How Billing Works: Points, Plans & Limits
Bitquery bills by points, not by raw request count, because queries differ enormously in the work they do. This page explains what a point is, how streams are billed separately, what happens when you run out, and why a query can fail on a chain you didn't purchase.
Plan prices and allowances can change — the pricing page is the source of truth. The figures below were current at the time of writing.
Plans at a glance
| Plan | Price | Points / mo | Rate limit | Concurrent streams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | $39/mo | 100K | 30 / min | — |
| Pro | $79/mo | 1M | 90 / min | 100 |
| Scale | $239/mo | 5M | 240 / min | 1,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Unlimited |
A call costs about 5 points, so points ÷ 5 ≈ included calls (e.g. Scale's 5M points ≈ 1M calls). See the pricing page for the latest.
What is a point?
Points = resources consumed × price per unit. A query that scans billions of rows costs more points than one served from a small indexed slice. The same query can even cost slightly different amounts run-to-run depending on how much data it touches. This is why two APIs with the same number of calls can have very different point costs. For the full model, see IDE Points.
Key consequences developers hit most often:
- A query costs about 5 points, adjusted by how much data it scans. Batching is efficient: one request filtering 50 addresses costs roughly the same as one for a single address — so prefer one batched query over 50 separate ones.
- There's a per-request record cap (around 25,000 records). For larger result sets, paginate or use a stream/export.
- Points don't roll over. Unused points expire at the end of the billing period; they do not carry forward.
Streams are billed separately from points
WebSocket subscriptions, Kafka, and gRPC streams are not paid for out of your query points. They use stream entitlements:
- Stream capacity is measured in stream-minutes and GB of stream data (add-ons at checkout), and by concurrent stream count (Personal: none; Pro: 100; Scale: 1,000; Enterprise: unlimited).
- Each environment/consumer counts as its own stream. Running the same Kafka topic from
dev,staging, andprod(different consumer groups) counts as three streams. - Kafka access is a separate line item from your GraphQL plan.
See Rate Limits & Concurrency for the concurrency caps and how they surface.
Running out: overage, caps, and the 402
- When you exhaust your points, requests fail with a
402/points limit exceedederror. Top up or upgrade from Account → Billing. - Overage is billed per additional million points — $50 per 1M points (monthly billing) or $40 per 1M points (annual).
- After upgrading, regenerate your access token if you still see the old limit. A token minted under the previous plan can keep returning
points limit exceededuntil you generate a fresh one.
Check your live usage at Account → Usage and via the Usage API.
Per-chain entitlements
Plans grant access to a specific set of chains. Querying a chain that isn't in your plan fails — and the error can look like a data problem rather than a billing one. If a query works in the IDE but fails from your app (or vice-versa), confirm the chain is included in your plan.
Trials
The free trial runs for 7 days and includes 1,000 API points, 100 MCP credits, 2 simultaneous streams, 17 stream-minutes, and 0.2 GB of stream data, across all chains with complete history. No card required.
Paying by crypto
Card payment is available on all plans; crypto payment is available on annual plans. For invoices, only pay against an invoice issued from bitquery.io — beware of impersonation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Bitquery API points?
Points measure the resources a query consumes (roughly: rows scanned × complexity), so you pay in proportion to the work done rather than a flat per-call rate. The same query can cost slightly different points on different runs.
Why am I getting 'points limit exceeded' after upgrading?
An access token minted under your previous plan can keep enforcing the old limit. Generate a new token after upgrading, and confirm the new plan is active in your account.
Do unused points roll over?
No. Points expire at the end of each billing period and do not carry forward.
How are WebSocket and Kafka streams billed?
Streams are billed via stream entitlements (stream-minutes, GB, concurrent stream count), separately from query points. Each environment/consumer group typically counts as a separate stream.
Why does my query fail on a chain I haven't purchased?
Plans grant access to a specific set of chains. A query against a chain outside your plan fails; the error can resemble a data issue. Confirm the chain is included in your plan.
How do I estimate monthly cost before committing?
Run representative queries on a trial key and read the per-query point cost shown in the IDE, then multiply by your expected volume. Streams are estimated separately via stream entitlements.