Usage and limits
How Dropstone's weekly usage window works, what happens when you reach it, and how usage credits let you keep working past it.
Every Dropstone plan includes a weekly pool of usage shared across all three models. This page explains how that pool works, what happens when it runs out, and how usage credits let you carry on.
The weekly window
Usage is metered as one weekly pool per account, shown as a single percentage with a countdown to the reset.
- The window is a rolling 7 days. It opens on your first chargeable request, not when you sign up, so nothing is spent while you are just looking around.
- The reset lands on the same weekday and time for the life of the account. Going quiet for a while does not push it later.
- One pool covers Fast, Pro, and Heavy. There is no separate per-model budget to track.
- There are no rolling five-hour throttles, and no fixed number of turns per week — the cost of a turn varies with the work it does.
Check where you stand at any time:
dropstone
The home screen shows your plan and usage, and /usage opens the full breakdown with your reset time and cache savings. The same numbers are on your dashboard.
Note:
Heavier models consume the pool faster. A long Heavy task can use in one request what Fast would use across many, which is why Heavy is limited to paid plans.
When you reach 100%
By default, Dropstone stops and tells you when the window is exhausted. You have three ways forward:
- Wait for the reset. The countdown tells you exactly when capacity returns.
- Upgrade. A higher plan raises the allowance immediately — the new capacity is available on your next request, not at the next reset.
- Turn on usage credits. Keep working right now, billed against a prepaid balance.
Usage credits
Usage credits are a prepaid balance that takes over only after your weekly plan allowance is exhausted. While you still have plan allowance, credits are never touched.
They are opt-in and off by default. Nothing is ever charged unless you switch them on, and then only for what you actually consume — an unused balance sits there indefinitely and does not expire.
Turning them on and off
The toggle lives in two places, and both control the same setting — switch it in either and the other follows:
- Dashboard — dropstone.io/dashboard/usage, under Usage credits.
- Dropstone Chat — Settings → Usage, under Usage credits.
Turning it on means Dropstone keeps working past your weekly limit, drawing on your balance. Turning it off means Dropstone stops at the weekly limit and never touches the balance, which is the default.
You can also turn credits on at the moment you need them: when the CLI or chat tells you the weekly limit is reached, the dialog offers to enable them directly if you already have a balance, or to top up if you do not.
Either way the change applies to your very next request — no restart and no sign-out. That holds in both directions: switching credits off stops any further spending immediately.
Buying credits
Top up from the same page. Credits are sold at a volume discount:
| Amount | Discount |
|---|---|
| $5 – $49.99 | — |
| $50 – $249.99 | 10% |
| $250 – $999.99 | 20% |
| $1,000 and above | 30% |
The discount applies to typed amounts as well as the presets, so $50 entered by hand gets the same 10% as the $50 button.
How they are billed
Credits are drawn down per request, based on the work each request actually does — there is no per-turn flat fee and no minimum. Requests are billed only while you are over your weekly allowance; the moment your window resets, Dropstone goes back to the plan pool and stops touching the balance.
Both the toggle and the remaining balance are read fresh on every request, so changes apply immediately across the CLI, chat, and the dashboard.
Note:
Usage credits and API keys share one balance. If you bought credits for the HTTP API, turning usage credits on means your CLI and chat sessions can draw from that same balance once your weekly window is spent. Leave the toggle off to keep the balance reserved for API requests.
Which limit applies to you
Dropstone meters three surfaces differently:
| Surface | Metered against | Runs out when |
|---|---|---|
| CLI and chat | Your plan's weekly pool | 100% of the weekly window, then usage credits if enabled |
| HTTP API (API key) | Prepaid credit balance only | Balance reaches $0 — plan allowances never apply |
| Enterprise | Contracted volume | Per your agreement |
Related
- Pricing — plan allowances and what each tier includes
- HTTP API — pay-per-use billing for API keys
- Interactive session — working inside the CLI