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

# Deposit funds

> How to add funds to your LLMTune balance.

# Deposit funds

LLMTune uses a **prepaid balance** (your "wallet"). You add funds up front, then inference, fine-tuning, embeddings, and the Agent are deducted as you go. There are no end-of-cycle invoices — you only pay for what you use, in real time.

<Callout type="info" title="Wallet vs. Coding Plans">
  This prepaid **wallet** is separate from **[Coding Plans](/plans/coding-plans)**, which are monthly subscriptions that include a fixed quota of AI requests for the CLI and IDEs. Wallet balance is only charged for usage outside your plan's quota — non-plan models, fine-tuning, and embeddings.
</Callout>

## Deposit funds

1. Sign in to the platform at **[https://llmtune.io/login](https://llmtune.io/login)**.
2. Open **Billing** from the left sidebar (or go to **[https://llmtune.io/billing](https://llmtune.io/billing)**).
3. Your current balance is shown at the top of the page.
4. Click **Add funds** (or **Top up**).
5. Choose your **payment method**.
6. Enter the **amount** you want to deposit.
7. Confirm the payment. Your balance updates immediately on success.

## How balance is used

| Workload                               | How it charges                                              |
| -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Inference** (`/v1/chat/completions`) | Per request, based on input + output tokens.                |
| **Embeddings** (`/v1/embeddings`)      | Per request, based on input tokens.                         |
| **Fine-tuning** (`/api/training`)      | Per GPU hour, billed while the job runs (not while queued). |
| **Agent**                              | Per request / per step, like inference.                     |

Each successful call is deducted from your balance. **Failed requests are not charged** — if a request errors (4xx/5xx), no tokens are billed.

## What happens when balance runs out

When your balance can't cover a request, the API returns **402 Payment Required**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "error": "Insufficient balance",
  "message": "Insufficient balance. Required: $0.00, Available: $0.00",
  "code": "INTERNAL_ERROR",
  "model": "qwen/qwen-2.5-7b-instruct-confidential"
}
```

To recover:

1. Go to **Billing** → **Add funds**.
2. Deposit enough to cover the request (the `Required` field shows the minimum).
3. Retry your request. No data is lost — the request simply didn't run.

<Callout type="warning" title="Free / Confidential models still need balance">
  Even models marked **Confidential** (the free / own-your-data tier) go through the paid inference path. If your balance is `$0.00`, confidential models will also return **402**. Deposit any amount to unlock them.
</Callout>

## Best practices

* **Deposit a buffer** — Add more than your immediate need to avoid mid-job 402s during batch runs.
* **Estimate before training** — For fine-tuning, use the cost estimate in Fine-tune Studio *before* you launch, and make sure your balance covers the full GPU-hours estimate.
* **Handle 402 in code** — Treat `402` as recoverable: pause, prompt the user to add funds, then retry. Don't auto-retry in a tight loop.
* **Monitor usage** — Check [Billing & usage](/billing/usage) to track spend and spot unexpected drains early.

## Next

* [Balance and deductions](/billing/balance-and-deductions) — How deductions work and how to handle 402 in detail.
* [Billing & usage](/billing/usage) — How token usage is calculated.