This article describes legacy pricing. Usage units apply only to Standard and Premium pay-as-you-go plans (sold 1 July 2020 – March 2023) and some committed plans.
If you're on a plan sold since March 2023, including the free plan and Grow, usage units don't apply to you. You're billed on search requests and records, metered separately: see How am I billed on the Grow plan?
Not sure which you're on? See How do I check which plan my Algolia application is on?
Standard and Premium PAYG plans
For Standard and Premium pay-as-you-go plans, released on 1 July 2020, and no longer available to new pay-as-you-go customers, pricing depends on your Algolia usage as measured in units. Each unit covers 1,000 search requests and 1,000 records. The more you use Algolia, the more units you consume during a billing period.
How units are calculated
To work out how many units your application uses, Algolia takes the higher of either search requests or records, not the sum of the two.
Example 1. Your app holds 2,500 records and receives 4,000 search requests per month. Search requests are the higher figure, so they set the total:
4,000 search requests ÷ 1,000 per unit = 4 units per month
Example 2. Your app holds 10,000 records and receives 4,000 search requests per month. Records are now the higher figure, so they set the total instead:
10,000 records ÷ 1,000 per unit = 10 units per month
In the second example the 4,000 search requests add nothing to your bill, because they're already covered by the 10 units your record count requires.
Unused units
Unused units, whether included in your plan or purchased separately, do not roll over to the next service period.
You can choose to commit to a fixed number of units for the year at a discounted rate. See the pricing page for details.