Billing

Introduction

The Billing page is where you manage your credits, the currency the Hippius platform uses for storage, S3 traffic, and VM compute time. 1 credit = $1 USD.

From here you can top up your balance with TAO, subscribe to a monthly plan (charged via Stripe), and review every credit transaction on your account.

Reach Billing from the sidebar at

Billing

.

Your Credit Balance

At the top of the page, a credits chart shows your available balance as a large number, with a line chart of your daily credit usage over time. Use the time range selector (THIS WEEK / LAST 30 DAYS / LAST 60 DAYS / 1 YEAR / MAX) to change the window. Hover over any point to see the exact usage that day.

The chart updates automatically whenever you top up, subscribe, or consume credits.

Topping Up with TAO

The Deposit panel sits to the right of the credits chart. Click + Top up Credits to open the Pay with $TAO dialog. Credits are added at the rate of $1 = 1 credit, using the current $TAO price shown in the panel.

The dialog has two modes — choose the one that matches how you hold your TAO:

Bittensor Wallet

Use this if your TAO is in a browser wallet extension connected to the console.

1. Select the Bittensor Wallet tab.
2. Choose the wallet you want to pay from in the Wallet dropdown.
3. Enter the dollar amount you want to add. The dialog shows the current $TAO price, the equivalent amount in TAO, and the credits you'll receive.
4. Click Add Credits. Your wallet extension prompts you to sign the transaction.
5. Credits are added automatically once the transfer confirms on chain.

Manually

Use this if your TAO is on an exchange or in a wallet that isn't connected to the console.

1. Select the Manually tab.
2. Copy the SS58 Bittensor Chain deposit address shown in the dialog.
3. Send TAO to that address from any Bittensor wallet or exchange.
4. Your credit balance updates automatically at the rate of $1 = 1 credit once the transfer confirms on chain.

TAO transfers are irreversible

Once a TAO transaction confirms on the blockchain, it cannot be reversed. Verify the destination address before sending. Hippius cannot recover funds sent to the wrong address.

Top up Shortcut

The + Top up Credits button also appears in your dashboard header and in the upload Insufficient Credits dialog. All of them open the same Pay with $TAO flow.

Subscription Plans

Below the deposit panel, the Subscription Plans section lets you pay by card (via Stripe) on a monthly basis. Each plan gives you a fixed credit allocation every month. This is the only way to pay with a card on Hippius — there is no one-off card top-up.

The Four Tiers

Tier	Best for
Personal	Hobby projects and light personal storage.
Professional	Active personal use with moderate storage.
Business	Teams and apps with regular activity.
Enterprise	High volume workloads.

Each plan card shows the monthly credit allocation, the effective storage that buys at current rates, and the dollar equivalent. Scroll through the carousel with the arrow buttons to compare plans. Your active plan is highlighted with a check mark and a styled border.

Subscribing

1. Find the plan you want and click Subscribe.
2. You'll be taken to a Stripe subscription checkout.
3. Enter your card details (or use Apple Pay / Google Pay) and confirm.
4. Stripe processes the first month's payment immediately and you're returned to Hippius. The plan credits are deposited right away.

Switching Plans

To move to a different plan, find the new plan card and click Subscribe. Stripe handles the upgrade or downgrade and prorates the change automatically.

Cancelling

1. Find your active plan card and click Cancel Subscription.
2. A confirmation dialog summarises what you'll lose: monthly credits and any plan perks.
3. Click Cancel Subscription to continue. You'll be redirected to the Stripe customer portal to complete the cancellation.

Your existing credits stay available until the end of the current billing period. Pay as you go top ups continue to work after cancellation.

Transaction History

The Transaction History table at the bottom of the page shows every credit movement on your account: top ups, subscription charges, usage debits, and refunds.

Column	What it shows
Date	When the transaction occurred.
Type	Top up (card or TAO), Subscription, Usage, or Refund.
Description	A short note (payment method, plan name, VM runtime hours, etc.).
Amount	Positive (credits added) or negative (credits consumed).
Status	Pending, Completed, or Failed.
Reference	Stripe charge ID, TAO transaction hash, or internal ID with a copy icon.

Search by description or reference, sort by date or amount, and use pagination to navigate.

How Credits Are Used

Credits are charged for every metered action:

Action	How it's charged
Drive (HCFS) storage	Per byte, per minute, based on the storage class.
S3 storage	Per byte, per minute, with separate rates for traffic and operations.
VM runtime	Per minute. The hourly equivalent is shown on each VM template card.

A VM that's running but not doing anything still accrues charges. Stop or delete VMs you're no longer using.

If your balance hits zero:

• New uploads are blocked. The upload dialog shows an Insufficient Credits message with a top up shortcut.
• Existing VMs continue briefly, but new VM creation is blocked.
• If the balance stays at zero too long, files may be flagged for deletion. You'll receive email warnings well before that happens.

Where to next

• Wallet: manage hAlpha and bridge from TAO if needed.
• Drive: start uploading once you have credits.
• Virtual Machines: credits power VM compute (minimum 10 credits to launch).
• Referrals: earn 5% on every purchase your referrals make.