> For clean Markdown of any page, append `.md` to the page URL.
> Documentation index: https://you.com/docs/llms.txt (section indexes: append `/llms.txt` to any section URL).
> Search these docs: Docs MCP at https://you.com/docs/_mcp/server (`searchDocs`, no API key).
> Call live You.com APIs: Product MCP at https://api.you.com/mcp (keyless `?profile=free` exposes `you-search` and `you-discover`. Research and finance use `/mcp/research`, `/mcp/finance`, or `?tools=` on `/mcp`). To pick an API or integration path, call `you-discover` on that server instead of guessing.
> OpenAPI: https://you.com/docs/openapi.json—auth header `X-API-Key`, env `YDC_API_KEY`.

# Billing

## Credits Overview

You.com uses a pay-as-you-go credit system for API access. You only pay for what you use.

> **Note**
>
> Credits are one of two ways to pay. If you are building an agent rather than provisioning access for a person, [machine payments](/docs/administration/machine-payments) let it call the Web Search API with no account and no key, settling each request on-chain instead of drawing down a balance.

---

## API Pricing

### Web Search API

| Pricing    | Details                                      |
| ---------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **\$5.00** | per 1,000 calls (up to 100 results per call) |

**What's included:**

* Web and news results in a single unified request
* Up to 100 results per call
* News endpoint at no extra cost
* [Knowledge](/docs/guides/search/knowledge) results from licensed data providers at no extra cost
* LLM-ready highlights or snippets with rich metadata
* Country and language targeting filters

**Full page extraction add-on:**

| Pricing    | Details                      |
| ---------- | ---------------------------- |
| **\$1.00** | per 1,000 pages fetched live |

Full page content (HTML or Markdown) is billed separately. It is invoked via the `extraction` parameter on the Web Search API, with `extraction_mode` set to `full_page`.

Only pages crawled live are billed. The `extraction_source` field on the `extraction` object decides how many of those there are:

| Source            | What you pay                                                                    |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `blend` (default) | \$1.00 per 1,000 pages crawled live. Pages served from cache are free           |
| `cache`           | Nothing beyond the base call price. Cached content carries no extraction charge |
| `fetch`           | \$1.00 per 1,000 pages. Every result is crawled live                            |

**Example:** A single call with `count=10` and `extraction_mode: "full_page"` returns 10 web results and 10 news results—20 pages total. This call leaves `extraction_source` unset, so it runs `blend`. Say 2 of the 20 pages are already cached and the other 18 are crawled live.

| Line item                          | Calculation               | Cost        |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ----------- |
| Web Search API call                | 1 call × \$5.00 / 1,000   | \$0.005     |
| Full page extraction, crawled live | 18 pages × \$1.00 / 1,000 | \$0.018     |
| Full page extraction, from cache   | 2 pages × \$0.00          | \$0.000     |
| **Total**                          |                           | **\$0.023** |

Cache coverage varies by query and by how recently the pages were crawled, so treat the split above as one outcome rather than a rate to budget against. The ceiling for this call is \$0.025, when all 20 pages are crawled live. The floor is \$0.005, which is what `extraction_source: "cache"` costs on any call, with no extraction charge at all.

### Contents API

| Pricing    | Details         |
| ---------- | --------------- |
| **\$1.00** | per 1,000 pages |

**What's included:**

* Batch multiple URLs per request
* Clean Markdown or raw HTML output
* Python SDK, MCP Server, and REST API access
* No browser automation or HTML parsing required

### Answer API

| Pricing    | Details         |
| ---------- | --------------- |
| **\$5.00** | per 1,000 calls |

**What's included:**

* Synthesized, citation-backed answers from real-time web results
* Inline numbered citations linked to source URLs with verbatim excerpts
* Web results used during synthesis, whether cited or not
* Freshness, locale, domain, and safesearch controls

### Research API

Research effort tiers control the depth of analysis. Higher tiers allocate more compute for deeper reasoning and more sources.

| Tier         | Price per 1k | Latency                                 | Use case                                                       |
| ------------ | ------------ | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `lite`       | \$12         | \< 10s                                  | Quick factual lookups, simple searches                         |
| `standard`   | \$50         | \~10–30s                                | Balanced depth for most production use (default)               |
| `deep`       | \$100        | \< 120s                                 | Complex multi-source research and synthesis                    |
| `exhaustive` | \$450        | \< 300s                                 | Comprehensive analysis across dozens of sources                |
| `frontier`   | \$1,200      | Background only. 30s–12000s (p50: 300s) | Long-running deep research tasks. Requires `background: true`. |

A synchronous request holds the connection for the full run. Set your HTTP client timeout above the tier's upper bound—longer than 120s for `deep` and 300s for `exhaustive`—or send `background: true` and collect the result with [background requests](/docs/guides/research/background-requests).

