---
title: "Billing options for TIR Instances"
description: "How a TIR Instance is billed On-Demand, on a committed term, or as a Spot Instance, what a stopped instance costs, and the credit a launch needs."
content_type: "concept"
product: "tir-instance"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-instance/concepts/billing-options/"
---

# Billing options for TIR Instances

A TIR Instance is billed for two things: its plan, which is the CPU, memory, and GPUs it runs on,
and its workspace disk above the free 30 GB. You choose how the plan is billed when you create the
instance, under **Instance Pricing**: **On-Demand**, a committed term, or, on the **Spot Instances**
tab, a Spot plan. The rates for every plan are on
[E2E's pricing page](https://www.e2enetworks.com/pricing).

## On-Demand: billed by the minute

An On-Demand instance is billed by the minute at its plan's hourly rate. Billing starts when the
instance reaches **Running** and ends when you stop or delete it. You pay only for the minutes the instance runs. An instance that runs for five minutes is billed one-twelfth of the hourly rate, and one that runs for 90 minutes is billed one and a half times the hourly rate.

| What happens to the instance                     | What happens to the plan's billing |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- |
| A new instance shows **Waiting** while it starts | Billing has yet to start           |
| It reaches **Running**                           | Billing starts                     |
| You stop it, and it shows **Stopped**            | Billing for the plan stops         |
| You start it again and it reaches **Running**    | Billing starts again               |
| You delete it                                    | Billing ends                       |

Sometimes the container of a running hourly instance stops on its own, for example after a restart
or when it runs out of memory, and the instance shows **Waiting**. Billing for the plan pauses while
it shows **Waiting** and starts again when it is back on **Running**.

On-Demand suits short runs, tests, and work of unknown length. You can change an
On-Demand instance's plan while it is stopped; see
[Change the plan of an instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/change-the-plan-of-an-instance/).

## Committed: one term, paid upfront

A committed plan bills a fixed term upfront at a lower rate than On-Demand. Each term is a savings
plan, such as **3 Month Savings Plan**, and you can compare its saving against On-Demand before you
choose.

The terms on offer depend on the plan you choose:

| Plans                     | Committed terms, in days     |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| CPU (C3)                  | 30, 90, 183, 365, and 1,095  |
| H100, H200, B200, or V100 | 30, 90, 183, and 365         |
| A100 40 GB                | 7, 30, 90, 180, and 365      |
| A100 80 GB                | 7, 30, 90, 183, and 365      |
| L40S                      | 30, 183, 365, 730, and 1,095 |
| L4                        | 30, 183, 365, and 1,095      |

In Chennai, the eight-GPU H200 plan is sold on committed terms only.

When you launch on a committed term, you confirm it in **Committed Plan Confirmation**. Tick the box to confirm that the full price is charged upfront for the term, with no refund for unused
days. Then choose what happens at the end of the term and select **Proceed**.

For example, take a 30-day term on an instance that first reaches **Running** on June 5. The full price of the term is deducted on June 5, and that covers the plan until the term ends on July 5.

How a committed instance is billed:

- The term starts, and its full price is deducted, when the instance first reaches **Running**,
  rather than at the moment you create it.
- The upfront payment covers the plan for the whole term.
- A committed instance stays on through its term. You can restart it, but not stop or start it.
- You can delete it during the term. You have already paid for the whole term, so the remaining days
  are not refunded.
- The plan stays the same for the term. You can change only what happens when the term ends.

You can move an instance you already run On-Demand to a committed term and keep the same instance. See
[Convert an instance to a committed plan](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/convert-an-instance-to-committed/).

## What happens when a committed term ends

You choose one of three end-of-term actions when you commit, and you can change it during the
term. When you create the instance, auto renewal is the default; when you convert one, you pick yourself.

