# Pricing

Transparent, pay-as-you-go pricing for all DanubeData resources. No hidden fees, no long-term contracts.

## Pricing Model

### Hourly Billing

- **Pay per hour** from creation until deletion
- **Prorated billing** - pay only for time the resource exists
- **No minimums** - create and delete anytime
- **Monthly invoices** - consolidated billing
- **No contracts** - cancel anytime
- **Stopped = still billed** - delete resources to stop charges

### What You Pay For

✅ **Compute** - vCPU and RAM  
✅ **Storage** - Disk space used  
✅ **Snapshots** - Backup storage  
✅ **Network Egress** - Data transfer out  
✅ **Replicas** - Additional instances  

### What's Free

✅ **Inbound Traffic** - Data transfer in  
✅ **Private Network** - Internal communication  
✅ **API Calls** - No usage fees  
✅ **Dashboard** - Full access included  
✅ **Support** - Included for every account  

## VPS (Pods) Pricing

### Shared CPU Plans (4:1 overcommit - best value)

| Profile | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|-------|-----|---------|---------|
| **Nano (Shared)** | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €4.49 |
| **Micro (Shared)** | 3 | 4 GB | 80 GB | €7.49 |
| **Small (Shared)** | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | €12.49 |
| **Medium (Shared)** | 8 | 16 GB | 320 GB | €24.99 |
| **Large (Shared)** | 16 | 32 GB | 640 GB | €49.99 |

### Dedicated CPU Plans (guaranteed resources)

| Profile | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|-------|-----|---------|---------|
| **Nano** | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €8.99 |
| **Micro** | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB | €14.99 |
| **Small** | 2 | 8 GB | 160 GB | €24.99 |
| **Medium** | 4 | 16 GB | 320 GB | €49.99 |
| **Large** | 8 | 32 GB | 640 GB | €99.99 |

*Hourly billing available - pay only for hours used

### Use Case Examples

**Personal Blog** (Nano Shared):
```
1 × Nano (Shared) VPS: €4.49/month
Storage included: 40 GB
Network (< 20TB): Free
Total: ~€4.49/month
```

**Small Business Site** (Micro Shared):
```
1 × Micro (Shared) VPS: €7.49/month
Storage included: 80 GB
Network (< 20TB): Free
Total: ~€7.49/month
```

**Production App** (Medium Dedicated):
```
2 × Medium VPS: €99.98/month
1 × Snapshot (10 GB): €0.73/month
Network (< 20TB): Free
Total: ~€101/month
```

**High-Traffic Platform** (Large Dedicated):
```
5 × Large VPS: €499.95/month
3 × Snapshot (50 GB): €3.65/month
Network (< 100TB): Free
Total: ~€504/month
```

## Database Pricing

### MySQL / PostgreSQL / MariaDB

| Profile | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Monthly |
|---------|------|-----|---------|---------|
| **Small** | 2 | 4 GB | 50 GB | €19.99 |
| **Medium** | 4 | 8 GB | 100 GB | €39.99 |
| **Large** | 8 | 16 GB | 200 GB | €79.99 |

### Database Cost Examples

**Development Database** (Small):
```
1 × Small DB: €19.99/month
Automated backups: Free
1 × Manual snapshot (5 GB): €0.37/month
Total: ~€20.36/month
```

**Production Database** (Medium):
```
1 × Medium DB: €39.99/month
1 × Read Replica (Small): €19.99/month
Automated backups: Free
2 × Snapshots (20 GB): €1.46/month
Total: ~€61/month
```

**High-Availability Setup** (Large):
```
1 × Large Primary: €79.99/month
2 × Large Replicas: €159.98/month
Automated backups: Free
4 × Snapshots (40 GB): €2.92/month
Total: ~€243/month
```

## Cache Pricing

### Redis / Valkey Instances

| Profile | vCPU | RAM | Monthly |
|---------|------|-----|---------|
| **Micro** | 1 | 1 GB | €4.99 |
| **Small** | 2 | 2 GB | €9.99 |
| **Medium** | 4 | 4 GB | €19.99 |
| **Large** | 8 | 8 GB | €39.99 |

### Dragonfly Instances (40-50% premium for multi-threaded performance)

| Profile | vCPU | RAM | Monthly |
|---------|------|-----|---------|
| **Micro** | 1 | 1 GB | €6.99 |
| **Small** | 2 | 2 GB | €14.99 |
| **Medium** | 4 | 4 GB | €29.99 |
| **Large** | 8 | 8 GB | €59.99 |

