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# Pricing and credits explained

![Pricing and credits explained](https://res.cloudinary.com/dl8ovyusd/image/upload/v1778663545/strapi-uploads/pricing_and_credits_cf2f86bbed.webp)

Pricing on a cloud render farm can feel opaque the first time you look at it. There are units you've probably never used outside a billing context, options that trade speed for cost, and a credit system that doesn't behave the way subscription services do. This page walks through how Super Renders Farm charges for rendering, what render credits are, and how to estimate what a project will cost before you submit it.

We run a credit-based model with no plan tiers — everyone pays the same per-unit rate. There's no monthly subscription, no minimum spend, and no "use it or lose it" clock on your balance. The trade-off is that you need to understand the unit we charge in (`GHz-Hr` for CPU, `OBh` for GPU) and how render time translates to credits.

For the live per-unit rate, always reference [`/pricing`](https://superrendersfarm.com/pricing) — that page is the canonical source. The math on this page uses placeholder rates so the formulas stay clear; substitute the current rate from `/pricing` when you estimate your own job.

### How pricing works: the GHz-Hr unit

CPU rendering on our farm is billed in **GHz-Hr** (GHz-hours). One GHz-Hr is the compute consumed by a single CPU core running at 1 GHz for one hour. It sounds abstract, but the math collapses to something simple once you plug real numbers in.

The formula is:

```
GHz-Hr consumed = number of cores × core clock speed (GHz) × render time (hours)
```

Multiply that by the per-unit rate and you have the cost of the job. A worked example at our current rate of `$0.004/GHz-Hr`:

> A frame takes 15 minutes on a 64-core machine running at 3.5 GHz. GHz-Hr = 64 × 3.5 × (15/60) = 56 GHz-Hr Cost per frame = 56 × $0.004 = $0.224

The reason the industry settled on GHz-Hr — rather than node-hour or wallclock-hour — is that it normalizes across hardware. A 64-core node at 3.5 GHz consumes more GHz-Hr than a 32-core node at 2.8 GHz for the same render time, so you pay proportionally for the compute you actually used. Farms with mixed-spec fleets can keep one rate without penalizing users who land on slower machines.

GPU rendering uses a different unit. Our GPU fleet (RTX 5090 nodes, 32 GB VRAM each) is billed in **OBh** (OctaneBench-hours), which scales GPU throughput against the [OctaneBench](https://render.otoy.com/octanebench/) benchmark score. An RTX 5090 lands around 1,050–1,100 OB in production runs; multiply that by render time in hours and the per-OBh rate and you have the GPU frame cost. We cover GPU cost math in more detail in [`/article/render-farm-cost-per-frame-breakdown-2026`](https://superrendersfarm.com/article/render-farm-cost-per-frame-breakdown-2026).

### Render credits: how the wallet works

We bill against a prepaid balance called **render credits**. The model is simple:

- **One render credit equals one US dollar.** A balance of 100 credits = $100 USD of rendering capacity.
- **You top up when you want, in any amount you want.** No subscription tiers, no minimum top-up.
- **Credits never expire.** Buy 500 credits today, render against them next year — the balance is yours.
- **Free-trial credits work the same way.** New accounts receive **$25 in free render credits** on sign-up, and that allocation follows the same no-expiry rule under normal account use.

The credits are deducted in real time as jobs render. You can watch the balance tick down in the dashboard while a job is active, which is useful when you're calibrating cost on a new scene type.

There's no separate "premium" or "priority" credit. Every credit buys the same rendering capacity at the same per-unit rate.

### Buying credits

The top-up flow lives in your account dashboard. The three-step path:

1. Sign in to your account, click **Buy render credits**, enter the amount, and click **Process payment**.
2. Fill in the billing details (name, address, optional VAT / project reference).
3. Pick a payment method and confirm.

