# Billing & Usage Overview > How Glow bills workspace resources, tracks monthly allowances, and separates operational usage from financial management. Glow uses a transparent prepaid resource model where each workspace purchases and tracks monthly allowances in advance. Instead of complex point conversions or surprise overage charges at the end of the month, your team manages three independent resources: **Step credits**, **Glow AI tokens**, and **Retained storage**. > **Role-based visibility:** All workspace members (Admins, Managers, and > Members) can open **Billing & Usage** to monitor live consumption meters and > review published pricing. Financial controls—including payment methods, > invoices, subscription changes, and budget safeguards—are strictly reserved > for **Admins**. ## The three workspace resources Every workflow action in Glow draws from one of three distinct meters: - [Step Credits](/manage/billing/credits-and-allowances#1-step-credits): Standard triggers, app actions, logic gates, and custom code executions. 1 credit per executed step. - [Glow AI Tokens](/manage/billing/credits-and-allowances#2-glow-ai-tokens): Hosted AI prompts, structured data transformation, and autonomous agent loops. Input, output, and reasoning tokens. - [Retained Storage](/manage/billing/credits-and-allowances#3-retained-file-storage): Standing workspace capacity in Gigabytes for uploaded assets, spreadsheets, attachments, and generated files. > **Strict Resource Isolation:** Glow AI tokens do not convert into Step > credits, and Step credits cannot be spent on hosted AI model generation. Each > balance operates independently so an intense AI task never exhausts your > routine operational triggers. --- ## The four billing views Access billing at any time by clicking your workspace name in the top-left sidebar and selecting **Billing & Usage** (or navigating directly to `/app/subscription`). The interface organizes consumption and administration into four dedicated tabs: - [1. Usage Tab](/manage/billing/overview#tab-breakdown-and-permissions): **All Workspace Roles:** Live meter gauges for Step credits, AI tokens, and storage with billing cycle reset dates. - [2. Pricing Tab](/manage/billing/overview#tab-breakdown-and-permissions): **All Workspace Roles:** Interactive calculators to estimate capacity rates and review commercial terms. - [3. Controls Tab](/manage/billing/overview#tab-breakdown-and-permissions): **Admins Only:** Token safeguards, storage hard caps, threshold alerts (80%, 90%, 100%), and webhooks. - [4. Billing Tab](/manage/billing/overview#tab-breakdown-and-permissions): **Admins Only:** Subscription plans, payment methods, billing contacts, and downloadable PDF invoices. ### Tab breakdown and permissions | Tab | Key information and actions | Who can access | | :----------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------ | | **Usage** | Live meter gauges for Step credits, AI tokens, and storage; current billing cycle dates; upcoming monthly reset date. | Admins, Managers, Members | | **Pricing** | Interactive sliders to calculate rates for additional capacity and review commercial terms. | Admins, Managers, Members | | **Controls** | AI token safeguards, storage limits, custom notification thresholds (80%, 90%, 100%), and alert webhook endpoints. | **Admins only** | | **Billing** | Current plan summary, payment card management, tax/VAT details, invoice history, PDF downloads, and plan adjustments. | **Admins only** | > **Client & Agency Workspaces:** For client workspaces managed under an MSP or > agency sponsorship, the **Usage** tab shows live operational metrics. The > **Billing** tab informs the client that billing is centrally managed by the > agency, keeping agency payment instruments and master invoices completely > private. --- ## How allowances and resets work Glow aligns resource replenishment with your workspace's billing anchor date: - **Step credits**: Refills to full allowance monthly. - **Glow AI tokens**: Refills to full allowance monthly. - **Retained storage**: Standing capacity (never resets). - **Monthly replenishment:** On your monthly reset date, your workspace receives its fresh allowance of Step credits and Glow AI tokens. Unused consumable credits from the previous cycle do not roll over. - **Standing storage:** Retained storage represents active cloud disk capacity and does not reset. Your files remain permanently stored and accessible across billing cycles. - **Annual billing:** Choosing an annual subscription bills twelve months in advance while continuing to grant your full consumable allowance every month on schedule. --- ## Predictable operations without unexpected overages Glow never silently runs into surprise debt or automatically charges unapproved overage fees. 1. **Graceful step pausing:** If your monthly Step credits or AI tokens reach 100%, subsequent steps requiring that specific resource pause with an informative status (`out_of_credits` or `glow_ai_token_limit`). 2. **Unaffected workflows continue:** Workflows that do not require the exhausted resource (for example, non-AI automations when AI tokens run low) continue executing normally. 3. **Trigger preservation:** Inbound webhooks and scheduled triggers remain deployed and active. Once your allowance resets or capacity is adjusted, runs resume automatically. ## What's Next? - 👉 **[Step Credits, Tokens & Storage →](/manage/billing/credits-and-allowances)**: Detailed consumption rules across all step types, loops, and AI models. - **[Purchasing & Changing Amounts](/manage/billing/subscription-plans)**: Select custom resource amounts and manage monthly or annual terms. - **[Usage Controls & Recovery](/manage/billing/usage-controls-and-recovery)**: Set automated safeguards, email alerts, and webhook notifications.