aardvark is **free and open**: author, build, and self-host your docs at no cost, forever.
Paid plans are for teams that want a **predictable monthly bill** — managed hosting, more
seats, real support, and a monthly **included-AI allowance in dollars**, keeping pricing
simple and dollar-based. Your aardvark key also grants you access to hundreds of AI models
you can use strategically to control costs as you go.
**$0** — pay as you go
Bring your own hosting, pay only for the AI you use.
- Self-host anywhere, full feature set
- All components, themes, agent discovery
- Metered AI at [published per-model prices](/pricing/models/)
- Prepaid balance + auto top-up
- 1 seat · community support
**$99** per month
_$87.20/mo billed annually_
We host and run your docs.
- **Managed hosting** — custom domain, SSL, previews
- **$40/mo of AI included**, at a ≈7% member discount
- 5 seats included, add more at $10/seat
- Insights analytics
- Community support
**$349** per month
_$303.20/mo billed annually_
Robust and self-serve — no sales call.
- Everything in Pro, plus:
- **$120/mo of AI included** — 3× Pro — at a ≈13% discount
- 12 seats included, add more at $15/seat
- SSO, RBAC, audit-log export
- **Priority email support**, next-business-day target
**$2,750** per month
Everything in Business, plus:
- **$750/mo of AI included** — 18.75× Pro — at a 20% discount
- **Unlimited customization requests** — our engineering team on call to build any feature you need
- SSO + SCIM provisioning
- Unlimited seats
- Shared Slack access for realtime support and requests, 7 days a week
Every model's real cost per answer, on every plan: **[the pricing table](/pricing/models/)**.
## Compare plans
| | Free | Pro | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Price** | $0 | $99/mo | $349/mo | $2,750/mo |
| **Billed annually** | — | $1,046.40/yr (≈$87.20/mo) | $3,638.40/yr (≈$303.20/mo) | $28,200/yr (≈$2,350/mo) |
| **Included AI** every month (member discount) | — | $40 at ≈7% off | $120 at ≈13% off (3× Pro) | $750 at 20% off (18.75× Pro) |
| **Seats** | 1 | 5 | 12 | Unlimited |
| **Hosting** | Self-host only | Managed or self-hosted | Managed or self-hosted | Managed or self-hosted |
| **Analytics** | Basic | Insights | Insights + export | Insights + export |
| **SSO / RBAC / audit export** | — | — | Included | + SCIM |
| **Customization** | — | — | — | Unlimited requests |
| **Support** | Community | Community | Priority email | Realtime shared Slack |
| **Self-hosting, agent discovery, PDF, all components** | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Nothing core is paywalled: self-hosting, Markdown-for-Agents, `llms.txt`, the agent-skills
index, whole-site PDF, and every component and theme ship on **Free**. Paid plans add
hosting, seats, support, controls — and cheaper AI.
## The honest AI meter
Every competitor meters AI in credits you can't reason about. aardvark bills AI in
**dollars**: [the pricing table](/pricing/models/) publishes what every model costs per
answer on every plan — real figures, no conversion math. Subscribers pay less per metered
dollar the more they commit (≈7% off on Pro, ≈13% on Business, 20% on Enterprise), on top
of the allowance their plan includes. All of it runs on **aardvark's managed keys** — you
never create, rotate, or secure a model-provider key on any plan.
Your included allowance is denominated in those same billed dollars:
- The dashboard shows **dollars included, dollars used**, your own trailing burn rate, and
an estimated depletion date — no "≈N answers" marketing math.
- Unused allowance **rolls over one month**, up to 2× your monthly amount.
- Answers served by `:free` models never bill and never touch your allowance.
## When the included AI runs out
**Cap-and-hold is the default.** Paid AI pauses at your cap and you're notified — so your
worst-case bill for metered AI is the subscription price. (Usage-based GitHub Automations
compute, if you use it, draws your prepaid balance separately and isn't included in that
figure.) Prefer to stay unstuck? Two self-serve options, both under your control:
1. **Fall back to your balance** — flip overflow to draw from your prepaid balance at your
plan's discounted member pricing, with a cap you set (raising it past 2× your allowance
asks for an explicit acknowledgment).
