Crypto APIs’ Pay‑As‑You‑Go Model: Credits, Tiers, and Cost Control

For blockchain developers, exchanges, and financial institutions, ensuring uninterrupted access to reliable crypto infrastructure is critical. Whether you're building a DeFi protocol or integrating blockchain data into your app, the last thing you want is an API limit blocking your operations.

That’s where Crypto APIs’ Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) model comes in—providing the flexibility to scale usage without hitting a hard stop. In this post, we’ll break down how the PAYG model works, how API credits are consumed, and how throughput limits (soft and hard) affect your usage and billing.

1. What Is the Pay-As-You-Go Model?

The Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) model offered by Crypto APIs ensures that your access to blockchain data and infrastructure never stops—regardless of usage spikes. Instead of cutting off service when you exceed your plan’s monthly credits, Crypto APIs seamlessly transitions your account into PAYG mode.

In this model:

• You continue accessing all APIs beyond your plan’s included credits.
   
• Usage beyond the monthly limit is charged at a slightly higher per-credit rate.
   
• There’s no disruption—just seamless scaling when you need it most.

This makes PAYG ideal for businesses with unpredictable workloads, launches, or seasonal traffic spikes.

2. Understanding API Credits

Crypto APIs uses a credit-based billing system. Each API request consumes a set number of credits, depending on the complexity and resource intensity of the endpoint.

All monthly plans come with a set number of credits. When you reach your limit, you have two options:

• Upgrade to a higher-tier plan with more credits and better rates, or
   
• Automatically continue via PAYG, where you’re billed only for the extra credits you use at a slightly higher per-unit price.

This model provides cost control while also ensuring zero service interruption.

All APIs—including blockchain data, transaction broadcasting, webhook subscriptions, and node access—remain fully available whether you're within your plan or in PAYG mode.

3. Throughput Limits: Soft vs. Hard Rate Caps (Per Second)

In addition to monthly credits, Crypto APIs enforces throughput limits, which control how many credits can be consumed per second.

These limits help maintain performance, prevent abuse, and allow predictable scaling.

🔹 Soft Limit (per second)

The soft limit is the number of credits you can consume each second at normal pricing. For example, if your plan allows 3,000 credits per second, you can use that amount continuously without overage charges.

If you temporarily exceed the soft limit but stay under the hard limit, your requests are still processed, but the credits consumed are charged at a higher multiplier rate (based on your plan).

This allows for flexibility during usage bursts while gently encouraging optimization.

🔹 Hard Limit (per second)

The hard limit is the maximum number of credits you can consume in a single second. If your requests exceed this threshold, additional calls are temporarily throttled and return a 429 Too Many Requests response.

⚠️ Important: This throttling is momentary—not permanent.
The limit resets every second, meaning you can immediately resume sending new requests in the next second, as long as you're back within allowed throughput.

This second-based reset allows short bursts to be gracefully handled without degrading your overall experience.

💡 PAYG and Rate Limits

Even when operating in PAYG mode, the same soft and hard throughput limits apply:

• Exceeding the soft limit triggers overage pricing per credit.
   
• Exceeding the hard limit triggers temporary throttling for that second only.

So while credit usage may scale with your business needs, request rate per second still follows fair-use and performance rules to protect overall system health.

4. What Happens When You Hit Your Monthly Limit?

Once you use up all the credits in your monthly plan, Crypto APIs automatically allows you to continue operations using Pay-As-You-Go billing—or gives you the option to upgrade to a higher plan.

This means you’re never forced into downtime or service interruptions.

You can:

• Upgrade to a higher plan to reduce your cost per credit and raise throughput thresholds, or
   
• Keep using the service in PAYG mode, paying only for the additional credits you consume beyond your plan.

No need to worry about approval workflows or manual account changes—your systems continue running, and you stay in full control.

5. Monitor Usage and Stay Informed

Crypto APIs provides a comprehensive dashboard that lets you track your:

• Credit usage
   
• Current throughput rate
   
• PAYG activity
   
• Remaining monthly quota

Monitoring your usage in real time helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or how much PAYG you're incurring—giving you greater visibility and control over your infrastructure costs.

Final Thoughts

Crypto APIs’ Pay-As-You-Go model is designed to provide maximum flexibility, scalability, and continuity. Whether you’re on a free plan or running production infrastructure, the transition to PAYG ensures that your services stay live—even under unexpected demand.

With clear per-credit pricing, second-based throughput limits (soft and hard), and a seamless upgrade path, the PAYG system ensures:

• No downtime
   
• No surprise blocks
   
• No disruption to your users

You get full access to all API features across all plans, and only pay for what you use - when you use it.