**What's included:**

* Cited, source-backed answers with inline references
* Multi-step search and synthesis pipeline
* Higher tiers = more sources, deeper reasoning, higher accuracy

### Finance Research API

Finance Research effort tiers control the depth of financial analysis. Higher tiers allocate more compute for deeper reasoning and more sources. The API searches a purpose-built financial index covering company fundamentals, equity and commodity prices, SEC filings, and financial news.

| Tier         | Price per 1k | Latency | Use case                                                                                                                |
| ------------ | ------------ | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `deep`       | \$110        | \< 120s | Multi-source analysis—earnings summaries, competitive benchmarking, regulatory research, multi-quarter trends (default) |
| `exhaustive` | \$500        | \< 300s | Comprehensive research—deep due diligence, full 10-K analysis, cross-market research                                    |

The Finance Research API has no background mode, so every request holds the connection until the answer is ready. Set your HTTP client timeout longer than 120s for `deep` and 300s for `exhaustive`.

**What's included:**

* Cited, source-backed answers from a finance-optimized index
* Multi-step search and synthesis pipeline
* Higher tiers = more sources, deeper reasoning, higher accuracy
* Same request-response pattern and response shape as the Research API

*See [you.com/pricing](https://you.com/pricing) for more details.*

---

## Managing Your Account

### Viewing your usage and balance

To view your current credit balance and usage:

1. Sign in to [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform)
2. Navigate to the billing section of your dashboard
3. View your remaining credits and usage history

You can also retrieve your balance programmatically using the [Account Balance API](/docs/api-reference/billing/get-account-balance).

```bash
curl -sS -X GET "https://api.you.com/v1/billing/account_balance" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $YDC_API_KEY" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"
```

The response contains a `balance` field expressed in cents. Divide by 100 to convert to USD (e.g., `744300.0` = \$7,443.00):

```json
{
  "data": {
    "type": "account",
    "id": "<hashed-account-id>",
    "attributes": {
      "balance": 744300.0
    }
  }
}
```

The billing entity depends on your account type:

* **Organization members**—the balance reflects the shared credit pool for your entire organization.
* **Individual users**—the balance reflects credits on your personal account.

### Adding credits

To add credits to your account:

1. Go to [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform)
2. Navigate to the billing section
3. Select the amount you'd like to add and confirm payment

### Payment methods

You can add and manage payment methods from the billing section of your dashboard. You.com accepts major credit and debit cards.

### Capping spend per API key

Credits are shared across every key on your account or organization. To stop one key from drawing down that balance—a development key or an agent that runs unattended—set a [spending cap](/docs/administration/api-keys#spending-caps) on it from the API Keys page.

---

## Auto Top-Up

Auto Top-Up automatically purchases credits when your balance falls below a configured threshold. This is the recommended way to prevent service interruptions on production workloads.

### Overview

| Property     | Value                                                                 |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Scope        | Organization (tenant-level)                                           |
| Permissions  | Admin or Owner only to configure; all members can view                |
| Payment      | Default payment method on file                                        |
| Trigger      | Balance falls below the configured threshold                          |
| Notification | Email to organization admins on enable, disable, success, and failure |

### Requirements

Auto Top-Up requires:

1. **A payment method on file.** Managed under **Billing → Payment methods**.
2. **A designated default payment method.** If multiple cards are on file, one must be marked as the default. With a single card, it is treated as default automatically.
3. **An [Admin or Owner role](/docs/administration/team-management)** on the organization.

The **Enable Auto Top-Up** control is disabled in the UI until a default payment method is set.

### Configuring Auto Top-Up

**Fields**

| Field              | Description                                                     | Constraints                               |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Enabled**        | Toggles Auto Top-Up on or off.                                  | —                                         |
| **Threshold**      | The credit balance at or below which a top-up is triggered.     | Positive, whole-dollar amount.            |
| **Top-up amount**  | The amount to charge when a top-up is triggered.                | Must be **≥ threshold**.                  |
| **Payment method** | The card to charge. Read-only; managed via **Payment methods**. | Must be the org's default payment method. |

**Enable flow**

1. Navigate to **Billing**.
2. In the **Credit balance** card, select **Enable Auto Top-Up**.
3. Enter the threshold and top-up amount.
4. Confirm the default payment method shown.
5. Review and confirm. An explicit confirmation step is required before the setting is saved, because enabling authorizes future off-session charges.

