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Model Costs Explained

How included managed model use, prepaid top-ups, balance exhaustion, and optional provider keys work.

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One Subscription, One Bounded Model Balance

BrainRoad separates the hosted product from model consumption:

  1. Pro is $29/month for your private Business Brain and hosted helper workspace (Plans & Pricing).
  2. Managed model use is prepaid. The trial includes $5. Pro includes a fresh $5 each calendar month. A $10 top-up adds $11.

There is no metered postpaid billing. Included value is used first. Purchased value is used second, never expires, and does not roll into an automatic charge.

During the Trial

During the 30-day trial, BrainRoad provides $5 of managed model use through an account-specific OpenRouter credential. You do not need a provider account or payment method. See What Happens During Your Trial.

On Pro

At the start of each calendar month, Pro receives a fresh $5 included allowance. Unused included value does not roll over. Purchased top-up value remains until it is used.

The Billing page shows included, purchased, reserved, and consumed value. Use Add $11 for $10 to open Stripe Checkout. Pro accounts can buy up to four top-ups per UTC calendar month. Top-ups are prepaid and cannot create model debt.

At Zero Balance

BrainRoad admits no new managed model work when the available balance reaches zero. Your Business Brain, Inbox, settings, and review history remain available; nothing is deleted. Add a prepaid top-up or use a supported provider key from advanced settings to continue model work.

What Model Usage Costs

Costs depend entirely on which model your helper uses and how much work it does. Longer conversations, bigger documents, and more frequent tasks all mean more tokens. Check your provider’s current pricing page for per-token rates; they change often enough that we do not print them here.

Managing Model Costs

  • Watch the managed balance. Billing shows the server-owned ledger and any amount temporarily reserved for work in progress.
  • Use the managed defaults. Grok 4.5 is the primary managed model, with Kimi K2.6 as fallback.
  • Use your own provider only when you need it. Advanced settings support BYOK for direct provider billing and broader model choice; your provider’s dashboard is then the billing authority.
  • Start small. Begin with one provider and a conservative pattern, then scale once you understand your helper’s typical consumption.