What counts as pay as you go

A pay-as-you-go option has to actually exist

You can use the service, in full, without ever starting a subscription. If the only way in is a monthly plan, it does not belong here.

No standing monthly charge on the side

This is the one that catches the famous names. If you must rent something by the month to use the per-use part — a phone number, a seat, a "platform fee" — then it is a subscription wearing a different hat.

Distinguish usage billing from renewals

A prepaid pack should state whether it renews. A postpaid service can charge automatically for actual usage; that is different from paying a recurring plan fee. Check the supplier’s billing and stop-use terms.

Selling plans as well is fine

Plenty of good tools do both. What we will not list is a company that pesters its pay-as-you-go users about upgrading every time they log in.

We say it plainly when credit expires

An expiry date does not disqualify a tool, but it goes on the listing in words, not in a footnote. It is the detail that costs people the most money.

Check the evidence date

Pricing checks are dated snapshots. We are improving coverage category by category; a listing is not a promise of continuous monitoring. Read our comparison policy and the linked source.

Pay per use Pay per use. Per token, per minute, per gigabyte, per image. You buy exactly what you need, with no bundle to commit to.

Prepaid bundle, no renewal Prepaid bundle, no renewal. You buy the units first and draw them down: 100 minutes, 10 credits, a day pass. Nothing is charged again when it runs out.

Billed afterwards A separate mark, not a badge. A handful of suppliers invoice you at the end of the month for what you actually used, with nothing paid in advance and no balance to top up. It is the friendliest arrangement there is — you can stop any day and owe only the days you had — and it is rare enough outside server hosting that we mark it wherever we find it.

So there are two questions, not one. What do you buy — a unit or a bundle? And when do you pay — before or after? The badge answers the first, the mark answers the second, and on prepaid listings we also say whether the balance can expire.

Free tier you can stay on Free tier you can stay on. A free allowance with no clock on it, that does the job on its own. What lies beyond it differs — sometimes a price per use, sometimes a monthly plan — and every listing says which, because that is the part you will meet later.

One-off, yours for good One-off, yours for good. You buy the licence once and keep it. Strictly speaking that is not "per use" — but it is the other honest answer to a monthly bill, so it belongs here.