I’m trying to figure out if it’s possible to charge someone on a per-unit basis.
For example, if you want to generate some random articles based on some algorithm, and you want to charge on a per-article or per-pack (eg., 5- or 10-packs) basis.
Pickaxe only allows you to charge for packages of credits. Each credit equates to 1 use. We do not allow you to charge on a per-token basis or other types of billing systems. It’s simply too complex.
Thanks, but what do you mean by “1 use”? If you can generate one article as “one use” then you can get 10 articles for 10 credits?
How do you delimit a “use”? Is it defined implicitly or explicitly?
For example, suppose you want to create and edit an article, then save it to your computer. Can I say, “when you’re done, save it to your computer” and that sets a flag saying “one credit has been used up”? And maybe after some time of inactivity, then it’s also flagged as done.
I was looking for something that explains this whole topic in more detail, but just found a video that glossed over it and left me with more questions than answers.
Hi @thetoolwiz each user input that gets processed by the AI is considered 1-use – whether it’s a blog article with multiple paragraphs or just a simple response to a smart form. Each user input and consequent AI output counts as a single use.
1 Like
Imagine having to pay for the measured ingredients used in everything you buy at the grocery store. You could pay $5 for a box of cereal, or maybe the same amount for each of the ingredients and processing costs that went into making it.
Your web host charges a certain amount for cpu usage, something for disk space, another for RAM use, and finally a bit for bandwidth consumption. Of course, we’re not billed that way – we pay for an aggregate use each month with each resource capped, whether we use it or not.
What if you had to pay for your car’s wear and tear, the amount of gas used, and the insurance based on each trip you took?
History shows this would not be a very effective way of billing for stuff.
How many products and services would not exist with that kind of simplistic accounting?
(Airlines have switched to it … makes you love flying, right?)
Sorry, just thinking out loud here …
1 Like
You’re spot on with the cereal analogy—it’s like paying for each oat and flake separately. Totally gets the point across! Billing for every little thing is a headache no one wants. It’s similar to paying for every brushstroke in a painting. Sure, you could itemize each color and stroke, but who wants to deal with that? Just give me the finished artwork and call it a day.
In the tech world, it’s like charging for every line of code or every pixel on a screen. Can you imagine? We’d all be drowning in microtransactions, frantically tallying up our CPU cycles like they’re Pokémon cards. (Imagine if we had to pay for every breath we take—talk about a breath tax! I’d be broke by lunchtime.)
You nailed it with the history bit too—those old-school billing flops prove it’s a nonstarter. And airlines? Oh man, don’t get me started. Nickel-and-diming every bag and pretzel—makes you wonder how many services would vanish if everyone overcomplicated it like that. What’s next, paying per tire rotation on a road trip?
Sorry, just riffing off your thoughts here. It’s a fun mental rabbit hole, though!
2 Likes