> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shieldlabs.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Billing & Plans

> A guide to how ShieldLabs billing works: what counts as a request, what is free, and the plans.

ShieldLabs bills per **request**, not per monthly active user. One identification is one request. You pick a plan that covers the request volume you expect, and that plan covers everything ShieldLabs does with each request: the [Risk Score](/features/risk-scoring), the [anonymity signals](/features/anonymity-signals) behind it, the persistent [identifiers](/features/identification), and the [patterns](/features/patterns) computed over time.

Manage your plan and payment method under **Settings** in the [dashboard](/features/traffic-analytics).

## What counts as a request

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Billed: identifications" icon="fingerprint">
    Each scored identification is **one request**. Its score, `signals`, and webhook all come with it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Billed: Management API history" icon="clock-rotate-left">
    The [Management API](/api/server-api) `/v1/history/…` path bills **one request per row** (an empty result still bills one).
  </Card>

  <Card title="Free: webhooks & history" icon="webhook">
    [Webhook](/setup/webhooks) delivery and [History API](/api/server-api) reads on `account.shieldlabs.ai` cost nothing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Free: dashboard & exports" icon="table">
    The [dashboard](/features/traffic-analytics), every chart and breakdown, CSV and JSON exports, and your profile and balance.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Note>
  The simple rule: a **new** score costs a request. Re-reading scores through the account [History API](/api/server-api) is **free**; only the Management API History path bills a request per row. Everything you read in the dashboard, and every webhook ShieldLabs pushes to you, is free.
</Note>

## Plans

| Plan              | Price      | Included / month | Rate per 1,000 | Best for                                                                              |
| ----------------- | ---------- | ---------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Free**          | \$0        | 5,000 one-time   | —              | An initial traffic-quality check and a first look at anonymous-visitor identification |
| **Starter**       | \$99/mo    | 25,000           | \$3.96         | Ongoing anonymous-visitor identification and traffic-quality monitoring               |
| **Growth**        | \$399/mo   | 150,000          | \$2.66         | Abuse and fraud detection at scale. **Most popular**                                  |
| **Scale**         | \$999/mo   | 500,000          | \$1.99         | High-volume platforms that also want priority support                                 |
| **Custom volume** | Contact us | Above 1M         | Custom         | A custom plan tailored to your traffic                                                |

The Free plan is a one-time allowance of 5,000 identifications. Starter, Growth, and Scale each give you a monthly request balance, and the per-1,000 rate above is the effective price within each tier. For traffic above the Scale tier, **Custom volume** is a committed-volume quote — [contact us](https://shieldlabs.ai/pricing).

### Billing frequency

Pick monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Longer commitments cost less per request:

| Frequency | Discount       |
| --------- | -------------- |
| Monthly   | Standard price |
| Quarterly | **10% off**    |
| Yearly    | **20% off**    |

Change your plan or billing frequency any time under **Settings → Plans & Requests** in the [dashboard](/features/traffic-analytics).

## What every plan includes

Every plan — Free, Starter, Growth, and Scale — ships the **full feature set**. The tiers differ only on monthly volume; Scale adds priority support on top.

* **[Identification](/features/identification)** — a persistent VisitorID and DeviceID for every visitor.
* **[Anonymity signals](/features/anonymity-signals)** — VPN, proxy, Tor, Privacy Relay, anti-detect, and the rest.
* **[Risk scoring](/features/risk-scoring)** — the explainable 0–100 Risk Score with its signals.
* **[Patterns](/features/patterns)** — ready-made relationship patterns over your historical data.
* **[Risk analytics](/features/traffic-analytics)** — the real-time dashboard, every breakdown, and CSV / JSON export.
* **[API](/api/overview)** — read scored results from your backend.
* **[Webhooks](/setup/webhooks)** — scores pushed to your endpoints in real time.
* **Support** — included on every plan; Scale adds priority support.

## Compare all features

All paid tiers ship the same capabilities; the plans differ on volume, retention, and rate.

