RoutePlex provides multiple layers of cost protection.

Daily Limits

Set daily spending limits at the account level to prevent runaway costs.

Daily token quota: Maximum tokens per day
Daily cost limit: Maximum USD spend per day
Rate limits: Requests per minute (RPM)

Default limits are intentionally conservative to prevent abusive usage:

Plan	Daily Token Cap	Daily Cost Limit	RPM	Concurrent
Evaluation	20,000	~~$0.17/day (~~$5/month)	5	1
Usage	500,000	~~$1.67/day (~~$50/month)	30	5

Need higher limits? We increase limits upon request. Email support@routeplex.com with your use case and expected volume. We typically respond within 24 hours.

Budget-Aware Routing

When using RoutePlex AI mode, the router considers your remaining budget and filters out models that would exceed your limits.

json

{
  "mode": "routeplex-ai",
  "strategy": "cost"
}

Response includes precise cost tracking:

json

{
  "usage": {
    "input_tokens": 25,
    "output_tokens": 150,
    "total_tokens": 175,
    "cost_usd": 0.000525
  }
}

Free Cost Estimation

The /api/v1/chat/estimate endpoint lets you preview costs before making a real request. It's free, requires no authentication, and supports all available models.

bash

curl -X POST https://api.routeplex.com/api/v1/chat/estimate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}], "model": "gpt-4o"}'

Account-Level Billing

All usage is billed at the account level — every request made with your API key is charged to your account. There is no separate project-level billing. Usage is tracked per-request with micro-cent precision and billed monthly through Stripe.

Evaluation Plan

New accounts start on a free evaluation plan with conservative daily quotas (~$5/month equivalent). This lets you test the full API (including routing modes, strategies, web search, and URL fetching) before upgrading. There is no separate "test" or "sandbox" mode — the evaluation plan uses the same models and endpoints as paid plans, just with lower limits.

When you're ready to move to production, upgrade to a usage plan in the billing dashboard. Charges begin immediately upon upgrade.

Web Search & URL Fetching Costs

Web search and URL fetching are built into the platform. Their costs are automatically included in the per-request cost_usd — there are no separate line items or hidden charges. The cost estimation endpoint also accounts for these additional costs.