2. **Auto top-up** — keep the balance funded automatically with your chosen amount and
threshold, so overflow never stalls.
## Annual billing
Annual plans take **20% off the platform fee** — the included-AI allowance is funded
monthly at full value either way (it's real usage, not a discountable line item), so the
effective saving is about 12–13% off the yearly total — ~12% on Pro, ~13% on Business
(the bigger a plan's fee is relative to its bundled allowance, the more of the bill the
discount reaches). Pro: $1,046.40/yr (vs. $1,188 at par, ~12% off). Business: $3,638.40/yr
(vs. $4,188, ~13% off). The allowance still resets every month on annual plans.
## FAQ
Billing is designed to be predictable and never to surprise you. Here's exactly what happens
in the situations people ask about most.
### Your included AI
What exactly counts against the included AI?
The billed cost of metered requests — the same number the dashboard meter and your usage
ledger show, measured in real dollars, not opaque credits. It pools across your whole
account and drains before your prepaid balance.
What happens when I use up my included AI for the month?
By default, paid AI **pauses** for the rest of the month and readers automatically fall back
to free models — so you're never charged a surprise overage. It resets on your next monthly
date. If you'd rather keep paid AI running past your allowance, turn on pay-as-you-go overflow
(below).
What if I don't use all of it — does it roll over?
Yes, up to one month's worth. Anything beyond that doesn't keep stacking, so your allowance
plus rollover never exceeds about two months at once — a deliberate cap so a quiet period
can't build into an unexpectedly large bank.
What gets used first — my allowance or my prepaid balance?
In order: any **rolled-over** allowance first (it's the oldest and expires soonest), then
**this month's** allowance, and only then — if you've turned on pay-as-you-go overflow — your
**prepaid balance**. Your balance is never touched unless you opt in.
### Going past your included AI (overflow)
What are my options when the included AI runs out?
Three, and you can switch anytime on the Billing page:
- **Cap-and-hold** (default) — paid AI pauses; readers keep getting free-model answers. Your
bill for the month can never exceed your plan fee.
- **Pay-as-you-go** — paid AI keeps running past your allowance, drawing your prepaid balance
at your plan's member rate, up to a monthly cap you set.
- **Shutoff** — all AI stops (including free models) until next month's allowance arrives.
Why do I have to confirm a checkbox to raise my overflow cap past 2× my included AI?
It's a guardrail against a surprise bill. Setting a cap far above your included allowance is a
deliberate choice, so we ask you to acknowledge it once rather than let a large overage happen
silently.
What if I want to raise the cap again later — do I re-confirm every time?
No. Once you've acknowledged it, it stays acknowledged; later cap changes don't prompt you
again.
### Changing or cancelling your plan
When do plan changes take effect?
Upgrades apply right away, with the difference prorated onto your next invoice. Downgrades
and cancellations take effect at your **next billing date** — you keep everything you paid
for until then, and nothing is prorated. Unused prepaid balance is always yours either way.
What if our published prices change after I subscribe — does my bill go up?
No. You keep the price you signed up at for as long as you stay on that plan. If we later
change our published pricing, your live subscription isn't moved — the price you agreed to is
the price you pay.
What if I schedule a downgrade and then change my mind?
Just switch back to your current plan before your next renewal. You stay exactly where you
were, at your **original price** — even if our catalog prices happened to change in the
meantime. Undoing a scheduled downgrade never quietly re-prices you.
What happens when I cancel?
Your plan stays active until the end of the period you've already paid for, then the account
returns to Free pay-as-you-go. You can **resume anytime before then** and nothing changes.
Your prepaid balance is untouched. (An operator-provisioned Enterprise/comped plan ends
immediately instead, with no scheduled end date.)
### Payments, balance, and safety limits
What's the most I could be billed in a month?
With **cap-and-hold**, your plan fee — full stop. With **pay-as-you-go**, your plan fee plus
the overflow cap you set. Your dashboard shows this "max possible bill" figure directly.
