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

# Tiers

> Compare the usage tiers and the limits of each tier.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **The short answer:** your tier sets your request rate, your token throughput, and the highest spending limit that you can set. Each organization begins at Base. Prem moves you to the next tier when your payments get to the amount that the tier needs.

## Usage tiers

Prem applies tiers at the organization level. All users and API keys in an organization have the same tier.

| Tier | Code | How you get it |
| - | - | - |
| Base | `BASE` | The default tier for each new organization |
| Tier 1 | `TIER_1` | \$5 paid |
| Tier 2 | `TIER_2` | \$100 paid, and 7 days from your first payment |
| Tier 3 | `TIER_3` | \$1,000 paid, and 30 days from your first payment |

Two points about these conditions:

* Prem counts the **total** amount that you paid. It does not count your current balance.
* Prem counts the days from your **first** payment. It does not count the days from your most recent payment.

## Limits by tier

| Tier | Maximum spending limit | Tokens per minute | Audio seconds per minute |
| - | - | - | - |
| Base | \$100 | 38,000 | 10 |
| Tier 1 | \$500 | 540,000 | 60 |
| Tier 2 | \$5,000 | 1,000,000 | 300 |
| Tier 3 | \$20,000 | 2,500,000 | 1,200 |

The token limit applies to the chat completion endpoints. The audio limit applies to the transcription and translation endpoints. Prem measures the audio limit in seconds of audio. Both buckets refill continuously, at a rate that gives you the full limit again in one minute.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Prem applies the request limit to your organization as a whole. Prem tracks the token limit and the audio limit for each **member** that owns an API key. Two keys that the same member owns draw on one bucket. Two keys that different members own draw on separate buckets.

The maximum spending limit is a ceiling on the monthly limit that **you** set. It is not an amount that Prem bills you. It is not a cap that applies on its own. A request to set a limit above the maximum of your tier returns `BUDGET_EXCEED_TIER_LIMIT`.

> [!TIP]
>
> You set your own monthly spending limit in the dashboard, up to the maximum for your tier. See [Limits](https://docs.prem.io/billing/limits.md).

## Request limits

Your tier sets the number of requests that you can send each second. Inference endpoints (chat completions, transcription, and translation) have their own, higher limit.

| Tier | Inference requests per second | Inference burst | Other requests per second | Other burst |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Base | 5 | 5 | 5 | 50 |
| Tier 1 | 50 | 50 | 15 | 150 |
| Tier 2 | 500 | 500 | 45 | 450 |
| Tier 3 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 100 | 1,000 |

Prem uses a token bucket for this limit. The burst column is the capacity of the bucket: the largest number of requests that you can send at one time. The bucket refills at the requests-per-second rate. A continuous rate above that returns a `429`.

Prem applies this limit to each endpoint separately. Requests to `/openai/chat/completions` do not consume the allowance of `/rvenc/chat/completions`. A request for the model list consumes neither allowance.

For the mechanism and for retry code, see [Rate limits](https://docs.prem.io/rate-limits.md).

## Concurrent requests

Prem limits the number of inference requests that one API key can process at the same time. Your tier sets the limit:

| Tier | Concurrent requests per API key |
| - | - |
| Base | 5 |
| Tier 1 | 50 |
| Tier 2 | 500 |
| Tier 3 | 5,000 |

The limit applies to every inference endpoint. A request above the limit returns a `429`:

```json theme={"system"}
{
  "status": 429,
  "error": "Concurrent request limit reached. Your limit allows 5 concurrent request(s). Wait for ongoing requests to complete, or contact us for higher limits."
}
```

The message shows the limit of your tier. The encrypted endpoint `/rvenc/chat/completions` always responds over `text/event-stream`. A call to that endpoint holds a slot until the stream closes.

To run workers at the same time, supply a different API key to each worker. See [Agents & Automation](https://docs.prem.io/agents.md).

## How to move to a higher tier

Prem examines your payment history every five minutes. Each check moves you up **one tier**. An organization that qualifies for Tier 3 immediately needs three checks, or approximately 15 minutes. Prem does not move you down.

To see the tier of your organization, open the [limits page](https://dashboard.prem.io/billing/limits) in the dashboard. The `GET /billing/tiers` endpoint lists the limits of every tier, but it does not tell you which tier your organization has.

If you need higher limits, [contact us](https://docs.prem.io/contact-us.md). The Prem team can set a custom tier or plan for your organization.

## Related

> **[Rate limits](https://docs.prem.io/rate-limits.md)**
>
> How Prem applies the limits, and what to do with a 429.

> **[Limits](https://docs.prem.io/billing/limits.md)**
>
> Set the monthly spending limit of your organization.

> **[Models & Pricing](https://docs.prem.io/models-and-pricing.md)**
>
> The price for each model, and the deployment strategies.

> **[Production Checklist](https://docs.prem.io/production-checklist.md)**
>
> Make sure that your capacity and cost settings are correct before you go live.


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