---
title: "Billing"
summary: "What counts as a paid account, what is free, and where to see your usage."
updated: "2026-09-30"
status: stable
origin: official
url: "https://swooshconnect.com/docs/billing/"
---

# Billing

What counts as a paid account, what is free, and where to see your usage.

## For AI agents

- DO read `list_accounts` before connecting more accounts. It returns the current billing position.
- MUST expect one paid slot per account connected through SwooshConnect: $12 per year each.
- MUST NOT assume disconnecting an account refunds or frees its slot before the 7-day grace window ends.
- DO expect a `connect_account` call to fail with a payment error when the free accounts are used and no payment method is ready.
- NEVER claim agents cost money. Agents are free.
- MUST count a saved AI key (Accounts, AI key) as a connected account that uses a slot. A key typed only into an agent's deploy form is not stored by SwooshConnect and uses none.
- MUST NOT assume one `connect_account` call is one billable account: one connect link can create several accounts, because the client chooses how many to connect from their grant. Read `list_accounts` afterwards for the real count.
- DO send the user to the portal page Usage & plan for exact counts. Do not compute billing yourself.

## The rule

SwooshConnect: you pay for what you connect. Nothing else.

- Each account connected through SwooshConnect holds one slot. A slot costs $12 per year.
- Your first two accounts are free.
- Every account costs the same, whatever the platform and however many calls you make.
- Agents are free. You pay for the accounts they use, not for the agents.

## How a slot works

- A slot is held for one year from the day an account claims it.
- Disconnecting an account does not hand the slot back. This stops one slot being rotated through many clients.
- If you disconnect within 7 days of claiming, the slot is released. That window is for a wrong account or a wrong client.
- A free slot stays free after you start paying for others.

## Bring your own key

A key you own and use in your own code is not a connected account. If you type a key into an agent's deploy form, it is sent to your own project and not stored by us. That is free and uses no slot. A saved AI key is different: when you connect an AI key through SwooshConnect (Accounts, AI key), we hold it, so it counts as a connected account and uses a slot like any other. Connecting an account through SwooshConnect so that we hold and manage it is what uses a slot.

## When payment blocks a call

A call that needs a payment method, or paid accounts paused until a renewal clears, fails with HTTP 402 and the code payment_required. The error's reason field says which. Free accounts keep working.

## Where to see usage

In the portal open Usage & plan. It shows how many accounts are connected, how many free positions you hold out of two, how many are paid, and the billing status. Cancel from the billing portal there.

> **Note:** Prices and the free allowance on this page come from the live product settings, so they match what the portal charges.