SLA and paybacks
What the PopNow API pays back. Failed tasks are free, a quote is a price cap, and an hour below 95% success pays 10% of that hour's spend back to your API balance.
Every API task comes with three promises. They apply automatically, with nothing to claim.
| Promise | When it applies | What you get | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed tasks are free | A task ends failed or expired | The whole hold is released; you pay nothing | As soon as the task ends |
| Quotes are a cap | Always | A task never costs more than its quote's maxChargeUsd | — |
| Success-rate SLA | A model family succeeds on less than 95% of at least 50 finished tasks in a full UTC hour | 10% of what you spent on that family in that hour, back to your API balance | Shortly after that hour ends |
Failed tasks are free
When a task ends failed or expired, its USD hold goes back to your API balance and you're charged nothing. Requests rejected before they start (400, 402, 403, 429 …) never create a task or a hold. See How one task is charged.
Quotes are a cap
jobs/quote returns maxChargeUsd before you run anything. When createTask accepts a task, it holds that maximum and settles what the task actually used, never more than the hold. If the price changed since your quote, createTask answers 40901 and you quote again; you're never charged a price you didn't see.
Success-rate SLA
We measure the success rate of each model family on the API for every full hour (UTC), the same way as on the public API status page.
- When it pays. A family has at least 50 finished tasks in that hour and less than 95% of them succeed. Only failures on our side or the model provider's side count; invalid input and content declines don't.
- Who gets it. Every API account that had at least one failed task on that family in that hour.
- How much. 10% of what that account was charged for tasks on that family in that hour, added to its API balance. This amount is valid for 90 days and can't be withdrawn or transferred.
- When. Automatically, shortly after the hour ends.
Limits
- The account must have added at least $5 of API funds in that calendar month (UTC).
- Each account can receive up to $50 per calendar month (UTC) from this SLA, and the PopNow price-beat guarantee on the API counts toward the same amount. It's also never more than 10% of the API funds the account added in the past 30 days, and it's limited by what the account spent in the past 30 days, by an amount that depends on each model. When a payback is reduced by these limits, it's paid in part or not at all.
- Accounts that use the same payment card, or the same email address once dots and
+tags are removed, count as one account. - If payouts suddenly rise far above normal, for example during a provider outage or because of abuse, we may hold new payouts while we look into it. A person checks held payouts, and we pay the ones that qualify.
- Tasks sent to make failures on purpose, scripted or coordinated abuse, and multiple accounts don't qualify. We take back paybacks earned that way and may end the account's eligibility.
The SLA is a promotional promise on top of the Terms of Service. We can change or end it; tasks that ran before a change are handled under the rules at that time.
Where to check
- API status shows each model family's success rate.
- The task record shows each task's final
status, andcostUsdwithsettled: trueis what it cost. - Questions about a payback: contact support with the task IDs, but never your API key.
Do I need to claim the SLA payback?
No. It's paid automatically after the hour ends to every account that qualifies.
Does a failed task count against me?
No. A failed task is never charged, and if enough tasks on that model family failed in the same hour, you also get 10% of that hour's spend on it back.
Can I get the payback as a refund to my card?
No. It's added to your API balance and is valid for 90 days. For API payment questions, open API billing.