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    A[Committed term ends] --> B{Your renewal choice}
    B -->|Auto renewal| C{Prepaid account with too little credit?}
    C -->|No| D[New term of the same plan, price deducted]
    C -->|Yes| E[Keeps running, billed On-Demand]
    B -->|Hourly billing| E
    B -->|Auto delete| F[Instance and workspace deleted]
```

- With auto renewal, a new term of the same plan starts when the old one ends, and its price is
  deducted. To run on another plan afterwards, choose hourly billing instead, then stop the
  instance and change its plan once the term has ended. If a prepaid account has too little credit
  for the renewal, the instance moves to hourly billing.
- With hourly billing, the instance keeps running and is billed On-Demand, at the plan's hourly
  rate, from the end of the term.
- With auto delete, the instance and its workspace are deleted when the term ends. Copy anything
  you need out of the workspace before then.

In **Convert to Committed Plan**, the three choices are labelled **Auto Renewal**, **Convert to
Hourly Plan**, and **Auto Delete**. To change the choice during the term, select **Update Plan** on
the instance's page (**Update Committed Plan** in the list), pick another option under **Select
Committed Policy**, and select **Update**. The change is saved at once.

TIR emails a reminder of the end-of-term action seven days, two days, and one day before the term
ends. The reminders go to the person who created the instance and to the account owner. A term of
seven days or less gets only the last two reminders. TIR emails you again after the renewal, the
move to hourly billing, or the deletion.

## Spot Instances: lower rate, can be taken back

A Spot Instance runs on spare GPU capacity at a lower hourly rate, if any is available. The Spot
rate is fixed for each plan and stays the same whatever the demand. Spot plans are always billed by
the minute, at the Spot rate, while the instance runs. They are for TIR Instances only, and you pick one on the **Spot Instances** tab when you
create the instance, in Delhi or Chennai. The GPU types listed there are the ones Spot offers.

E2E can take the capacity back at any time. When that happens, TIR stops the instance
without warning and emails you afterwards. A Spot Instance that TIR has stopped can start again only after
you change its plan to a GPU or CPU plan, and it keeps its workspace. A Spot Instance you stopped
yourself can also move to another Spot plan. Only a Spot Instance can move to a Spot plan.

Spot suits work that can stop at any moment and pick up again, such as training that saves
checkpoints to `/home/jovyan`.

Spot capacity is usually low. When all Spot capacity is in use, the launch is refused; try again later. In
rare cases a Spot Instance waits for capacity and shows **Queuing**. After three days in that state
it is stopped and marked **Expired**, TIR emails you, and its actions menu offers **Relaunch
Instance**.

## What a stopped instance costs

Billing for the plan stops while the instance is stopped. Its workspace above 30 GB is still billed, and so
are the other products it uses: Shared File Systems, Parallel File Systems, datasets, the Container
Registry, and reserved IPs. To stop the workspace charge, delete the instance.

## Workspace charges

Every instance gets 30 GB of workspace free. Each GB above 30 GB has a monthly price and is charged
for the hours the workspace exists, from when the instance first reaches **Running**
until you delete it, whether the instance is running or stopped. When you enlarge the workspace,
the larger size is billed from the moment of the resize. The workspace can only grow, so add
space as you need it. See
[Increase the workspace size](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/increase-the-workspace-size/).

## Credit needed to launch or start

On a prepaid account, TIR checks your credit before it launches or starts an instance:

- Launching an On-Demand instance needs credit for about 24 hours of its hourly price.
- Launching a committed instance needs credit for the full committed price.
- Starting a stopped hourly instance needs credit for at least one hour on its plan.
- Changing the plan needs credit for at least one hour of an hourly plan, or the full price of a
  committed term.
- Converting an hourly instance to committed needs credit for the full committed price.

TIR skips this check on a postpaid account.

## What is billed separately

Shared File Systems, Parallel File Systems, datasets, the Container Registry, and reserved IPs are
billed as their own products, and they stay when you delete an instance. Delete each one where
you manage it once you are done with it. An image saved from an instance is charged at the Container Registry's storage rates for as long as it stays in the registry, even after you delete the instance. Deleting the image ends the charge. SSH keys, security groups, start scripts,
add-ons, and opening the app are free.

For short answers on charges, see the [TIR Instance FAQ](/tir/tir-instance/faq/).