

A flat monthly fee buys a month of usage, shown as a simple percentage used — no math, no meters in strange units. Subscriptions include fair-use windows (a rolling 5-hour and a weekly limit) so a runaway loop can't exhaust a whole month in an afternoon; they refill on their own and the console shows when. For organizations, subscription plans are priced per seat and the allowance pools across the team.

Pay as you go

No monthly fee, no fair-use windows. Buy credits first, spend them as you go. When the balance hits zero the service stops — unless auto-reload is on.

The two compose: on a subscription, usage consumes the plan first, then your credits. When both run out, requests return 402 instead of silently billing you more. No surprise overage — ever.

Spend limits

Any account can set a monthly hard cap in credits. When the cap is reached, requests fail with 402 until the period resets or an admin raises it. Recommended for org accounts with many members.

Organizations: who pays for what

Work in your personal context and your own plan or credits are consumed. Work in an organization context and the org's account pays — managed by its owners, who control the plan, payment methods, spend limits, and where invoices and receipts are emailed. Your dashboard shows the split.

Invoices & receipts

When a billing period closes, Ares generates an invoice per account — subscription fee and usage as separate lines — and emails it to the billing address if notifications are on. Credit purchases and auto-reloads get receipts. Everything also lives under Billing → Invoices and the immutable ledger.

Sandbox notice: card payments are not wired yet. Buying credits works instantly and is labeled a sandbox purchase on the ledger; payment methods store only a label and last-4. When Stripe goes live, the flow keeps the same shape — the ledger just gains real payment references.