> **Info**
>
> **Immediate execution on enable.** If your current balance is already below the threshold when you enable Auto Top-Up—or if you later raise the threshold above your current balance—a top-up fires immediately. The system charges an amount sufficient to bring the balance up to the threshold (or the top-up amount, whichever is greater), so you are never left below your configured minimum.
>
> **Example:** Balance `$10`, threshold `$100`, top-up amount `$50` → **charged on enable: `$90`** (brings balance to exactly `$100`). Subsequent automatic top-ups, once the balance is above the threshold, charge the configured top-up amount as normal.

**Validation**

The following validation applies in both the UI and the backend:

* `top_up_amount >= threshold`—if violated, the form shows an error and the API returns a 4xx.
* Both values must be positive, whole-dollar amounts.
* Configuration is rejected if no default payment method is set.

### Runtime behavior

**Detection.** Balance monitoring is real-time. When credit usage causes the balance to cross the threshold, a top-up is scheduled immediately—there is no polling delay.

**Payment execution.** The charge is attempted off-session against the organization's default payment method. Successful charges produce:

* A credit grant in your account (credits available immediately)
* An email receipt to all organization admins
* An entry in your billing history

**Failure handling.** If a payment fails, the top-up does not complete, no credits are granted, and all organization admins receive a failure notification by email. The system re-attempts the next time the balance crosses the threshold—typically after the payment method is corrected.

Failure reasons reported in the notification:

* `card_expired`
* `insufficient_funds`
* `card_declined`
* `authentication_required`

### Notifications

Emails are sent to all organization admins on the following events:

| Event                     | Trigger                                     |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Auto Top-Up enabled**   | Configuration is turned on                  |
| **Auto Top-Up disabled**  | Configuration is turned off                 |
| **Auto Top-Up succeeded** | A charge completed and credits were granted |
| **Auto Top-Up failed**    | A charge was attempted and failed           |

Success notifications include the amount charged, the new balance, and a link to the receipt.

### Permissions

| Role   | View setting | Enable / edit / disable |
| ------ | ------------ | ----------------------- |
| Owner  | ✅            | ✅                       |
| Admin  | ✅            | ✅                       |
| Member | ✅            | ❌                       |

Attempting to modify the setting without sufficient permissions returns `403 Forbidden`.

### Disabling Auto Top-Up

From **Billing → Credit balance**, toggle **Auto Top-Up** off and confirm. No further automatic charges will occur. Your existing credit balance is unaffected.

### Limitations in the current release

* **Organization-level only.** Individual users cannot configure their own Auto Top-Up. Consumer billing is not supported.
* **Fixed top-up amount.** The system charges the configured amount (or the amount needed to reach the threshold on the first fire; see above). Usage-based sizing is not available.
* **No spending caps.** Monthly caps, frequency limits, and per-charge maximums are planned but not yet exposed. Today, you control spend via the threshold and top-up amount.

### Troubleshooting

**I don't see the "Enable Auto Top-Up" button.**
You likely don't have a default payment method set. Go to **Billing → Payment methods**, confirm a card is on file, and set one as the default. The enable button will appear once a default is in place.

**My Auto Top-Up failed—what happened?**
The most common reasons are an expired card, insufficient funds, or a declined charge from your bank. You'll receive an email when a top-up fails. To resolve:

1. Go to **Billing → Payment methods** and verify your default card is current.
2. Add a new payment method if needed and set it as the default.
3. Contact your bank if the card is valid but the charge was declined.

Auto Top-Up will try again the next time your balance crosses the threshold once your payment method is fixed.

**Can I get a refund for an auto top-up I didn't want?**
Credits added via Auto Top-Up follow the same policy as manually purchased credits. Contact [api@you.com](mailto:api@you.com) with your receipt and we'll help.

**Can I set a monthly spending cap?**
Not in the current release. Today, you control spend by setting your top-up amount and threshold. Spending caps are on the roadmap.

---

## Enterprise & Volume Pricing

### Volume discounts

Enjoy lower rates as your usage scales, without lengthy negotiations. Contact sales for custom rates based on your volume.

### Annual savings

Commit to annual usage for deeper discounts and predictable costs—ideal for production deployments.

### Enterprise features

**Zero Data Retention**—All queries and data can be automatically purged, giving you complete control over data storage and retention.

**SOC 2 Certified**—Our infrastructure is independently audited to ensure data security, privacy, and availability.

**DPA-Ready**—Data Processing Agreements supported for enterprise compliance requirements.

**Custom QPS Limits**—Enterprise-grade concurrency with performance optimization for high-volume usage.

---

## Questions & Support

For billing questions, custom pricing, or enterprise features, contact [api@you.com](mailto:api@you.com).