> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.blinkpdf.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Blink PDF Pricing Plans — Render Units, Tiers & Overage
> From a free tier to dedicated enterprise capacity — find the Blink PDF plan that fits your volume, throughput, and compliance requirements. Billing is metered in render units.
Blink PDF offers four plans, from your first proof-of-concept to millions of documents per month. Every plan ships with the same core rendering quality — the same Markdown engine, PDF/UA-1 accessibility, bundled fonts, and 15 curated [themes](/configuration/themes). The only differences are volume, throughput, the free-tier watermark, and support tier.
## How Billing Works: Render Units
Usage is metered in **render units**, not raw request count. A render costs:
```
units = min(16, max(1, ceil(decoded_image_megapixels / 1.2)))
```
* A **text-only** render costs **1 unit**.
* Image-heavy renders cost more, up to a hard ceiling of **16 units** per render.
* Images with the same content hash within a render are counted **once**.
A single image larger than 24 megapixels, or more than 48 megapixels of images in one render, is rejected with `422 image_too_large` before decoding.
## Plans at a Glance
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Render units / month | Overage | Rate | Concurrency | Max input | Watermark |
| -------------- | --------- | ---------- | -------------------- | -------------- | --------- | ----------- | --------- | --------- |
| **Free** | \$0 | — | 250 | — | 10 / min | 1 | 128 KB | Yes |
| **Pro** | \$9 / mo | \$90 / yr | 30,000 | \$0.004 / unit | 120 / min | 10 | 2 MB | No |
| **Business** | \$79 / mo | \$790 / yr | 1,000,000 | \$0.001 / unit | 600 / min | 40 | 5 MB | No |
| **Enterprise** | Custom | Custom | Dedicated | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | No |
Annual billing is 10 months prepaid — roughly **17% off (about two months free)** compared to paying month-to-month.
***
## Plan Details
**\$0 / month**
* 250 render units per month
* "Made with Blink PDF" watermark on every PDF
* Full theme catalog and typography
* Community support
* 10 requests / min, 1 concurrent
* 128 KB max input
\*\*$9 / month** · or $90 / year (\~17% off)
* 30,000 render units per month
* \$0.004 per extra unit
* No watermark
* Per-key usage attribution
* 120 requests / min, 10 concurrent
* 2 MB max input · configurable spend cap
\*\*$79 / month** · or $790 / year (\~17% off)
* 1,000,000 render units per month
* \$0.001 per extra unit
* No watermark
* Slack support channel
* 600 requests / min, 40 concurrent
* 5 MB max input · configurable spend cap
**Custom pricing**
* Dedicated capacity, no per-render metering
* Custom rate limits and uptime commitments
* Custom templates and branding
* On-premise / VPC deployment
* [Contact us](mailto:sales@blinkpdf.io)
***
## Included in Every Plan
No matter which plan you choose, every Blink PDF render includes:
* **Markdown rendering** — clean, spec-compliant conversion from Markdown to PDF
* **PDF/UA-1 accessibility** — documents pass screen-reader and assistive-technology checks out of the box
* **15 curated themes** — the full [theme catalog](/configuration/themes) is identical on every plan
* **Bundled fonts + Google Fonts** — six hosted font families plus any Google Fonts family by URL
* **Color emoji (COLR/CPAL)** — full-color emoji rendered crisply at any size
* **ToUnicode mapping** — text in your PDFs is always copy-pasteable and searchable
* **Font subsetting** — only the glyphs you actually use are embedded, keeping file sizes small
* **24-hour retention** — your Markdown input is processed in memory and never persisted; rendered PDFs and download links live at most 24 hours, then are purged. See [Zero Retention](/concepts/zero-retention).
***
## How Usage Counting Works
Only **successful renders** consume render units. Failed requests, validation calls, and retries that end in an error do not consume units. The authoritative per-response signal is the `X-BlinkPDF-Billing` header.
Every successful `POST /v1/render` or `POST /v1/templates/*/render` reports its billing outcome in `X-BlinkPDF-Billing`:
* `counted` — the render was billed against your period's render units (template routes always bill **1 unit** when counted).
* `deduped-cache` — an identical render was replayed from cache and **not billed** (`POST /v1/render` only; templates do not use the process-local PDF LRU).
* `deduped-idempotent` — a reused `x-idempotency-key` suppressed the charge on a re-render (`POST /v1/render` only; templates do not accept client idempotency keys).
Template routes share the same spend-cap, tier rate/concurrency, usage ledger, and free-tier watermark path as `POST /v1/render`.
The following calls are **always free** and never consume render units:
* `GET /health` and other health checks
* `POST /v1/render/validate` (dry-run validation — though it has its own [rate limit](/plans/rate-limits))
* Font, theme, and style-target catalog listings
***
## Overage & Spending Caps
Once you pass your plan's included render units, additional units are billed at the per-unit overage rate through Stripe metered billing. Overage is **soft** — you are never abruptly cut off, and you are never surprise-charged.
Each paid tier also has a **hard cap at 2× its included volume** (60,000 units for Pro, 2,000,000 for Business). Reaching the hard cap returns `402 spend_cap_reached` and pauses billing until the next period.
On Pro and Business plans you can set a **configurable monthly spending cap** below the hard cap. When you hit it, the API returns a clear `402` error rather than continuing to bill — useful for keeping side projects and internal tools within a fixed budget.
***
## Annual Billing
Choosing annual billing prepays 10 months for a full year of allowance — roughly 17% savings (\~2 months free) versus monthly. The annual base is charged upfront as a single payment; your monthly render-unit allowance rolls each period. Any overage beyond your included units is still invoiced monthly as you use it.
***
## Ready to Get Started?
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Need dedicated capacity, higher limits, or on-premise deployment? We'd love to hear from you.