How Pricing Works

FairStack's transparent margin model explained.

What is a FairStack credit worth?

1 credit = 1 cent. No math. A $10 top-up gets you 1,000 credits, an image that costs 5 credits costs you 5 cents, and your balance always shows both the credit count and the dollar equivalent.

Why use credits at all if they're just cents?

Generations often cost less than a cent (a Z-Image Turbo render is 0.4 credits = $0.004). Credits let us price honestly at the sub-cent level without pretending the unit is something it isn't. The dollar amount is always shown alongside.

FairStack is the Cloudflare of AI generation. We host models from multiple providers and add a transparent 20% margin. That is the entire business model.

1 credit = 1 cent

FairStack credits are tied to USD at a fixed 1-to-1 rate with cents. 1 credit = $0.01. A $10 deposit gets you 1,000 credits. An image that costs 5 credits costs you 5 cents. We use credits (not cents) so we can price sub-cent generations honestly — a Z-Image Turbo render is 0.4 credits = $0.004 — without pretending the unit is something it isn’t. Your balance and every cost estimate always shows both the credit count and the dollar equivalent.

The math

FairStack price = Provider cost x 1.20

If a provider charges $0.01 per image, you pay $0.012 on FairStack. The $0.002 is our margin -- it covers infrastructure, API development, and the web app.

Why this works

You always know what you are paying and why
No opaque subscription tiers with hidden limits
No credit systems with expiring tokens
When providers drop prices, our prices drop too

Deposits and processing fees

You add credits up front and spend them as you generate. There is no minimum balance and no subscription.

Minimum deposit: $1. You can add any amount from the preset options ($1, $2, $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $500, $1,000).
Under $10: the Stripe processing fee (about $0.30 + 2.9%) is shown as a visible line item and passed through to you.
$10 or more: FairStack absorbs the Stripe processing fee, so the full amount becomes credit.
First deposit: earns a 10% bonus on the first $100 (one per payment method and email).

Spending controls

Three levels of spending caps prevent surprises:

Organization -- total budget for your account
Project -- budget per project
API key -- budget per individual key (essential for agents)

Next steps

Pricing Overview Cost Calculator