Usage-Based Billing

SALZ uses a subscription model with monthly API call quotas. This page explains how billing cycles work, what happens when you approach or exceed your limit, and how to monitor your usage.

Billing Cycle

Your billing cycle starts on the day you create your account (for free tier) or the day you subscribe to a paid plan. It resets every 30 days.

For example, if you subscribe on March 15, your billing periods are:

• March 15 -- April 14
• April 15 -- May 14
• May 15 -- June 14

Your API call counter resets to zero at the start of each period.

Monthly Quotas

Each plan includes a fixed number of API calls per billing period:

Approaching Your Limit

SALZ sends email notifications when you reach usage milestones:

• 80% used -- A heads-up that you are approaching your limit
• 100% used -- You have reached your quota

You can also monitor your usage in real time on the dashboard Usage page.

What Happens at the Limit

When you exhaust your monthly quota, subsequent API requests will receive a 429 Too Many Requests response:

{
  "error": "Monthly API call quota exceeded. Upgrade your plan or wait for the next billing period.",
  "success": false
}

Your existing integrations will not break -- they will simply receive this error response until the quota resets or you upgrade.

Overage Handling

The free and pro tiers use hard limits. Once you reach your quota, requests are rejected until the next billing period. There are no surprise charges.

Enterprise plans can be configured with soft limits and per-call overage pricing. Contact support for details.

Tracking Usage

Dashboard

The Usage page in your dashboard shows:

• A chart of daily API calls over the current billing period
• Total calls used vs. your quota
• Percentage of quota consumed
• Projected usage for the rest of the period

Response Headers

Every API response includes a header indicating your remaining calls:

X-RateLimit-Remaining: 4832

You can use this in your application to warn users or throttle requests before hitting the limit.

Upgrading Mid-Cycle

If you upgrade from free to pro mid-cycle, you immediately get the full pro quota (5,000 calls). Any calls already made during the current period are subtracted, so you get the difference.

For example, if you have used 40 of your 50 free calls and upgrade to pro, you will have 4,960 calls remaining for the rest of the period.

Payment Methods

SALZ accepts major credit and debit cards. Payments are processed securely through Stripe. You can update your payment method at any time in Settings > Billing.

Invoices

Invoices are generated automatically at the start of each billing period and are available for download in your dashboard under Settings > Billing > Invoices.