Evaluate Pricing and Limits

Use this guide when a buyer must decide whether a concrete API or agent workflow is economically and operationally ready to expand. It does not publish a permanent price sheet: account state, plan, budget gates, and the current pricing catalog are the source of truth for an evaluation.

The buyer job

Price one bounded workload, observe its account context, and choose whether to keep it as a proof, enable paid usage, or request commercial terms. The public pricing page explains plans; authenticated API responses determine what a particular account can use and what a proposed request is quoted to cost.

Smallest proof of concept

Start with one representative request path and one unit. The rates endpoint returns the current public catalog and starter-grant metadata. Read the limits contract with the same key before quoting: it states the effective plan, current billing state, recorded time, and route quota windows. The quote endpoint evaluates a path or meter class against that current context; it does not reserve usage or guarantee a later billing state.

curl --fail-with-body -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/billing/rates"

curl --fail-with-body -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/limits"

curl --fail-with-body -X POST -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  --data '{"path":"/v1/facts","method":"GET","units":1}' \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/billing/quote"

curl --fail-with-body -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/billing"

Repeat the quote for the actual paths and units in the planned loop rather than estimating from an unrelated endpoint.

What a passing result contains

Save the catalog version, starterGrant, account planKey, limits response effectivePlanKey, billingState, recordedAt, and quotas, plus quoted meterClass, meterFamily, units, unit amount, total amount, currency, budget/budget-gate result, and request IDs. Record the workload assumptions: issuer count, calls per issuer, retry policy, polling cadence, and whether a human or an agent triggers the calls.

Source and production limits

New organizations start with a renewable 100-call monthly free allowance. Do not present it as uncapped usage.
/v1/billing/quote is an estimate for the supplied path or meter class and current context; it neither reserves credits nor promises future billing eligibility.
A 402, quota response, or budget gate is a control signal to narrow, fund, or reconfigure the workload, not a reason to replay it blindly.
Keep API keys server-side or in a client secret facility. Billing-management actions have their own authenticated control-plane requirements.
Redistribution, embedding, white-labeling, resale, and similar commercial use require commercial terms; do not infer rights from a successful evaluation request.

Next decision

Proceed with a bounded production pilot when the account quote, budget policy, and source-evidence requirements fit the intended workload. Use the public pricing page or contact the commercial team before shipping redistribution or embedded data products.

Plans and rights

Review plan and commercial-use boundaries.

Billing rates reference

Inspect the account-readable catalog.

Billing quote reference

Quote a real request path.

Create an API key

Retrieve the account-readable pricing contract.

Open the sandbox

Explore a bounded request before scaling.

Public pricing

Compare public plans and commercial paths.

Map the workload

List every request path, unit, and cadence.

Read limits and quote current context

Save rate, limits, account, and budget responses.

Choose the boundary

Keep a proof bounded or obtain the required terms.

​The buyer job

​Smallest proof of concept

​What a passing result contains

​Source and production limits

​Next decision