Overview

This guide explains how billing works for AI features in Suger.

How You're Billed

AI usage is billed monthly. At the end of each billing period, Stripe generates an invoice based on your organization's total AI usage for that month, minus any credits.

Every AI request your organization makes is tracked by tokens consumed (input and output), with costs varying by AI model and provider.

A 30% platform fee is applied to all AI usage. This covers infrastructure, security, and platform services.

Monthly Credits

Every organization receives $100 in free AI credits each month.

• Credits are applied on the 1st of each month
• Credits expire at the end of the same month (e.g., March credits expire March 31)
• Unused credits do not roll over to the next month
• Credits are automatically applied to your invoice before any charges
• When your credit is fully used, a blue alert appears in the billing dashboard showing the date it was exhausted

Example:

Scenario	AI Usage	Credit Applied	You Pay
Under credit	$60	$60	$0
Over credit	$150	$100	$50
No usage	$0	$0	$0

What Counts as Usage

Usage is measured in tokens — the units that AI models use to process text. Each AI request consumes input tokens (your prompt) and output tokens (the AI's response).

Costs depend on:

• Which AI model is used (e.g., GPT-4o costs more than GPT-4o-mini)
• Which provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google)
• How many tokens are consumed per request

You can see a full breakdown of your usage by model and provider in the billing dashboard.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

If your organization uses its own API keys for AI providers (BYOK):

• Your usage is still tracked by Suger for platform services
• Suger calculates a cost based on the model used and tokens consumed (using Suger's internal pricing table, which is periodically updated to reflect provider list prices), then applies the 30% platform fee to that calculated cost. This is billed on your Suger invoice.
• You are also billed directly by the AI provider under your own contract for the base model cost
• BYOK usage appears separately in your billing breakdown

Example: If you use $100 worth of GPT-4o via BYOK (based on Suger's standard pricing):

• You pay $100 to OpenAI (under your own API key contract — your actual cost may differ based on your negotiated rate)
• You pay $30 to Suger (30% platform fee calculated on Suger's standard pricing, not your negotiated rate)
• Total: $130

Spending Caps

Your organization has a monthly spending cap that limits total AI spend. The default cap is $300/month. Since every organization receives $100 in monthly credits, the effective out-of-pocket maximum is $200.

• If your month-to-date usage reaches the cap, AI features are temporarily paused
• You'll see a yellow warning banner in the billing dashboard
• AI features automatically resume within a few hours of the 1st of the next month
• To request a cap increase (or to remove it entirely), contact Suger support
• You can see your current cap and usage percentage in the billing dashboard

Invoicing

• Invoices are generated by Stripe at the end of each billing period
• Credits are automatically applied before calculating the amount due
• You can view and download invoices from the Billing History section in Settings > Billing
• Each invoice shows usage amount, credits applied, and final amount due
• Invoice statuses:
  • Draft — being prepared
  • Open — awaiting payment
  • Paid — payment received
  • Void — cancelled
  • Uncollectible — payment attempts exhausted

Payment Issues

If a payment fails:

• Stripe will automatically retry payment according to its retry schedule
• If an invoice remains unpaid for 30+ days past the due date, AI features will be temporarily disabled
• You'll see a red error banner in the billing dashboard with instructions
• Once the payment is resolved, AI features are automatically re-enabled
• To update your payment method, contact Suger support — they can provide a Stripe-hosted link to update your card on file

Summary of Key Numbers

Item	Default
Monthly credit	$100
Monthly spending cap	$300 ($200 after credits)
Platform fee	30%
Credit expiration	End of same month
Credit rollover	No
Payment grace period	30 days past due