### Cache Cost Examples

**Session Store** (Small Redis):
```
1 × Small Redis: €9.99/month
Storage (included): 2 GB
Total: ~€10/month
```

**Application Cache** (Medium Redis):
```
1 × Medium Redis: €19.99/month
1 × Replica (Medium): €19.99/month
1 × Snapshot (2 GB): €0.15/month
Total: ~€40/month
```

**High-Performance Cache** (Large Dragonfly):
```
1 × Large Dragonfly: €59.99/month
2 × Large Replicas: €119.98/month
2 × Snapshots (4 GB): €0.29/month
Total: ~€180/month
```

## Storage & Backup Pricing

### Snapshot Storage

- **Price**: €0.073 per GB per month (7.3 cents/GB)
- **Billed**: Hourly (prorated)
- **Size**: Based on actual snapshot size

**Examples**:
| Snapshot Size | Monthly Cost |
|---------------|--------------|
| 5 GB | €0.37 |
| 10 GB | €0.73 |
| 25 GB | €1.83 |
| 50 GB | €3.65 |
| 100 GB | €7.30 |

### Automated Backups

- **Database Backups**: Free (included)
- **Retention**: 3 days
- **Frequency**: Daily
- **Storage**: Separate from snapshots

### Object Storage

- **Base**: €5.49/month (includes 1 TB storage + 1 TB egress)
- **Storage Overage**: €5.49/TB
- **Egress Overage**: €1.00/TB
- **Ingress**: Always free

## Network Pricing

### Data Transfer

| Traffic Type | Price |
|--------------|-------|
| **Inbound** | Free |
| **Included Egress** | 20 TB per VPS/month |
| **Egress Overage** | €1.00/TB |
| **Private Network** | Free |
| **Between Instances** | Free |
| **VPS ↔ managed databases/caches (internal network)** | Free |

Egress traffic is pooled across all your resources. Each VPS contributes 20 TB to your team's monthly quota.

**Only traffic that leaves the platform toward the public internet counts.** Traffic between your own resources over the internal network — VPS to managed database, VPS to cache, VPS to VPS on a private network, internal DNS — is free and never consumes your quota. Use the internal hostnames (e.g. `db-orders`, `redis-cache`) shown on the Networking page to keep traffic on the free internal path; connecting to your own services via their public endpoints routes through the public internet and is counted.

> **Object Storage note:** bucket egress is measured at the storage layer and currently counts toward the bucket's 1 TB included egress regardless of where the request comes from, including reads from your own VPS. Keeping S3 traffic exempt on the internal path is on our roadmap.

### Network Cost Examples

**Typical Usage** (< 20 TB/month per VPS):
```
Outbound traffic: Free (within quota)
Total: €0
```

**High Traffic** (50 TB/month with 2 VPS):
```
Included quota: 2 VPS × 20 TB = 40 TB
Overage: 10 TB × €1.00 = €10.00
Total: €10.00/month
```

## Firewall Pricing

**Free** - No additional cost
- Unlimited firewalls
- Unlimited rules
- Attach to unlimited instances

## Parameter Groups

**Free** - No additional cost
- Unlimited parameter groups
- Custom configurations
- Version-specific settings

## SSH Keys

**Free** - No additional cost
- Up to 25 keys per project
- Unlimited instances per key

## Real-World Examples

### Startup MVP

```
Requirements:
- Small web application
- PostgreSQL database
- Redis for sessions
- Development + Production

Resources:
1 × Small (Shared) VPS (prod):   €12.49
1 × Nano (Shared) VPS (staging): €4.49
1 × Small PostgreSQL:            €19.99
1 × Micro Redis:                 €4.99
Network (< 40 TB):               Free

Monthly Total: ~€42/month
```

### Growing SaaS

```
Requirements:
- Multiple app servers
- Database with replica
- Cache cluster
- Staging environment

Resources:
3 × Medium (Shared) VPS (prod):  €74.97
1 × Micro (Shared) VPS (staging): €7.49
1 × Medium PostgreSQL:            €39.99
1 × Small Replica:                €19.99
1 × Medium Redis:                 €19.99
1 × Small Redis (staging):        €9.99
Network (< 80 TB):                Free

Monthly Total: ~€172/month
```

### Enterprise Application

```
Requirements:
- Load-balanced app tier
- HA database cluster
- High-performance cache
- Full redundancy

Resources:
6 × Large VPS (Dedicated):   €599.94
2 × Large PostgreSQL:        €159.98
3 × Large Redis:             €119.97
Network (< 180 TB):          Free
Firewalls:                   Free

Monthly Total: ~€880/month
```

## Cost Optimization Tips

### Right-Sizing

1. **Start Small**: Begin with smaller profiles
2. **Monitor Usage**: Check CPU, memory metrics
3. **Scale Up**: Upgrade when consistently over 70%
4. **Scale Down**: Downgrade if under 30%

