# Usage & billing in the dashboard

Reading the usage meter, the three pools a build draws from, the plan tile's status line, and what the billing page lets you change.

Source: https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/usage

Usage is metered in **megabytes of JavaScript the [cloud engine](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/deployment-modes) processes**: the *input* bytes AfterPack received, not files, builds, requests, or the size of what shipped. Obfuscation [adds bytes](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/comparison) you are not billed for. 1 MB is 10⁶ bytes; the counters track exact bytes, and MB is display only.

[Local Free builds](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/deployment-modes) are unmetered, forever, so nothing on this page applies to them. For what each plan includes (allowance, project limits, overage rates, trials), see [Plans & tiers](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers); this page covers reading and operating the dashboard.

## The workspace overview

The first page you land on.

### The usage meter

Three lines, in the order a build actually spends them:

1. **Plan allowance**: used against total for the current cycle.
2. **Prepaid credit ([Extra MB](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers))**: a one-time top-up balance that never expires and is only touched once the plan allowance is empty.
3. **[Overage](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers)**: MB metered past both pools this cycle, and the amount accrued for them. Overage bills **trailing**: what accrues this cycle appears on next cycle's invoice, not today's.

A build consumes the allowance remainder first, then credits, then overage. A failed meter leaves every pool untouched.

When the workspace is out of allowance, the meter offers two ways out: **Upgrade plan** and **Buy Extra MB**.

### The plan tile

The plan's tier name, a status badge, the billing interval, and one status-aware date line.

| Status | The date line says |
| --- | --- |
| Free | *Resets `{date}`* (when the rolling free window rolls over) |
| Trial | *Trial ends `{date}`* |
| Active | *Renews `{date}`* |
| Payment issue | *Payment issue, grace until `{date}`* |
| Ends soon (cancel scheduled) | *Until `{date}`* |

After the grace period on a payment issue ends, [Pro builds fail closed](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/deployment-modes). The **Billing** item in the sidebar mirrors the same state as a badge: *Trial*, *Past due*, *Blocked* (entitlement lapsed, builds stopped), or *Limit* (allowance exhausted, everything else fine).

### Usage over time

A 30-day daily chart, filterable to a single [project](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/workspaces).

### Recent builds

Every project's builds in one table, with each build's [coverage](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/builds) folded in. See [Builds](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/builds).

## The billing page

- **Current plan**: [tier](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers), status, interval, renewal or end date. Owners can **cancel** (a trial ends immediately; a paid plan runs to the end of the period, then returns to Free) and **resume** a scheduled cancellation; owners and admins can open **Manage billing**, the payment provider's portal where the card lives. Scheduling a cancellation switches **overage off straight away**, while the allowance you paid for stays yours until the end date, [because the overage rail bills trailing](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers). The meter reflects that the moment you cancel.
- **Extra MB**: your prepaid credit balance and the packs you can buy. One-time, no auto-renew, never expires.
- **Plans**: the catalog, a monthly/yearly toggle, and one CTA per plan matching what will happen to *your* subscription: *Subscribe*, *Start trial*, *Upgrade now*, *Downgrade at renewal*, *Cancel change*, *Resume*, *Re-subscribe*. Each states what it will charge before you commit.
- **Activity**: every payment, plan change, Extra MB purchase, and refund on this workspace, naming the plan and billing period, any overage and the period it accrued in, and, for a refund, the payment it reverses.

> **Who can change what**
>
> **Owner only:** change plan, cancel, resume, and the overage setting. **Owner or admin:** open the payment portal, start a checkout. **Any member:** read the billing state.

Payments run through **Creem**, AfterPack's payment provider; see [Plans & tiers](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers) for how billing is organized and [Privacy](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/privacy), which lists Creem as a sub-processor that never receives source. AfterPack never sees or stores your card.

## What happens when the allowance runs out

Nothing breaks locally: [`npx afterpack@latest`](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/cli#usage) keeps producing full [Free-tier protection](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers), unmetered, forever. What stops is cloud escalation, unless overage is available, and the over-quota build [fails closed](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/diagnostics#fail-closed-no-exceptions) with your pools untouched.

## Per-build cost

Every [build page](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/builds) shows its own **Billing** panel: what it metered, and which pools paid for it, useful for seeing why a month was expensive. The builds list sorts by `Billed`, and the column counts input bytes rather than the shipped size.

## Next

- [Plans & tiers](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/tiers): allowances, project limits, overage rates, prices.
- [Accounts](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/accounts): what an account is for, and your own account page.
- [Builds](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/builds): per-build metering.
- [Workspaces & projects](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/workspaces): the roles referenced above.
- [API keys](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/dashboard/api-keys): the credential every metered build authenticates with.
- [Deployment modes](https://www.afterpack.dev/docs/deployment-modes): why a local build is never metered at all.