Billing FAQ

Why does my balance not match what I expect?

This is normal behavior caused by the pre-deduct and reconciliation mechanism. Here is how billing works for each request:

1. Pre-deduct — before the request is sent, the system freezes an estimated cost based on model pricing and estimated token count
2. Upstream processing — the request is forwarded to the upstream provider, which returns actual usage data
3. Reconciliation — an async worker unfreezes the pre-deducted amount and deducts the real cost based on actual usage

There is a brief delay between pre-deduction and reconciliation (typically a few seconds to under a minute). During this window, your balance may appear lower than expected. Once reconciliation completes, the difference is automatically refunded.

You can query the actual billing details for any request via GET /v1/generation?id=gen-xxx.

Can I get a refund?

Unused balance is eligible for a refund. Send an email to support@chuizi.ai with your account details and reason for the refund. We will process it within 3 business days.

Balance that has already been consumed is not refundable.

How do I get an invoice?

Send an email to support@chuizi.ai with the following information:

• Company name
• Tax identification number
• Invoice amount
• Delivery preference (email for electronic invoice, or mailing address for paper)

What is the minimum top-up amount?

New accounts start at $0 and unlock the API after a $5 minimum top-up. You only pay the upstream provider cost with a 5% service margin — e.g. $5 in balance covers roughly 47 million input tokens on GPT-4.1-nano, or about 35,000 input tokens on Claude Sonnet 4.6.

Preset amounts include $5, $20, $50, and $100. Custom amounts are also supported.

What payment methods are accepted?

Chuizi.AI uses Stripe Checkout to show the payment methods available for your region, device, currency, and Stripe account configuration. Common options include cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Alipay, and Crypto when Stripe Checkout presents them.

The final available methods are the ones shown on the checkout page. Successful top-ups are credited in USD.

How are streaming requests billed?

Exactly the same as non-streaming requests. Billing is based on the actual usage data returned by the upstream provider (input_tokens + output_tokens), regardless of whether the request uses streaming.

The final SSE event in a streaming response includes the complete usage information, which the system uses for reconciliation.

Am I charged for failed requests?

It depends on the failure:

• Upstream returns an error with no usage — the pre-deducted amount is fully refunded, no charge
• Upstream processes partial content before failing — you are charged for the actual usage generated (any excess pre-deduction is refunded during reconciliation)

You can check the status and cost of each request on the Logs page in your Dashboard.

How do I view my spending details?

Two ways:

1. Dashboard — log in to app.chuizi.ai, go to the Billing page for transaction history, or the Logs page for per-request billing details
2. API — call GET /v1/generation?id=gen-xxx to query billing details for a specific request, including input tokens, output tokens, and actual cost

How do I set a daily spending limit?

In the Dashboard, go to the API Keys page and click the settings for a specific key. You can configure a daily_limit (maximum daily spend). Once the limit is reached, all requests using that key for the rest of the day will return a 402 error.

The daily limit resets at midnight UTC each day.

Next Steps

• Billing Model — Detailed explanation of the three billing types
• Top-up & Payment — Add credits and manage payment methods
• Pre-deduct & Reconciliation — How balance freezing and reconciliation work