### Delete Unused Resources

Instances are billed at the full rate whether running or stopped. To save costs, **delete** non-production resources when not needed and re-create them later:

**Development Environment**:
```
Delete after work, re-create next day
8 hours/day × 5 days = 160 hours/month
Medium (Shared) VPS: €0.034 × 160 = €5.48/month
(vs. €24.99 existing 24/7)
Savings: ~78%
```

### Snapshot Management

1. **Delete Old Snapshots**: Keep only necessary
2. **Clean Before Snapshot**: Remove temp files
3. **Automated Retention**: 7-14 days max
4. **Production Only**: Avoid dev snapshots

### Network Optimization

1. **Use CDN**: For static content
2. **Compress Data**: Reduce transfer size
3. **Cache Aggressively**: Reduce bandwidth
4. **Private Network**: Free for internal traffic

## Payment Options

### Credit Cards

- Visa, Mastercard, American Express
- Secure processing via Stripe
- Automatic monthly billing

### Invoiced Billing

If paying by card doesn't work for your organization, contact support to discuss the billing options available for your account.

## Billing Cycle

### How It Works

1. **Resources Created**: Billing starts immediately
2. **Hourly Tracking**: Usage recorded every 5 minutes
3. **Invoice Generated**: 1st of each month
4. **Payment Charged**: Immediately upon invoice generation
5. **Invoice Available**: Download from dashboard

### Prorated Charges

**Example**: Create Medium (Shared) VPS on October 15th

```
Days remaining: 16 days
Hours: 16 × 24 = 384 hours
Cost: €0.034 × 384 = €13.11
(vs. €24.99 for full month)
```

## Tax & Compliance

### VAT (European Union)

- VAT added for EU customers
- Rate based on country
- Business VAT ID can be provided

### Sales Tax (United States)

- Sales tax based on state
- Calculated automatically
- Shown on invoice

### Tax Exemption

Contact billing for:
- Tax-exempt organizations
- Government entities
- Educational institutions

## Higher Account Tiers

Larger accounts can be moved to a higher tier with increased resource limits and API rate limits — see [Account Limits](https://docs.danubedata.ro/account-limits). Higher tiers raise how much you can provision; they don't change the per-resource rates listed above. For invoice-based billing, contact support through the dashboard.

## Cost Calculator

Estimate your monthly costs:

**VPS/Pods**:
```
Number × Profile Monthly Rate
Example: 3 × Medium (Shared) = 3 × €24.99 = €74.97
```

**Databases**:
```
(Primary + Replicas) × Profile Rate
Example: (1 + 1) × Small = 2 × €19.99 = €39.98
```

**Cache**:
```
(Primary + Replicas) × Profile Rate
Example: 1 × Medium Redis = €19.99
```

**Snapshots**:
```
GB × €0.073 per month
Example: 10 GB × €0.073 = €0.73
```

**Network (VPS egress overage)**:
```
Overage TB × €1.00
Example: 5 TB overage × €1.00 = €5.00
```

## Price Comparison

### vs DigitalOcean

| Resource | DanubeData | DigitalOcean | Difference |
|----------|------------|--------------|------------|
| 2 vCPU, 2 GB | €4.49 | €18.00 | 75% less |
| 4 vCPU, 8 GB | €12.49 | €48.00 | 74% less |
| 8 vCPU, 16 GB | €24.99 | €96.00 | 74% less |

*Prices as of January 2025, subject to change

## Frequently Asked Questions

### When am I charged?

Billing starts when a resource finishes provisioning and stops when it's deleted. Stopped instances continue to be billed at the full rate — to stop charges, delete the resource.

### Can I get a refund?

We generally don't offer refunds, but contact support for special circumstances.

### What if I exceed my budget?

Set a monthly budget under **Billing** > **Budget** to get progressive email alerts as you approach it, and monitor usage anytime in the dashboard.

### Do prices include tax?

No, applicable taxes are added at checkout based on your location.

### Can I pay annually?

Not at this time — billing is monthly and pay-as-you-go.

### Are there setup fees?

No setup fees, no hidden charges. Pay only for resources used.

### How do I reduce costs?

Right-size instances, delete old snapshots, delete unused resources, use private networking. Note that stopping an instance does not reduce billing — you must delete it to stop charges.

## Support

Support is included for every account at no extra cost:

- Help through the dashboard support tickets and at support@danubedata.ro
- Documentation and guides

## Next Steps

- [View Current Usage](https://console.danubedata.ro/billing)
- [Payments](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-payments)
- [Billing Overview](https://docs.danubedata.ro/billing-overview)

Questions about pricing? Contact support through the dashboard.