> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Plan tiers
> How your plan tier is resolved and how it affects quotas, instance types, and machine lifecycle
export const billingPlans = {
"free": {
"id": "free",
"name": "Free",
"tagline": "One managed machine to try it, or your own cloud from day one.",
"monthlyPriceEur": 0,
"price": {
"amount": "€0",
"period": "/mo",
"billingNote": "No card required"
},
"limits": {
"managedClusters": 1,
"managedMachines": 1,
"cpuCores": 2,
"memoryGiB": 4,
"machineTtlDays": 7,
"instanceTypes": "small"
},
"behavior": {
"trialMachine": {
"trialExpiryAction": "suspend",
"snapshotRetentionDays": 90,
"resumeOnProUpgrade": true
},
"ai": {
"monthlyBudgetUsd": {
"status": "decided",
"usd": 1
},
"scope": "workspace",
"aiForecastPercent": 80,
"aiIncludedPercent": 100,
"atBudget": "upgrade-message",
"allowancePercent": 100,
"additionalSpendCharge": "none"
}
},
"presentation": {
"persona": ["Enough to try your first business tool."],
"capacity": ["Your trial machine is on us."],
"capacityScope": ["For running apps; the AI allowance is separate."],
"aiAllowance": ["AI help included, with an allowance."],
"aiTaskEstimate": ["Enough for about ", {
"fact": "monthlyAiTasks"
}, " everyday AI tasks per month (estimate)."],
"limitPolicy": ["We email you a forecast at ", {
"fact": "aiForecastPercent"
}, "% of your AI allowance. At the allowance, you get a friendly upgrade message; nothing is charged automatically."],
"trial": ["Trial hosting pauses after ", {
"fact": "trialDays"
}, " days. We keep your data for ", {
"fact": "retentionDays"
}, " days; upgrade to Pro to resume."]
},
"support": "Community",
"billing": "None",
"features": [{
"id": "managed-clusters",
"label": "1 managed cluster"
}, {
"id": "compute-machines",
"label": "1 managed machine as a one-time trial"
}, {
"id": "compute-shape",
"label": "2 CPU cores, 4 GiB memory"
}, {
"id": "instance-types",
"label": "Small instance types"
}, {
"id": "machine-ttl",
"label": "Trial pauses after 7 days; data kept 90 days"
}, {
"id": "byom",
"label": "Your own cloud key bypasses compute resource quotas"
}]
},
"pro": {
"id": "pro",
"name": "Pro",
"tagline": "Production on managed machines. Nothing expires.",
"monthlyPriceEur": 20,
"price": {
"amount": "€20",
"period": "/mo",
"billingNote": "Per workspace, billed monthly"
},
"limits": {
"managedClusters": 3,
"managedMachines": 3,
"cpuCores": 8,
"memoryGiB": 16,
"machineTtlDays": null,
"instanceTypes": "all"
},
"behavior": {
"trialMachine": null,
"ai": {
"monthlyBudgetUsd": {
"status": "decided",
"usd": 5
},
"scope": "workspace",
"aiForecastPercent": 80,
"aiIncludedPercent": 100,
"atBudget": "team-alert-and-continue",
"allowancePercent": 200,
"additionalSpendCharge": "none"
}
},
"presentation": {
"persona": ["Enough for the everyday tools of a small business."],
"capacity": ["Machines billed per machine, price shown before ordering."],
"capacityScope": ["Machine charges are separate from the platform subscription and AI allowance."],
"aiAllowance": ["AI help included, with extra room at our cost."],
"aiTaskEstimate": ["Enough for about ", {
"fact": "monthlyAiTasks"
}, " everyday AI tasks per month (estimate)."],
"limitPolicy": ["We email you a forecast at ", {
"fact": "aiForecastPercent"
}, "% of your AI allowance. Your work keeps going up to ", {
"fact": "proAllowanceMultiple"
}, "x the allowance at no extra charge, and our team is alerted when you reach the included allowance."],
"trial": ["Your apps keep running while the plan is active."]
},
"support": "Standard",
"billing": "Monthly, self-serve",
"features": [{
"id": "managed-clusters",
"label": "Up to 3 managed clusters"
}, {
"id": "compute-machines",
"label": "Up to 3 managed machines"
}, {
"id": "compute-shape",
"label": "8 CPU cores, 16 GiB memory"
}, {
"id": "instance-types",
"label": "Every instance type your provider offers"
}, {
"id": "machine-ttl",
"label": "No machine expiry"
}, {
"id": "cancel",
"label": "Cancel any time; machines are suspended, not deleted"
}]
},
"enterprise": {
"id": "enterprise",
"name": "Enterprise",
"tagline": "Your own control plane, your own limits, our people to migrate you.",
"monthlyPriceEur": null,
"price": {
"amount": "Custom",
"billingNote": "Annual contract"
},
"limits": {
"managedClusters": "custom",
"managedMachines": "custom",
"cpuCores": "custom",
"memoryGiB": "custom",
"machineTtlDays": null,
"instanceTypes": "all-plus-reserved"
},
"behavior": {
"trialMachine": null,
"ai": null
},
"presentation": {
"persona": ["Capacity planned around your company."],
"capacity": ["Managed compute capacity by agreement."],
"capacityScope": ["For running apps; the AI allowance is separate."],
"aiAllowance": ["AI allowance by agreement."],
"aiTaskEstimate": [],
"limitPolicy": ["We agree your capacity and AI allowance with you."],
"trial": ["Hosting terms by agreement."]