Accepted payment methods:

- **Credit and debit cards** — processed through Braintree (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover).
- **PayPal** — supported on the same checkout flow.
- **Bank transfer** — supported for USA and Vietnam accounts; useful for studios that prefer invoice-and-wire workflows. Ask support before initiating so we can match the wire to your account.

We don't accept cryptocurrency, and we don't have region-specific payment rails outside the bank-transfer path for USA and Vietnam.

For studios needing custom invoice formatting (VAT number, project reference, purchase-order number), contact [`supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com`](mailto:supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com) **before** topping up so we can issue the invoice in the format your finance team needs. Invoices are auto-generated by default and emailed to the account address.

### Estimating a project before you submit

The Cost Calculator on [`/cost-calculator`](https://superrendersfarm.com/cost-calculator) is the most direct way to get a number. You pick the engine (V-Ray, Corona, Arnold, Redshift, Octane, Cycles), provide the frame time you measured locally, the resolution, and the number of frames; the calculator outputs an estimated credit cost based on the current rate.

A common workflow we recommend for first-time projects:

1. Render one or two frames **locally** at the final settings. Record the frame time.
2. Open the Cost Calculator and plug the frame time in.
3. Multiply through to the full frame range. Add a 15–20% buffer for variance — sample noise, GI cache rebuilds, and motion blur can stretch some frames longer than the local sample suggested.
4. Top up the buffer estimate, then run a small **test render** on the farm (3–5 frames) at production settings.
5. Compare farm frame time to local frame time. If they match within ~20%, scale up. If they're off, recheck packaging (missing maps will land on a low-priority node and skew the test).

The calculator is a planning tool, not a contract — it gives you a credible upper bound. The real cost is whatever the farm machines actually consume, which depends on scene specifics that no calculator can predict perfectly.

### Frame-per-node: the speed-vs-cost dial

![Frame-per-node concept diagram showing serial render on one node versus parallel render across multiple nodes](https://res.cloudinary.com/dl8ovyusd/image/upload/v1778663570/strapi-uploads/pricing_and_credits_inline_1_frame_per_node_142f804575.webp)

When you submit a job, you'll see a **Frame per node** setting. The default is `1` — one frame goes to one machine, render starts immediately on as many machines as the queue assigns to your job.

Raising this number changes the trade-off. If you set frames-per-node to `5`, the farm assigns one machine to render five frames in a single session. The scene opens once instead of five times, which saves the loading overhead — for heavy scenes (large V-Ray proxy sets, dense Forest Pack distributions, complex Houdini caches) the loading time can be 30–90 seconds per frame. Multiplied across thousands of frames, that saves real credits.

The trade-off:

- `1`** frame per node** — shortest wallclock (maximum parallelism), highest cost (every frame pays the loading overhead). Recommended for short jobs, archviz stills, and time-critical deadlines.
- `3–5`** frames per node** — moderate parallelism, lower per-frame cost. Good default for animation with heavy scenes.
- `10+`** frames per node** — slow wallclock (fewer machines working in parallel), lowest cost. Good for overnight or weekend bake jobs where you don't need the result fast.

There's no universal right answer — it depends on whether you're paying more for the wallclock or more for the rendering. Most studios doing regular animation work end up at `3` or `5` after a few jobs of calibration.

### Invoices and accounting

Every top-up generates an invoice automatically. Default fields: date, amount, payment method, account email, transaction reference. If your finance team needs additional fields (company VAT number, project code, PO reference), email [`supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com`](mailto:supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com) before purchasing so we can prepare the invoice in your required format.

We bill in **USD**. If your card or bank is in another currency, the issuing institution handles the conversion at their prevailing rate — we don't add a conversion fee on our side, but your bank may.

For studios paying via bank transfer with a contractual agreement, invoices are issued per the contract terms (typically Net-30 or pre-paid against the wire). Contact support to set this up.

