# General Translation Platform: Managing billing
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/docs/platform/dashboard/guides/managing-billing.mdx
---

title: Managing billing
description: "How to manage billing in General Translation: this guide covers plans, usage-based pricing, prepaid credits, and auto-reload in the Dashboard."
related:
  links:
    - /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/reviewing-translations
    - /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/adding-translation-context
    - /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/adding-annotations

---

This guide covers General Translation's usage-based billing, pricing, credits, and auto-reload.

*Note: Manage everything from the **Billing** page for your Organisation in the Dashboard.*

## General Translation plans [#plans]

Start for free. Add a payment method to enable usage-based billing:

* **Starter — $0/month.** For individuals and small teams. There is no monthly fee; you pay only for what you use. Includes unlimited users, projects, and languages, plus the [Translation Editor](/docs/platform/dashboard/guides/reviewing-translations), GitHub integration, and the [Locadex](/docs/platform/locadex/quickstart) AI agent.
* **Enterprise — custom.** For larger teams with complex localisation needs. Everything in Starter, plus forward-deployed localisation engineers, custom workflows for any file format or framework, shared context across every Project, and enterprise-grade security, SLAs, and support.

Each free organisation gets 5M free translation credits to start. You will be rate-limited until you add a payment method.

## Usage-based billing [#usage]

You pay per workflow: the cost is based on the number of input tokens, workflow type (buildtime, runtime, or development), file format, and any context you provide.

### Base workflow rates [#base-rates]

Translation is charged per input token at a base rate set by file format and workflow type. All rates are per 10,000 input tokens:

| Format                  | Build-time | Runtime | Development |
| ----------------------- | ---------- | ------- | ----------- |
| GT                      | $20        | $1      | $4          |
| MDX / Markdown          | $10        | —       | —           |
| JSON                    | $10        | —       | —           |
| YAML                    | $10        | —       | —           |
| TypeScript / JavaScript | $10        | —       | —           |
| HTML                    | $10        | —       | —           |
| Plain text              | $10        | —       | —           |
| PO / POT                | $10        | —       | —           |

### Context and agent rates [#context-agent]

* **Context** — providing extra context to guide translation adds **$0.2 per 1,000 context tokens**, set per Project.
* **Locadex** — agent runs are priced separately and metered in **Locadex Compute Units (LCUs)** at **$5 per LCU**. An LCU measures the resources an agent uses from start to finish.

*Example: translating 1,000 tokens of Markdown with 3,000 tokens of context costs $1.06.*

See the [usage rates](https://generaltranslation.com/pricing/usage) page for more information.

## How the credit balance works [#credits]

Your **credit balance** is a prepaid wallet for translation usage, shown on the **Billing** page and denominated in dollars ($1 = 1M credits). The balance is split into buckets:

* **Purchased** — credits you purchased.
* **Granted** — any one-off sign-up credit.
* **Included** — any credits included with your plan.

Every translation deducts its estimated cost from your balance. Purchased credits are non-refundable and expire one year from the purchase date.

### Buying credits [#buying-credits]

Choose **Buy Credits** on the Billing page and enter an **Amount** to charge to your default payment method. The dialogue shows the allowed range for your plan (the Starter minimum is $10). 

### Auto-reload [#auto-reload]

Auto-reload keeps your balance topped up automatically when your balance falls below a certain threshold. It is off by default. To turn it on, choose **Auto Reload** on the Billing page, turn on **Enable Auto Reload**, and set:

* **Minimum Balance** — when your balance goes below this, a reload is triggered.
* **Reload to** — the target balance to top your credits back up to.
* **Usage Limit** (optional) — a hard cap on total usage spend per billing period.

When usage reaches the limit you've set, billing is blocked even with auto-reload on. 

### When your balance runs out [#running-out]

What happens at $0 depends on auto-reload:

* **Auto-reload off (default):** API access is blocked until you buy more credits, and requests are rejected as soon as the estimated cost exceeds your available balance. Your card is never charged on its own.
* **Auto-reload on:** your card is charged automatically to top up to your Reload to target amount. A Usage Limit, if set, still applies as a hard cap.

## Upgrading your plan [#upgrading]

### Upgrade to Starter [#to-starter]

Because Starter has no monthly fee, upgrading simply means adding a payment method. On the **Billing** page, choose **Manage Billing** and add a card and billing address.

Upgrading removes your rate limit and also unlocks features including: Locadex, team invites, auto-reload, the Translation Editor, version branching, and unlimited Projects. 

### Upgrade to Enterprise [#to-enterprise]

Enterprise plans include custom pricing and terms for larger teams, including: custom integrations, a custom SLA, forward-deployed engineers, and enterprise security and support.

Join teams like Ramp, Cursor, and Profound. [Contact](https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/enterprise) the General Translation team to set up an Enterprise plan.
## Next steps

- /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/reviewing-translations
- /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/adding-translation-context
- /docs/platform/dashboard/guides/adding-annotations