Skip to main contentIBM Quantum Documentation

Manage cost on the Standard Plan

Notes
  • This documentation is relevant to IBM Quantum® Platform Classic. If you need the newer version, go to the new IBM Quantum Platform documentation.
  • The information in this topic only applies to those who are using the Standard Plan for Qiskit Runtime on IBM Cloud. There are no costs associated with the IBM Quantum Platform Open Plan.

The IBM Cloud® Quantum Standard plan is not free, except when running jobs on simulators. Use the information in this topic to help you understand how much you’re paying and how to limit your costs.

Learn how to limit your costs when using the Standard Plan on IBM Quantum Platform.

The cost limit or instance limit refers to the total cost of all jobs run with this instance since it was created, and it will always be greater than or equal to the total cost. After the instance reaches the specified number of total seconds, no further jobs can be run and no more cost is incurred.

Note

The cost limit is always specified in US dollars (USD), then converted to runtime seconds. However, for monthly billing purposes, you are charged in your local currency, specified on your IBM Cloud® account. Because currency exchange rates can fluctuate, the cost for X runtime seconds might be different when initially calculated in USD than when you’re actually charged in your local currency. As a result, if your local currency is not USD, the total amount charged for the number of seconds specified in this field could vary from the dollar amount you specify.

Set or change a cost limit or instance limit

An instance administrator can limit how much is spent. There are several ways to set or change this limit:

  • API: Set the instance limit in seconds.

  • IBM Cloud CLI: For instructions to use the CLI, refer to Getting started with the IBM Cloud CLI.

    1. Log in to the CLI: ibmcloud login --sso.

      1. When you press return, you are asked whether you want to open a browser. Type Y.
      2. Log into the browser that opens, then click the code that is shown.
      3. Return to the CLI window and paste the code.

    2. Establish the API: ibmcloud api cloud.ibm.com.

    3. Update an instance's cost limit:

         ibmcloud resource service-instance-update <instance_CRN>
   -p '{"instance_limit_seconds":"<seconds>"}'

      where:

      <instance_CRN> is the CRN of the instance you want to update. You can get it from the IBM Quantum Platform dashboard.

      <seconds> is the maximum number of seconds that can be consumed by the instance. For example, to establish a limit of 1000 seconds ($1600), enter this command:

         ibmcloud resource service-instance-update <instance_CRN>
   -p '{"instance_limit_seconds":"1000"}'

    4. View the instance details to verify that it was updated:

         ibmcloud resource service-instance <instance_CRN> -o json

      This command returns the information in JSON. For example:

          [
      {
      ...
      "parameters": {
      "instance_limit_seconds": "1000"
      }
      ...
      }
    ]

View the cost limit or instance limit

There are several ways to view the current cost limit:

Remove a cost limit or instance limit

An instance administrator can remove the cost limit in several ways:

What happens when the cost limit is reached

When the instance’s cost limit is reached, the currently running job is stopped. Its status is set to Canceled with a reason of Ran too long. Any available partial results are kept.

No further jobs can be submitted by using this instance until the cost limit is increased.

How to see what you’re being charged

You are sent a monthly invoice that provides details about your resource charges. You can check how much has been spent at any time on the IBM Cloud Billing and usage page.

Additionally, you can determine cost per instance or per job at any time.

View usage

To view the instance's usage, follow the instructions in the analytics guide.

Set up spending notifications

On the Standard Plan, you can set up spending notifications to get notified when your account or a particular service reaches a specific spending threshold that you set. For information, see the IBM Cloud account Type description. IBM Cloud spending notifications must be used with other methods of cost management for several reasons:

  • The notifications trigger only after cost surpasses the specified limit.
  • Cost is submitted to the billing system hourly. Therefore, a long delay might occur between the job submission and the spending notification being sent.
  • The billing system can take multiple days to get information to the invoicing system, which might cause further delay in notifications. For more information about how the IBM Cloud billing system works, see Setting spending notifications.

Next steps

Recommendations
Was this page helpful?
Report a bug or request content on GitHub.