Billing & Limits

How is billing calculated?

globalize.now bills on translated characters — the rendered text output we generate across your target languages — not on seats, languages, or source file size. What counts as a translated character When you push code with new UI strings and globalize.now translates them, we count the characters in the translation output. For example: - Source string (English): "Submit order" — 12 characters - Translation into Spanish: "Enviar pedido" — 13 characters - Translation into German: "Bestellung abschicken" — 21 characters - Translation into French: "Envoyer la commande" — 19 characters Total translated characters for this string across 3 languages: 53 characters What's included in the base plan Every workspace includes 100,000 translated characters per month in the €20/month base fee. To give a sense of scale: a typical small web app with 200 UI strings translated into 3 languages uses roughly 15,000–30,000 characters per month (depending on string length and update frequency). Most early-stage apps fit comfortably within the base allowance. Additional usage If you exceed 100,000 characters, additional usage is billed at €0.001 per 1,000 characters (€1 per 100,000 characters). Flat rate, no tiered surprises. What does NOT count - The original source language strings (English, or whatever your base language is) - Characters in locale files you edited manually - Re-translations of strings that haven't changed since the last push Viewing your usage Usage is visible in your globalize.now dashboard under the workspace billing section. Can I use my own API key for translations? Yes. You can connect your own Anthropic API key to globalize.now instead of using our translation infrastructure. The €20/month platform fee still applies — it covers the platform, the i18n skills, and the Git integration. What changes is where the AI translation compute runs. When this makes sense: If you're already paying Anthropic directly and have a volume rate that's better than what the platform provides. When the platform key is better: For most users, the platform's shared API access is cheaper than individual API pricing, especially at lower volumes. As globalize.now scales, per-token costs on the platform side decrease. To connect your own API key, go to workspace settings → Translation → API key.

What happens when I hit my character limit?

When you cross your monthly translated-character allowance, new translations pause. Your app keeps running normally — nothing breaks at runtime. What stops - Automatic translation of new strings on push - PR generation for new locale file updates What keeps working - Your app serves the last synced locale JSON exactly as before - Existing translations are not removed or degraded - Your repo is unchanged - You can still push code — globalize.now just queues new strings rather than translating them How you'll know You'll receive an in-product notification when you're approaching your limit, and another when you've crossed it. No translation failures in your app — just a pause in the pipeline. How to resume You can upgrade to add more translated-character capacity at any time from your billing settings. New strings resume translating automatically on the next Git push after your capacity is increased or resets. Monthly reset Character usage resets at the start of each billing cycle. Unused characters don't roll over.

Free tier explained

The setup phase of globalize.now is free. Every new account also gets a €5 translation credit automatically — no payment method required to activate. What's free Running Set up localization for my project through your agent: - Framework detection - String extraction - Translation key generation - Locale file creation (base language only) - Glossary generation After this step, you have a fully structured, translation-ready codebase with locale files checked into Git. You can stop here and translate manually if you prefer. What your €5 starting credit covers The €5 starting credit is applied automatically to your first translation jobs. At current rates, €5 covers roughly 5 million translated characters — enough to run the full translation pipeline on a small-to-medium app across multiple languages before you need to connect billing. You'll see your credit balance in your workspace settings. What requires billing beyond the starting credit Automatic translation of your strings into other languages draws from your starting credit or billing: - AI-generated translations of all target languages - Continuous auto-sync on every Git push - PR-based locale file updates The €20/month plan includes 100,000 translated characters. See the billing guide for details. Translating manually (free) After the free setup phase, your locale files exist with translation keys but empty values for non-English languages. You can fill these in manually, hire a translator, or use any external translation tool. globalize.now won't overwrite manual entries when you later connect billing — it only fills in new strings you haven't translated yet. How to connect billing Log in to globalize.now, go to your workspace settings, and add a payment method. Billing activates immediately and auto-sync begins on your next push.