switch402

Jina Reader Pricing Explained (2026): Billed by Output Tokens from a Prepaid Balance

Jina Reader (r.jina.ai) is not a subscription. Per Jina's Reader page (as of Nov 1, 2026), usage is billed by the tokens in each response, drawn from a token balance you top up in advance on an API key. So a short page uses few tokens and a long page uses many, and for short pages Jina's prepaid tokens can cost less per page than switch402. switch402 bills differently: a flat $0.008 per successful page whatever its length, paid per call, with no balance to buy first.

  • Billed by output tokens

    Per Jina, r.jina.ai counts the tokens in the output response, so the cost of a page depends on how much text comes back. Options that add output, such as image captions or link and image summaries, add tokens, and the jina-ocr-v1 option costs 40 times more tokens.

  • Prepaid on an API key

    Tokens are bought ahead and held on an API key, with optional auto top-up when the balance falls below a threshold you set. The same tokens are shared across Jina's other APIs on that key. Search (s.jina.ai) costs a fixed number of tokens per request, starting from 10,000.

  • Short pages can cost less on Jina

    Because Jina charges by length, short pages use few tokens, and for short pages Jina can cost less per page than switch402's flat $0.008. Long or very uneven pages use more tokens. Use the calculator with your own pack price and page sizes to see which is lower for you.

  • Where switch402 differs

    No prepay: each successful page is paid when you fetch it, so there is no balance to top up, track or run out of mid-job, and nothing left over to expire. The price is a flat $0.008 per page ($0.003 on lite) whatever the page length, so cost is known before the call.

How Jina Reader and switch402 bill a page, as of Nov 1, 2026

Jina Reader (r.jina.ai)switch402 (/v1/scrape)
What you pay forOutput tokens in each responseEach successful page, flat $0.008
Does page length change the cost?Yes, longer pages use more tokensNo, same price for any length
How you payPrepaid token balance on an API keyPer call in USDC on Base over x402
Balance to manageYes, with optional auto top-upNone; prepaid packs are optional
Account or keyAPI key for paid useNone needed

For short pages, Jina's prepaid tokens can cost less per page than switch402. switch402 is for when you want no prepay, no balance and one known price per page used: $0.008 on /v1/scrape and $0.003 on /v1/scrape/lite, and a month with no calls costs $0.

Sources, checked Nov 1, 2026: jina.ai/reader, docs.jina.ai/api.md. Prices can change; check the source before you decide.

Example: 1,000 pages on switch402 cost $8 ($3 on lite) whatever their length, paid as you go. On Jina, the same 1,000 pages cost whatever their output tokens add up to at your pack price, from a balance bought in advance: short pages can come out lower than switch402, longer pages higher.

Code example

Before: Jina Reader, billed by output tokens (curl)

curl -s "https://r.jina.ai/https://example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JINA_API_KEY"
# cost = tokens in the response, drawn from your prepaid balance

After: switch402, one flat price per successful page (JavaScript)

// npm i @x402/fetch @x402/evm viem
import { wrapFetchWithPaymentFromConfig } from '@x402/fetch'
import { ExactEvmScheme } from '@x402/evm'
import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts'

const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.AGENT_KEY)
const fetchWithPayment = wrapFetchWithPaymentFromConfig(fetch, {
  schemes: [{ network: 'eip155:8453', client: new ExactEvmScheme(account) }],
})

const res = await fetchWithPayment('https://api.switch402.com/v1/scrape', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'User-Agent': 'my-agent/1.0' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ url: 'https://example.com' }),
})
const { markdown } = await res.json() // $0.008 for any page length, 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 is Jina Reader priced?
Per jina.ai/reader, as of Nov 1, 2026: API pricing is based on token usage. r.jina.ai counts the tokens in the output response, and s.jina.ai search costs a fixed number of tokens per request, starting from 10,000. Tokens are bought ahead on an API key and shared across Jina's APIs.
Does Jina Reader cost less than switch402?
It can be. Jina charges by output tokens, so for short pages its prepaid tokens can cost less per page than switch402's flat $0.008. For long or uneven pages it can cost more. Enter your own pack price and average page size in the Jina calculator to see which is lower at your volume.
Do Jina tokens expire?
Jina's FAQ says its API keys have no expiration date, and if you revoke a key the remaining token balance stays on your account. switch402 simply has no balance: each successful call is paid on its own.
Why would I use switch402 instead?
If you want no prepay and no balance to manage, and one known price per page used: $0.008 per successful page on /v1/scrape ($0.003 on lite) in USDC on Base over x402, with no signup or API key, and a month with no calls costs $0. Optional prepaid packs exist if you prefer a balance.
Where do these numbers come from?
Jina's Reader page (token billing, prepaid top-up, rate limits and FAQ) and Jina's API reference, fetched Nov 1, 2026, plus switch402's live payment terms. Jina's token pack prices are shown in its dashboard; we don't list them here. Check the source before you decide.

Next steps