},
"support": "Dedicated engineering contact",
"billing": "Annual, usage-based, invoiced",
"features": [{
"id": "custom-limits",
"label": "Custom limits per workspace"
}, {
"id": "dedicated-control-plane",
"label": "Dedicated, isolated control planes"
}, {
"id": "reserved-capacity",
"label": "Reserved capacity with any provider"
}, {
"id": "dedicated-contact",
"label": "A dedicated engineering contact"
}, {
"id": "migration",
"label": "Hands-on migration support"
}, {
"id": "invoicing",
"label": "One consolidated invoice, usage-based"
}]
}
};
Your plan tier determines your resource limits, available instance types, and machine lifecycle rules. Akua resolves your effective tier through a specific chain, and understanding this helps you predict what happens when you upgrade, downgrade, or work across multiple workspaces.
## Tier resolution
### Workspace tier
Each workspace has its own plan:
* **No active subscription** → Free tier
* **Pro plan active** → Pro tier (set automatically when you subscribe)
The workspace tier controls quota limits, instance type filtering, and machine TTL.
### User tier
Some operations use a user-level tier such as rate limit naming and quota info display. Your user tier is the **highest tier across all your workspaces**:
* You belong to 3 workspaces: 2 Free + 1 Pro → your user tier is **Pro**
* You belong to 2 workspaces: both Free → your user tier is **Free**
Upgrading one workspace to Pro also elevates your personal rate limits.
## What each tier controls
### Instance type filtering
When your cluster scales, the available instance types depend on the workspace tier:
| Tier | Available instance types |
| - | - |
| Free | Small, affordable types only |
| Pro | All types from the provider |
| BYOM (any tier) | All types in your cloud account |
### Quota enforcement
Resource quotas for Akua-managed machines are enforced when a machine record is created. Launch-concurrency limits apply to both Akua-managed and BYOM machines.
See the [plan comparison](/pricing#plan-comparison) for machine, CPU, memory, and cluster limits. Pro's compute limits are safety ceilings; machine charges are separate. BYOM bypasses machine, CPU, and memory quotas.
Free-tier workspaces are also subject to a per-user check to prevent circumventing limits by creating multiple free workspaces. Pro workspaces skip this check.
The Free machine allowance is the account's **one-time managed-VM trial**, across every workspace and organization. Deleting the trial machine releases the occupied slot but does not grant another trial. Pro has ongoing safety limits, with machines billed separately. See [the one-time managed-VM trial](/platform/quotas#the-one-time-managed-vm-trial).
### Machine TTL
| Tier | TTL | What happens |
| - | - | - |
| Free (Akua-managed) | {billingPlans.free.limits.machineTtlDays} days | Paused with advance notifications; upgrade to Pro to resume; the one-time trial is not restored |
| Pro (Akua-managed) | No limit | Runs until manually deleted or suspended |
| BYOM (any tier) | No limit | You pay the provider directly |
The TTL is the trial hosting period, not a recurring reset. The account's one-time trial stays consumed when hosting pauses or the machine is deleted manually. See [trial recovery](/compute/machines#free-tier-machine-lifetime) for retention and resuming on Pro.
### Auto-scaling behavior
| Tier | Auto-scaling |
| - | - |
| Free | Enabled within quota ({billingPlans.free.limits.managedMachines} machine max) |
| Pro | Enabled within quota ({billingPlans.pro.limits.managedMachines} machines max) |
| Downgraded (was Pro) | Paused automatically when subscription ends |
## When tiers change
### Upgrade (Free to Pro)
Takes effect immediately:
1. All provider instance types become available (not just small types).
2. Quotas increase to the [Pro limits](/pricing#plan-comparison).
3. Trial expiry is removed; suspended trial machines resume.
4. Auto-scaling limits expand.
### Downgrade (Pro to Free)
Takes effect at the end of the billing period:
1. Akua-managed machines are [suspended](/clusters/machines#suspend-and-resume) (not deleted).
2. Auto-scaling is paused on managed clusters.
3. Quotas revert to free limits.
4. Instance type filtering returns to small types only.
5. BYOM machines are unaffected.
### BYOM (any tier)
Adding your own cloud API key bypasses resource quota enforcement. Launch-concurrency and rate limits still apply:
* No machine count limit.
* No CPU or memory limit.
* No TTL.
* All instance types available in your cloud account.
The only Akua charge is the management subscription. Cloud compute costs go directly to your provider.
## Related topics
Upgrade, manage, and cancel your subscription.
Full plan comparison with included limits.
How resource quotas are enforced across workspaces.
Connect your own cloud machines to bypass compute limits.
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