No way to limit billing usage?

Question

I just signed up to the ArcGIS Location platform as a completely new user, and before I start using it I need to clear up some concerns about the platform potentially using abusive billing practices.

Some guides online talked about there being a free tier for ArcGIS services with certain usage limits, but it appears that there are no selected tiers any more. The Pricing section seems to indicate that pricing is now on some kind of pay-as-you-go type deal with a certain number of free actions of certain types each month.

I searched all over the dashboard and I couldn't find any kind of usage limit controls to prevent going over the free limit or prevent using services that don't have a free usage quota. Is there a way to do that?

I recall Amazon using this this kind of abusive pricing model to allow free AWS users to accidentally go over their free limits and then send them surprise bills. If there's no way to set usage limits in ArcGIS, I won't be using it.

c_yatteau · Answer

You can find the "pay-as-you-go" option in your ArcGIS Location Platform dashboard under the Billing tab, within the Payment Methods and History section. I've attached a screenshot to help you locate it easily! 😊 Let us know if you have any other questions—we’re happy to help!

person · Answer

@c_yatteau wrote:The only guaranteed way to stay within the free tier is to avoid enabling pay-as-you-go.

OK, and how would I do that? There don't appear to be any tiers any more, and "pay-as-you-go" is not an option that you can enable or disable.

c_yatteau · Answer

The only guaranteed way to stay within the free tier is to avoid enabling pay-as-you-go. Currently, ArcGIS Location Platform doesn’t offer usage limits or automatic controls to cap usage at the free tier, so if you enable pay-as-you-go, manually tracking your usage will be necessary.

We appreciate your feedback, as it’s essential to us, and we’re actively considering ways to improve these controls in a future update. Thank you for your patience, and please feel free to reach out with any additional questions or suggestions!