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Tokens and pricing
How alallo pricing works
alallo jobs are paid for with alallo tokens from a prepaid token balance that belongs to your alallo account. Before a job starts, alallo shows you the job's exact price in alallo tokens, and an estimated time range. When you start the job, alallo reserves the quoted tokens from your balance. When the job finishes, alallo charges the quoted amount. You never pay more than the quoted price for a job.
What an alallo token is
One alallo token pays for training on one token of your text on a 7B model (such as Qwen2.5 7B Instruct). A "training token" is a token of your text processed during training; a token is a short piece of text, on average a little less than one English word. Smaller models use fewer alallo tokens per training token, and bigger models use more: a 14B model uses about twice as many alallo tokens per training token as a 7B model.
alallo tokens per training token, by model size
| Model size | alallo tokens per training token |
|---|---|
| 7B (Qwen2.5 7B Instruct) | 1 |
| 14B (Qwen2.5 14B Instruct) | about 2 |
| Smaller models (0.5B to 3.8B) | less than 1 [TBD: exact factors per model] |
The training method also affects the price of an alallo job. [TBD: the factor per training method (LoRA, QLoRA, full weights, DPO); the estimate in the dashboard always shows the exact price.]
How the price of an alallo job is calculated
The price of an alallo job depends on the base model, the training method, and the number of training tokens the job processes. The number of training tokens is set by the job's settings (Max steps × Batch size × Gradient accumulation × Max sequence length) and by your data. alallo reads and tokenizes your data before quoting, so the price is based on the real text in your data. Padding (empty filler used to bring short examples to equal length) is never charged. The price of a given job does not depend on where or how alallo runs the job.
Seeing the price before an alallo job starts
Click "Estimate time and price" in the New job form to see a job's price before starting it. alallo shows the price in alallo tokens, which is fixed, and the estimated time, which is a range. Changing any setting after the estimate clears the estimate, so the job you start always matches the price you saw. The estimate is free and does not use any tokens.
Topping up your alallo token balance
The account owner (root user) tops up the alallo token balance by card. alallo opens a secure Stripe payment page for the chosen pack, and the tokens are added to the balance as soon as Stripe confirms the payment. Members of the account can see the balance but cannot top up. If the payment page cannot be opened, alallo says "payments are unavailable right now; try again shortly". Tokens are sold in packs at fixed prices:
| Pack | Price in EUR (EU) | Price in USD (US and Anywhere) |
|---|---|---|
| [pack size TBD] | [pack prices TBD] | [pack prices TBD] |
[TBD: where the top-up button is in the dashboard; whether top-ups produce invoices or receipts, and how VAT/sales tax is handled; whether unused tokens expire; whether unused top-ups can be refunded.]
Currency of alallo top-ups
alallo top-ups for the European Union data residency are priced in euro (EUR). Top-ups for the United States and Anywhere data residency options are priced in US dollars (USD). [TBD: whether one account balance can pay for jobs in all residency options, or whether balances are kept per currency.]
Lowest cost and Fastest finish goals in alallo
The Goal setting of an alallo job is either "Lowest cost" (finish for the least money; usually also quick for small jobs) or "Fastest finish" (finish as soon as possible). The dashboard notes that with Fastest finish "the price can be a little higher". The estimate shows the price for the goal you chose.
Start fee per alallo job
Every alallo job includes a start fee of 1 million (1M) alallo tokens, on top of the alallo tokens for its training. The start fee is the same for every job, whatever the model, method or data size.
The start fee pays for the work alallo does before training can begin: preparing the machines for your job, loading the base model, and reading and checking your data. That work takes about the same effort for a tiny job as for a large one, so alallo charges it once per job instead of hiding it in the price of every training token. Training tokens then cost the same for small and large jobs.
The start fee replaces a minimum charge: alallo has no minimum price per job. A very small job costs its training tokens plus the start fee, and nothing more.
The start fee in the price of an alallo job
The price that alallo quotes before a job starts already includes the start fee. Under the price, the estimate says "Includes a start fee of 1.0M tokens per job". When you start the job, alallo reserves the whole price, start fee included, from your balance.
Examples of alallo job prices with the start fee
| Job | Training | Start fee | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7B model, 5M training tokens | 5M alallo tokens | 1M | 6M alallo tokens |
| 14B model, 5M training tokens | about 10M alallo tokens | 1M | about 11M alallo tokens |
| 7B model, 200k training tokens (a quick test) | 0.2M alallo tokens | 1M | 1.2M alallo tokens |
These examples use the factors in the table above and ignore the training method; the estimate in the dashboard always shows the exact price.
When the alallo start fee is charged and when it is refunded
| What happens to the job | Start fee |
|---|---|
| The job finishes successfully | Charged |
| You cancel the job after training progress has been saved | Charged, with the training done so far |
| You cancel the job before any training progress has been saved (for example while it is still waiting or starting) | Refunded |
| You cancel the job after it has run past the upper end of its estimated time | Refunded |
| The job fails | Refunded |
A refunded start fee returns to your balance together with the rest of the reserved tokens. See Cancelling jobs and refunds.
Your alallo balance is the spending limit
An alallo job can only start when your account's available token balance covers the job's quoted price. There is no separate budget to set: you never pay more than the quoted price for a job. If the balance is too low, starting the job fails with "This job needs N tokens and your balance has M. Top up to start it." Visitors who are not signed in can get estimates, but need an account and a balance to start a job.
Your alallo token balance and history
Every user in an alallo account can see the account's token balance. The balance has two parts: available tokens, which can pay for new jobs, and held tokens, which are reserved for jobs that are queued or running. The balance history lists top-ups, reservations for started jobs, charges and returned tokens, newest first. [TBD: where the balance and history appear in the dashboard.]
When alallo tokens are reserved and charged
- When you start a job: alallo reserves the quoted number of tokens; they move from available to held.
- When the job finishes: alallo charges the quoted amount.
- If you cancel: you pay for the work completed so far and the rest returns to your balance. See Cancelling jobs and refunds.
- If the job fails or is stopped by alallo: you pay nothing and the reserved tokens return to your balance.
Repeated work is never charged by alallo
alallo may move your job while it runs to keep it running. When that happens, the job continues from its most recent saved checkpoint. You never pay for repeated work: alallo charges only for training progress, counted once.