Why pay-per-use instead of subscription?
Because we charge for VM time, not for time you spend not using us. Most engine platforms wrap a subscription around what is fundamentally pay-per-use compute. We chose to be honest about that. You pay $5 once, you get $5 of compute, and we don't auto-bill you next month.
How much engine time do I get?
It depends on the engine and hardware tier you use. As a guide, the Light pack (35K tokens) gives roughly 9 h 43 m on Stockfish 16-core, 4 h 51 m on Stockfish 32-core, or 3 h 14 m on Leela RTX 4090. Heavier hardware is faster — and burns tokens faster. You can switch your default engine at any time in your account settings; tokens are not tied to a specific engine.
What if I want predictable monthly cost?
Buy a Light or Regular pack at the start of the month and use it as your monthly budget. If you run out, top up. If you don't, your tokens carry over indefinitely — they never expire. Prefer it hands-off? Opt in to auto-topup in your account and we'll buy your chosen pack automatically when you run low.
Can I set up automatic top-ups?
Yes. Go to Account → Auto-topup to set a balance threshold. When your balance drops below that level, we'll automatically purchase the pack you choose.
Can I use this from ChessBase or Fritz?
Yes. Our UCI bridge lets any UCI-compatible chess GUI use our cloud engine. Download the bridge from the Downloads page, register it like a local Stockfish, sign in once, and your existing GUI now runs cloud Stockfish 18. The web app is there when you want it; your desktop GUI works exactly as before.