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Billing

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Compute Billing

Instant Clusters offer two compute billing options: reserved and on-demand.
  • Reservations – Credits are charged upfront or deducted for the full reserved duration once the cluster is provisioned. Any usage beyond the reserved capacity is billed at on-demand rates.
  • On-Demand – Pay only for the time your cluster is running, with no upfront commitment.
See our pricing page for current rates.

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Storage Billing

Storage is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, as detailed on our pricing page. You can freely increase your storage volume size, with all usage billed at the same rate. To decrease the storage volume size, please contact your account team.

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Viewing Usage and Invoices

You can view your current usage anytime on the Billing page in Settings. Each invoice includes a detailed breakdown of reservation, burst, and on-demand usage for compute and storage.

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Cluster and Storage Lifecycles

Clusters and storage volumes follow different lifecycle policies:
  • Compute Clusters – Clusters are automatically decommissioned when their reservation period ends. To extend a reservation, go the cloud console, “Cluster Details” view and then click the “Extend Reservation” button
  • Storage Volumes – Storage volumes are persistent and remain available as long as your billing account is in good standing. They are not automatically deleted. The user data persists as long as you use the static PV we provide.

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Running Out of Credits

When your credits are exhausted, resources behave differently depending on their type:
  • Reserved Compute – Existing reservations remain active until their scheduled end date. Any additional on-demand capacity used to scale beyond the reservation is decommissioned.
  • Fully On-Demand Compute – Clusters are first paused and then decommissioned if credits are not restored.
  • Storage Volumes – Access is revoked first, and the data is later decommissioned.
You will receive alerts before these actions take place. For questions or assistance, please contact your billing team.

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Access Billing Dashboard

  1. Log into api.together.ai
  2. Navigate to Settings > Billing
  3. View current usage, credits, and invoices

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Invoice Breakdown

Each invoice includes detailed line items for:
  • Reserved compute – Upfront reservation charges
  • On-demand compute – Hourly burst capacity usage
  • Storage – Shared volume usage per TiB
  • Usage period – Exact timeframes for each charge

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Lifecycle Policies

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Cluster Lifecycle

Reserved clusters:
  • Automatically decommissioned when the reservation period ends with a 24-hour email notification
  • Extend directly from the cloud console in the cluster view or reach out to support
On-demand clusters:
  • Run until manually terminated
  • Can be stopped/started anytime
  • No automatic decommissioning

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Storage Lifecycle

Shared volumes:
  • Persist independently of cluster lifecycle
  • Remain available across cluster creation/deletion
  • Must be manually deleted if no longer needed
  • Data persists as long as you use static PersistentVolumes

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Best Practices

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Cost Optimization

  • Use reserved capacity for predictable baseline workloads
  • Add on-demand only during burst periods
  • Right-size storage – Start small and scale as needed
  • Monitor usage regularly in the billing dashboard
  • Delete unused storage to avoid ongoing charges

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Budget Planning

  • Reserved capacity – Calculate total cost upfront (GPUs × hours × rate)
  • On-demand capacity – Estimate based on expected burst hours
  • Storage – Account for data growth over time
  • Buffer – Add 10-20% for unexpected scaling needs
Reserved capacity offers significant discounts compared to on-demand for all tiers. View detailed pricing →

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Common Questions

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Can I get a refund for unused reservation time?

No, reservations are non-refundable. The full reservation period is charged upfront and cannot be cancelled or partially refunded.

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What happens if I scale beyond my reservation?

Additional capacity is automatically billed at on-demand rates. You’ll see separate line items on your invoice for reserved and on-demand usage.

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How is storage billed if my cluster is terminated?

Storage is billed separately and continues to accrue charges even when no cluster is using it. Delete unused volumes to stop storage charges.

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Can I pause a cluster to save costs?

Reserved clusters cannot be paused – you’re charged for the full reservation period. On-demand clusters can be terminated and recreated later, but there’s no “pause” function.

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When does my reservation start?

The reservation period begins immediately when the cluster is provisioned and reaches “Ready” status.

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Support

For billing questions or issues:

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What’s Next?