(Usage-based build/compute, if you use it, draws your prepaid balance separately and isn't
part of that number.)
What happens to my prepaid balance if I cancel, downgrade, or a payment fails?
It's always yours. Cancelling, downgrading, or a lapsed subscription payment never spends or
absorbs your prepaid balance — it's kept completely separate from your plan.
What if a subscription payment fails?
You get a grace period of about two weeks with automatic retries before the plan lapses to
Free — and, again, your prepaid balance is never used to cover it.
Why did my AI pause with an “unusual usage” message?
An automatic safety brake noticed spending far above your account's normal pattern and paused
paid AI to protect you from a runaway bill. It isn't a funds problem — one click on the
Billing page resumes it.
Is the cutoff an exact-to-the-penny $0 guarantee?
It stops within roughly one request's cost of your limit, not to the exact cent — the final
request is admitted while you're still in the black and then billed. If you need a hard
ceiling, keep a small buffer.
What if I fire a lot of AI requests at the same time?
We cap how many paid requests run at once per account to keep spending predictable. Extra
concurrent requests get a brief "try again in a moment" and succeed on retry; free-model
requests aren't limited this way.
What is auto top-up?
Optional. With a card on file, we automatically refill your prepaid balance when it runs low —
so free-tier and pay-as-you-go usage aren't interrupted. You choose the amount and can turn it
off anytime.
Can I remove my saved card while I'm on a subscription?
Yes. Removing it also detaches it from your subscription's billing, so nothing keeps charging
a card you've taken off.
### Plans, seats, and hosting
Do I need my own model API keys?
No — on every plan, all metered AI runs through aardvark's managed keys. You never create,
rotate, or secure a provider key, and there is no bring-your-own-key tier to manage.
How do seats work?
Seats cover **editors and admins** — the people who create and manage your docs. **Readers are
always free and unlimited** on every plan. Each plan includes a set number of seats (Free 1,
Pro 5, Business 12, Enterprise unlimited), and on Pro and Business you can buy **add-on seats**
when you need more: **$10/seat/mo on Pro**, **$15/seat/mo on Business** (annual plans bill seats
at 12× the monthly rate, so the yearly total matches the monthly one).
What happens when I run out of seats?
Your bill never grows on its own — it's **block-and-buy**. When every seat is taken, new invites
are simply **blocked** until you make room, and nothing is charged and no one loses access until
you decide to add seats. To fit another teammate you either buy add-on seats or remove a member
or pending invite on the **Team** tab. (On an operator-provisioned or contract plan, seats are
arranged through support rather than self-serve.)
How do I add or remove seats?
From **Billing → Seats**. Adding seats raises your limit **immediately** and prorates the cost
onto your next invoice, so you only pay for the part of the period you actually use them.
Removing seats posts a proration **credit** to your next invoice — first drop the members or
pending invites you no longer need on the Team tab (we won't let you reduce below the seats
currently in use), then lower the count. Everyone already on your team keeps their access either
way.
What happens to my add-on seats when I change plans?
They come with you. On an **upgrade** your add-on seats move to the new plan's per-seat rate
right away (prorated onto your next invoice, like the plan change itself); on a **downgrade** they
switch over at your **next renewal**. If you move to a plan that doesn't sell add-on seats, the
add-ons are removed at that point and you stop being billed for them — the people over the new
limit keep their access, you just can't invite past it until you're back under.
Can I still self-host on Pro or Business?
Yes. Managed hosting is included, never required.
How does annual billing save money?
The discount applies to the platform fee; your included-AI allowance is funded at full value
every month either way (it's real usage, not a discountable line item). The allowance still
resets monthly on annual plans.
How does Enterprise billing work?
Enterprise works two ways. You can **subscribe to it self-serve** at the published price, just
like Pro or Business, with the saved card on your dashboard. Or, for a **signed contract** with a
negotiated allowance, seats, and member rate, we can provision it out of band — billed separately,
with no card on file for the plan, and your dashboard reflecting your contract terms. Either way
your "max possible bill" is shown for the plan you're on.