Job credit usage

A paid job uses either fixed-price or time-based billing. The tool page shows the applicable cost or rate before you submit. Charges use the active workspace's credit balance.

Fixed-price jobs

The cost is known before the run starts and may depend on the input and settings. Your workspace must have enough credits for the full amount, which is charged when the job is created.

A displayed cost of zero uses no credits. Fixed-price charges do not increase with runtime.

Time-based jobs

The tool page shows the rate in credits per minute, an estimated duration, and an optional Maximum spend. The estimate helps you plan; the final cost depends on billable runtime.

A time-based job uses credits in stages:

1. Initial authorization: ProteinIQ holds enough credits for up to the first five minutes, subject to the tool minimum and the selected maximum.
2. Renewals: Further increments of up to five minutes are authorized while the job continues.
3. Final charge: A completed job is charged for billable seconds, rounded up to a whole credit. Unused authorization returns to the workspace.

The initial authorization is the greater of the tool minimum and five minutes at the selected rate, capped by the maximum spend when one is set. The workspace must be able to fund this amount before the job starts.

For example, at 25 credits per minute, 11 minutes 50 seconds of billable runtime costs ceil(25 × 710 ÷ 60) = 296 credits. This is an illustrative calculation; use the rate displayed for your chosen tool and configuration.

Maximum spend

Set Maximum spend before submission when you want to cap a time-based job's total charge.

• With a maximum: The job cannot authorize more than that ceiling. It may stop before its scientific work finishes.
• Without a maximum: The job can continue until it finishes, the workspace cannot fund another authorization, or the tool reaches its runtime limit.
• Maximum above the balance: The maximum does not add or reserve credits. A later authorization can still fail if the workspace balance is too low.

Other jobs draw from the same workspace balance. Setting a maximum for one job does not guarantee that enough credits will remain to complete it.

Submission confirmations

The tool asks you to review unusually large costs:

• Fixed-price job of 5,000 credits or more: Confirm before the full charge is taken.
• Time-based estimate of 5,000 credits or more, without a maximum: Set a maximum or confirm that the job can continue using available credits.
• Time-based estimate above the balance, without a maximum: If the initial authorization is affordable, choose whether to set a maximum or run with the current balance.

A fixed-price job cannot start without its full cost. A time-based job cannot start without its initial authorization. An explicit maximum replaces the estimate-based confirmation; it does not waive the initial credit requirement.

The 5,000-credit threshold is a confirmation threshold, not a hidden spending limit.

Settlement by outcome

The job's final status determines what remains charged:

• Completed: Fixed-price jobs retain their configured charge. Time-based jobs retain the billable-runtime charge and return unused authorization.
• Failed or timed out: Eligible fixed-price charges and time-based authorizations are refunded.
• Canceled: Fixed-price charges are refunded when canceled before compute launches. Time-based authorizations are returned.
• Partial results: A time-based job stopped at a spending limit, available credit limit, or its metered runtime cap. Authorized credits remain charged. Any output returned by the tool is retained, but there may be no usable result.

A metered stop reported as Partial results is different from a Failed or Timed out outcome and does not trigger the same refund. Check the reported status and stop reason. Raising a limit afterward does not restart a job that has already stopped.

Review a charge

Open the job's Details or Usage to inspect its credit activity:

• Running job: Shows the credits authorized so far and the maximum, when set.
• Settled job: Shows the final charged amount after settlement or refunds.

If you see 100 credits authorized and a maximum of 221, only 100 credits are currently held. Refund records let you trace credits returned to the workspace.

The same job billing model applies through the app, API, and workflows. Workflow credit usage explains the additional limits across connected jobs.