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Runpod uses a credit-based billing system where you add funds to your account and charges are deducted as you use resources. All compute and storage charges are billed per second, with no fees for data transfer.

Credits and balance

Your Runpod account balance represents prepaid credits that are consumed as you use resources. Credits are deducted in real-time based on your active Pods, Serverless endpoints, and storage. To add credits to your account:
  1. Navigate to the Billing page in the Runpod console.
  2. Select a dollar amount for credits to add (or click Other to enter a custom amount).
  3. Complete the payment using your preferred payment method.
You can view your current balance and recent transactions on the Billing page at any time.

Low balance behavior

Runpod monitors your account balance and takes protective action when funds run low:
  • When your balance is projected to cover less than 10 seconds of remaining runtime, Runpod automatically stops all your Pods.
  • Stopped Pods retain their volume storage, but you continue to accrue storage charges.
  • If your balance is completely depleted, Pods and their associated storage may be deleted.

Auto-pay

Auto-pay automatically reloads your account balance when it falls below a threshold, helping you avoid service interruptions from low funds. To configure auto-pay:
  1. Navigate to the Billing page in the Runpod console.
  2. Add a credit card to your account if you haven’t already.
  3. Enable auto-pay and configure your settings:
    • Threshold: The balance at which auto-pay triggers.
    • Amount: The dollar amount to add when triggered.
When your balance drops near your configured threshold, Runpod charges your default saved card for the auto-pay amount. To prevent excessive charges, auto-pay attempts are limited to once per hour.

Minimum balance requirements

To deploy a new Pod, your account must have at least one hour’s worth of credits for your selected configuration. If your balance is insufficient, you can deposit additional funds, select a lower-cost GPU, or use a Spot instance.

Payment methods

Runpod accepts several payment methods:
MethodDetails
Credit cardVisa, Mastercard, American Express, and other cards supported by Stripe. Prepaid cards should deposit at least $100 per transaction.
CryptocurrencyAccepted via integrated payment processors. Complete any required KYC verification before your first crypto payment.
Business invoicingAvailable for transactions over $5,000. Supports ACH, wire transfer, and credit card. Contact our sales team to set up invoicing.
If your card is declined, see Manage payment card declines for troubleshooting steps.

Spending limits

Runpod accounts have a default spend limit of $80 per hour across all resources. This limit protects your account from unexpected charges due to misconfigured workloads or runaway processes. Spending limits increase automatically over time based on your account history. If you need a higher limit immediately, contact support with details about your use case.

Pricing by product

Each Runpod product has its own pricing structure. See the detailed pricing pages for rates and billing specifics:

Storage pricing summary

Storage is billed based on type and usage:
Storage typeRateBilling frequency
Container disk (running Pods)$0.10/GB/monthPer second
Volume disk (running Pods)$0.10/GB/monthPer second
Volume disk (stopped Pods)$0.20/GB/monthPer second
Network volumes (under 1TB)$0.07/GB/monthHourly
Network volumes (over 1TB)$0.05/GB/monthHourly
You are not charged for storage when the host machine is unavailable.
Runpod is not designed for long-term data storage. Storage supports active compute workloads. If your account runs out of funds, storage may be deleted and cannot be recovered. Back up critical data regularly to external storage.

View spending history

To review your spending and payment history:
  1. Navigate to the Billing page.
  2. Review recent spending in the Billing Explorer section.
For detailed cost attribution by team or project, see Cost centers.

Refunds and credits

Runpod credits are non-refundable and cannot be withdrawn once deposited. Credits can only be used for Runpod services. If you’re new to Runpod and want to evaluate the platform, you can start with as little as $10. Visit the Discord community to ask questions before committing to a larger deposit.

Billing support

If you have questions about billing or believe you’ve been charged incorrectly, contact support with the following information:
  • Your account email address.
  • The resource type (Pod, Serverless endpoint, or storage).
  • The resource ID or name.
  • The date and approximate time of the charge in question.
For general questions about planning your Runpod expenses, email help@runpod.io.