Skip to page content Skip to main navigation
English | Site Directory

e.g. "templates" or "datastore"

# Billing and Budgeting Resources

Each App Engine application can consume a certain level of computing resources for free, controlled by a set of quotas. Developers who want to grow their applications beyond these free quotas can do so by enabling billing for their application and using Google Checkout to set a daily resource budget, which will allow for the purchasing of additional resources if and when they are needed. App Engine will always be free to get started, and after you've enabled billing for your app all usage up to the free quotas will remain free.

This document describes enabling and managing your App Engine billing settings. More information can be found in the FAQ.

- Screencast: Enabling Billing for Your App
- Billable Quota Unit Cost
- Enabling Billing
- Setting a Daily Budget
- Making Changes to Your Daily Budget
- Billing Status
- Changing the Billing Administrator
- Billing History
- A Note About Taxes

## Screencast: Enabling Billing for Your App

We've put together a handy screencast to help explain the budget setup process:

## Billable Quota Unit Cost

The cost for computing resources is as follows:

Resource | Unit | Unit cost
--- | --- | ---
Outgoing Bandwidth | gigabytes | $0.12
Incoming Bandwidth | gigabytes | $0.10
CPU Time | CPU hours | $0.10
Stored Data | gigabytes per month | $0.15
Recipients Emailed | recipients | $0.0001

## Enabling Billing

To set up a billing account for an application:

1. Sign in to the Administration Console at http://appengine.google.com. Google Apps users can sign in at https://appengine.google.com/a/your_domain.com.
2. Select the application for which you would like to purchase resources
3. Click Billing Settings from the left menu.
4. Click Enable Billing and follow the steps in Setting a Daily Budget, below.

## Setting a Daily Budget

Your Max Daily Budget controls the amount of extra resources you're willing to purchase each day. You'll never be charged more than allowed by your maximum daily budget, plus any applicable taxes.

Your daily budget is split between each of the billable quotas. Budget amounts will not be shifted automatically between resources if one resource exhausts its quota.

To specify your daily budget:

1. Enter the Max Daily Budget in U.S. dollars. This represents the most you're willing to pay over a 24 hour period (starting at 12am PT each day). You'll only be charged for what you actually use.
2. By default, your budget is allocated among the billable quotas using a preset ratio. You can select a different Budget Preset, or customize the individual allocations by selecting Custom.
3. Select your country of residence. Your country of residence determines any applicable taxes.
4. If applicable, enter your VAT ID.
5. Click the Google Checkout button. You'll be redirected to Google Checkout -- follow the prompts to enter your payment information and authorize a charge limit using Google Checkout.

Once you click the Google Checkout button in the step above, your application's billing status changes to Activating Billing, and will remain in this state for up to 30 minutes. No changes can be made to your budget during this time, even if the Google Checkout steps were not completed. If billing set-up is successful, your status will change to Billing Enabled once confirmation is received from Google Checkout.

## Making Changes to Your Daily Budget

You can make changes to your budget settings at any time. To do so, visit your application's Billing Settings page in the Administration Console.

### Increasing Your Daily Budget

When you enable billing for your application, you agree to allow App Engine to charge your Google Checkout account up to a certain amount each week, as determined by your initial Maximum Daily Budget. If you later decide to raise your daily budget above this value, you'll need to authorize a new weekly charge limit with Checkout in order to complete this process.

To do so, make your changes in the Billing Settings page, then click the Google Checkout button. Follow the prompts to authorize a new weekly charge limit. Increases in daily budget will take effect 15 to 30 minutes after Google Checkout confirms the authorization.

### Decreasing Your Daily Budget

Decreasing your budget does not require a new Google Checkout charge authorization. Budget decreases will take effect within 15 minutes. If a decrease in budget adjusts your quotas below or near your current resource usage for the day, we may not be able to immediately enforce the lower quotas. In this case, your charge for this day may exceed your new budget.

### Changes Made by Other Application Administrators

Developers who have been invited to your account have the ability to change the daily budget and its allocation, but only up to the amount of the Google Checkout weekly charge limit authorized by the billed administrator. To raise the daily budget beyond this limit, a developer will need to take over billing responsibilities and authorize a new weekly charge limit.

## Billing Status

Your current billing status will be displayed on the Billing Settings page. Possible values are:

Value | Description
--- | ---
Free | No Checkout account has been linked to this App Engine account. You'll be able to use resources up to the free quota amounts.
Billing Enabled | An active Google Checkout account is linked to this App Engine account and a weekly charge limit has been authorized.
Activating Billing | It can take approximately 30 minutes for the credit card charge confirmation to be returned by Checkout. During this time, your status will show as Activating Billing, and no further billing-related changes can be made.
Charge Issued | Your Checkout account is being charged for the resources used above the free levels. You'll only be charged for resources that you actually consume.
Payment Due | We were unable to process the last payment. In order to return to a Billing Enabled state, a new billing administrator must assume payment responsibilities and pay any outstanding balance.
Payment Overdue | We were unable to process your last payment, and the due date for this payment has passed. Your quota levels may be reset to the free levels.
Manual Review | Your account is being manually reviewed, usually because you have recently disabled billing, or you have requested a manual review. Changes cannot be made to any of the billing settings while your account is in this state.

## Changing the Billing Administrator

Any developer who has access to an application's Administration Console can take over billing responsibilities. This will relieve the currently-billed administrator of responsibility for charges. The new developer will be responsible for any outstanding balance on the application's account.

To take over billing responsibilities, click Take over billing from the information frame at the top of the Billing Settings page. Follow the instructions to enter your payment information and authorize a new Google Checkout weekly charge limit.

## Billing History

Your Billing History page shows all account activity related to paid quota charges. Any billing events, including budget modifications and billed administrator changes, will be reflected here.

The Billing History page also includes daily usage reports, detailing the resources used by your application, and any charges incurred.

## A Note About Taxes

Some countries require that we charge taxes for purchases of App Engine resources. If taxes apply in your country of residence, your Google Checkout charge limit will be adjusted to accommodate any applicable taxes. Your daily budget does not include the tax amount. Amounts shown on your Billing History and Billing Settings pages do not include taxes, and the final charge to your account, including taxes, may be larger than your daily budget amount.