# questions on 100% billing discount

**URL:** <https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133>\
**Category:** Questions / Help\
**Created:** [March 1, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133 "2023-03-01T13:15:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![real-adventures](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/real-adventures/32/48177_2.png) [@real-adventures](https://community.fly.io/u/real-adventures)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/1 "2023-03-01T13:15:43Z")

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I got the email today, it says [fly.io](http://fly.io) doesn’t collect bills smaller than $5.00  
Is this a one time offer or does [fly.io](http://fly.io) consistently apply this?  
I was also wondering if this is something I missed or is just not documented. (to avoid abuse maybe?)

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**Author:** ![greg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/greg/32/2119_2.png) [@greg](https://community.fly.io/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/2 "2023-03-01T13:43:31Z")

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Hi,

If your usage is under $5, I’d _guess_ that’s still within the allowance of Fly’s Hobby Plan. It’s the free allowance of usage that lets you run e.g 3 of the smallest vms at no cost. Usage _beyond_ that free allowance would be charged.

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**Author:** ![real-adventures](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/real-adventures/32/48177_2.png) [@real-adventures](https://community.fly.io/u/real-adventures)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/3 "2023-03-01T14:35:55Z")

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Thanks for your reply.  
I think the email wording can be confusing, it made me think I could have whatever and as long the billing is \<$5 I wouldn’t be charged.

I still have one question because I don’t fully understand billing yet  
I have 7 (running) apps with a vm size of shared-cpu-1x on my [fly.io](http://fly.io) dashboard.  
The free allowances say I can have up to 3 vms, but I still wasn’t charged this month  
Should I expect to be charged next month even when the discounted bill for this month was under $5 (actual $0.02) ?

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**Author:** ![greg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/greg/32/2119_2.png) [@greg](https://community.fly.io/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/4 "2023-03-01T16:47:21Z")

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Er … 🤔

Not sure. It’s possible Fly have changed their billing however as far as I know the Hobby Plan includes the equivalent of 3 of the smallest vms (see [Fly App Pricing · Fly Docs](https://fly.io/docs/about/pricing/#free-allowances)).

So … if you are running _7_ apps, that suggests to me that you have exceeded the free allowance. And should expect to be billed for that additional usage. Around $8 (or whatever it is). Now it _may_ be that the additional usage will only apply in your _second_ month, since if you are a new user the calculation of the free usage may have yet to kick in. Total guess.

May be worth sending an email to `billing@fly.io`. Can’t hurt as you don’t want to be billed unexpectedly.

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**Author:** ![real-adventures](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/real-adventures/32/48177_2.png) [@real-adventures](https://community.fly.io/u/real-adventures)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/5 "2023-03-01T17:46:33Z")

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Thank you greg

Yep, it doesn’t make a lot of sense too me either. Granted I haven’t used them too much but the dashboard still lists them as running apps 🤷‍♂️

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**Author:** ![ignoramous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@ignoramous](https://community.fly.io/u/ignoramous)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/6 "2023-03-01T18:52:58Z")

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> [@real-adventures](#):
>
> Is this a one time offer or does [fly.io](http://fly.io) consistently apply this?

Not sure if this is a _new_ thing, or a _selective_ thing.

I’ve paid $3.xx multiple months in the past as I vividly remembering paying Fly invoices from github sponsorship money ([ref](https://twitter.com/rethinkdns/status/1565708153593163776)). Good times!

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**Author:** ![kurt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/kurt/32/43757_2.png) [@kurt](https://community.fly.io/u/kurt)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/7 "2023-03-02T04:01:59Z")

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We shipped a change a few months ago to waive invoices under $5. We haven’t had any reason to disable it yet, it seems to be useful. A surprising number of people pay \<$5 by accident and charging them creates a negative experience. And, the reality is we make money off bigger spenders.

We’re actually considering ditching the free tier altogether and just making this the free tier. I think it sets a good expectation (these services are worth money, we’re electing not to charge you, but it’s definitely valuable).

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**Author:** ![Pathsis](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/pathsis/32/9889_2.png) [@Pathsis](https://community.fly.io/u/Pathsis)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 1:28pm UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/8 "2023-03-02T13:28:42Z")

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hi, @kurt

Two days ago, my account was flagged as risky and I resorted to credit card to de-risk it. fly had me verify my card twice, deducting $5.53 and $7.86 respectively. shortly after the first deduction, I received a message from my bank that it was cancelled, but the second deduction I haven’t received a cancellation until now. My account email is, [kmt007@outlook.com](mailto:kmt007@outlook.com). Thank you very much !

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**Author:** ![robertwt7](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/fly1/user_avatar/community.fly.io/robertwt7/32/18776_2.png) [@robertwt7](https://community.fly.io/u/robertwt7)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://community.fly.io/t/questions-on-100-billing-discount/11133/9 "2024-03-25T10:40:10Z")

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As an Indie dev with some free open source projects, this is why I keep using you guys for both hobby and paying (although not much)