Credits vs Pay per Call: How to Work Out What You Really Pay per Request
A monthly credit plan and a pay-per-call API are priced in different ways, so their headline numbers can't be compared directly. What matters is what you pay per request you actually use. This page gives the two formulas, a worked example with an illustrative plan, and the questions that decide which model fits. The pay-per-call side uses switch402's live price of $0.008 per successful call (checked Oct 30, 2026).
- Effective cost per request
Plan price / requests you actually made that month. Unused credits are part of the price, because monthly credits usually reset.
- Cost of unused credits
Plan price x unused credits / plan credits. That is what you pay for credits you never use. On pay per call nothing goes unused: you pay only for successful requests.
- Watch the multipliers
If a request type costs several credits, divide the credits by that number before you work out what the plan covers.
- Volume that swings
With uneven months, pay per call follows your usage; a plan charges the same in a quiet month as in a busy one.
Worked example: an illustrative $49 plan (50,000 credits, 1 credit per request) vs $0.008 per call
| Requests used in the month | Illustrative plan: what you pay | Plan cost per request used | switch402 at $0.008 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $49 | $0.098 | $4 |
| 2,000 | $49 | $0.0245 | $16 |
| 4,000 | $49 | $0.01225 | $32 |
The $49 / 50,000-credit plan is an illustration to show the method, not a real product. For real plans, the switch402 calculators use each provider's published prices and show your own cost at your volume, the plan minimum and what unused credits cost you.
Sources, checked Oct 30, 2026: api.switch402.com/v1/quote, switch402.com/calculators. Prices can change; check the source before you decide.
Rule of thumb: on pay per call, your cost per request actually used is the per-call price every month, and a quiet month costs $0. On a plan it is the plan price divided by what you used, and unused credits are paid for anyway. Work out your own numbers with the formulas below.
Code example
JavaScript: effective cost and the cost of unused credits
const PER_CALL = 0.008 // switch402, USD per successful call
function effectiveCostPerRequest(planPrice, requestsUsed) {
return planPrice / Math.max(requestsUsed, 1)
}
function unusedCreditCost(planPrice, planCredits, creditsUsed) {
return (planPrice * Math.max(planCredits - creditsUsed, 0)) / planCredits
}
console.log(effectiveCostPerRequest(49, 2000)) // 0.0245
console.log(unusedCreditCost(49, 50000, 2000)) // 47.04
console.log(2000 * PER_CALL) // 16 on pay per callcurl: get the live pay-per-call price (free)
curl -s 'https://api.switch402.com/v1/quote?url=https://example.com' -H 'User-Agent: my-app/1.0'
# "price": "$0.008 USDC on Base, charged only on success"FAQ
- Is switch402 live?
- Yes. POST https://api.switch402.com/v1/scrape with {"url": "..."} returns the page as markdown for $0.008 USDC on Base per call, paid over x402 and charged only on success. A lower-cost endpoint, /v1/scrape/lite, is $0.003 per call.
- How do I work out what unused credits cost me?
- Multiply the plan price by unused credits / plan credits. With the illustrative $49 plan for 50,000 credits, using 2,000 leaves 48,000 unused, which is $47.04 of the $49 you paid. On switch402, 2,000 successful calls cost $16 and nothing goes unused; the calculators do this for real plans at your volume. A plan can also include features beyond a single call, so compare what each one actually does for your job, not only the price.
- Who is pay per call for?
- Anyone who wants to pay only for what they use: a side project, an agent that scrapes only when a task needs it, volume that swings from month to month, or a trial before you commit. You pay only for successful calls and nothing in a month you do not use it.
- Do credits expire?
- It depends on the plan. Many monthly plans reset unused credits each month; check the plan's pricing page. On switch402, pay per call has nothing to expire, and with an optional prepaid key nothing expires: leftover balance stays on your key and is debited at the normal endpoint prices after a monthly plan period ends.
- Does switch402 have a volume discount?
- Pay per call is $0.008 per successful call on /v1/scrape and $0.003 on /v1/scrape/lite at any volume. Optional prepaid packs add credit: the $5 pack gives $5.00 of balance, the $20 pack $21.00 (+5% credit) and the $50 pack $55.00 (+10% credit, one per wallet per day). The optional monthly plan is $10 for 30 days: during the period, lite pages bill at the plan rate, so $10 covers 4,000 lite pages.
- Where can I compare against real plans?
- The switch402 calculators apply these formulas to providers' published plan prices and credit costs, with the source and check date shown on each page.