**Identifications**

| Feature         |     Free     | Starter |  Growth |  Scale  |
| --------------- | :----------: | :-----: | :-----: | :-----: |
| Identifications | 5,000 (once) |  25,000 | 150,000 | 500,000 |
| Rate / 1,000    |       —      |  \$3.96 |  \$2.66 |  \$1.99 |
| API calls       | 5,000 (once) |  25,000 | 150,000 | 500,000 |

**Identification**

| Feature               | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| --------------------- | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Visitor ID            |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Device ID             |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| User HID              |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Session ID            |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Cookie ID             |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Cross-Session Linking |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Anonymity Signals**

| Feature                        | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| ------------------------------ | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Network Intelligence           |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| IP Geolocation                 |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| VPN Detection                  |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Proxy Detection                |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Tor Detection                  |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Privacy Relay Detection        |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Datacenter Detection           |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| IP Reputation (Abuser)         |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Geolocation Spoofing Detection |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Anti-Detect Browser Detection  |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| OS Tamper Detection            |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Incognito Detection            |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Automation & Headless**

| Feature             | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| ------------------- | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Browser Automation  |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| JavaScript Disabled |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Risk Scoring**

| Feature            | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| ------------------ | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Risk Score (0-100) |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Scoring Details    |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Abuse Patterns**

| Feature             | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| ------------------- | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Ready-Made Patterns |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Abuse-Type Flags    |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Abuse Assessment    |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Analytics**

| Feature                  | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| ------------------------ | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| Live Visit Feed          |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Traffic Risk Scoring     |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Traffic-Source Breakdown |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Paid-Click Fraud         |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Data Export              |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**API & Delivery**

| Feature  | Free | Starter | Growth | Scale |
| -------- | :--: | :-----: | :----: | :---: |
| API      |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| Webhooks |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |
| History  |   ✓  |    ✓    |    ✓   |   ✓   |

**Platform & Support**

| Feature            |    Free   |  Starter  |   Growth  |   Scale   |
| ------------------ | :-------: | :-------: | :-------: | :-------: |
| Payload Encryption |     ✓     |     ✓     |     ✓     |     ✓     |
| Data Retention     | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
| Support            |     ✓     |     ✓     |     ✓     |     ✓     |

## Estimating your monthly requests

Your request usage is driven by how often you identify visitors and how much history you re-read:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Count your identify calls">
    Most integrations run one identification per visit (or per sensitive action, such as a login or checkout). That is one request per call. If you call `forceCheckAnonymous` again before a high-stakes action, that is a second request.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Prefer webhooks for live decisions">
    Acting on the [webhook](/setup/webhooks) you already received is free, and so are reads through the account [History API](/api/server-api) on `account.shieldlabs.ai`. The Management API History path on `api.shieldlabs.ai` is the one that bills per returned row.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the rest on the dashboard">
    Analytics, breakdowns, and exports are free, so reporting and review work never adds to your bill.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  A login flow that identifies once per sign-in and reacts to the webhook spends one request per login. Reading the account [History API](/api/server-api) for extra context adds nothing, since those reads are free.
</Tip>

## When you run out of requests

If your request balance is exhausted, you get **HTTP 402 (out of requests)** in two places: when the snippet posts an identification to be scored, and on Management API History calls. The fix is to upgrade your plan or add to your request balance.

<Note>
  **402** means "out of requests," a billing state. It is separate from **429** rate limiting, a per-IP gateway protection that has nothing to do with your plan balance and follows its own [gateway thresholds](/rate-limits). The [API overview](/api/overview) carries the full error list.
</Note>

## Next steps

Compare features and pick a plan under **Settings** in the [dashboard](/features/traffic-analytics). To wire the score into your own decisions, read [Acting on the Risk Score](/guides/acting-on-risk-score) and the [webhooks](/setup/webhooks) setup. The [Server API](/api/server-api) and the [API overview](/api/overview) document programmatic reads and the exact endpoints that do and do not bill.