**Paying and invoicing, in depth:** accepted payment methods, the automatic volume discount (up to 30%), invoices and receipts, and tax are covered in the dedicated guide: [Payment methods, invoices, and receipts](https://superrendersfarm.com/docs/getting-started/payments-and-invoices).

### What happens when your balance runs out

Render jobs **pause** when the account balance reaches zero credits. They are not cancelled — the partial output stays in your account, and the job resumes from the current frame once you top up.

The sequence:

1. Balance hits zero while a job is rendering.
2. The platform pauses all active jobs for the account.
3. Our support team is notified and reaches out to the account email with a top-up reminder.
4. Once you add credits, you can resume the paused jobs from the dashboard. Frames already rendered are kept; rendering picks up where it stopped.

We recommend topping up before a long job so you don't hit the pause boundary mid-render — paused jobs occupy queue slot but don't release the machine assignment, and we can't guarantee the same machine will be available when you resume hours later.

### Output retention and what you're paying for

A frequently asked question: does the credit cost cover storage of the rendered output? It covers storage for **45 days** after job completion. After 45 days, output is automatically deleted from the farm. If you need long-term storage, download the output to your local machine or your own cloud storage before the retention window closes.

The Client App can be configured to auto-download finished output as it lands, which is the simplest way to never lose a frame. We cover Client App setup in [`/docs/upload-and-download`](https://knowledge.superrendersfarm.com/en/article/upload-and-download-files-on-super-renders-farm-nt9nlw/).

### Where to get help with pricing questions

If a job cost surprises you, or if you want to plan a large project before committing budget, support can pull the GHz-Hr breakdown per frame and walk you through it. Two paths:

- **Chat:** the live-chat icon on every page of `superrendersfarm.com` reaches the same team that handles billing.
- **Email:** [`supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com`](mailto:supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com) — for invoice changes, refund questions, or contractual billing setups.

For deeper background on how cloud rendering costs work across the industry — including how to compare farm pricing apples-to-apples — see [`/article/render-farm-pricing-guide-2026`](https://superrendersfarm.com/article/render-farm-pricing-guide-2026) and the per-frame breakdown in [`/article/render-farm-cost-per-frame-breakdown-2026`](https://superrendersfarm.com/article/render-farm-cost-per-frame-breakdown-2026).

### FAQ

**Q: How is rendering priced on Super Renders Farm?** A: CPU rendering is billed in GHz-Hr — number of cores × clock speed × render time. GPU rendering is billed in OBh (OctaneBench-hours). Both rates are listed on the `/pricing` page. We use a prepaid credit balance; one credit equals one US dollar. There are no plan tiers or subscriptions.

**Q: Do render credits expire?** A: No. Render credits never expire. Buy 500 credits today and they remain available indefinitely, whether you render this week or next year. The $25 in free-trial credits granted at sign-up follow the same rule under normal account use.

**Q: What is the minimum top-up amount?** A: There is no fixed minimum. You can top up any amount that suits your project, from a small test allocation to a large studio-scale balance. Most first-time users top up enough to cover a single project plus a 15–20% buffer.

**Q: Which payment methods do you accept?** A: Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) via Braintree, PayPal, and bank transfer for USA and Vietnam accounts. We do not accept cryptocurrency.

**Q: What happens if my balance runs out mid-render?** A: Jobs pause when the balance reaches zero credits. They are not cancelled — frames already rendered are kept, and the job resumes from the current frame once you top up. Support is notified automatically and will reach out with a top-up reminder.

**Q: Can I get a custom invoice with my company VAT number or project reference?** A: Yes. Email `supportcenter@superrendersfarm.com` with your required invoice fields before topping up so we can prepare the invoice in the format your finance team needs. Auto-generated invoices issued without prior notice cannot be amended retroactively.

**Q: How do I estimate the cost of a project before I render?** A: Render one or two frames locally, record the frame time, then use the `/cost-calculator` page to multiply through to the full frame range. Add a 15–20% buffer for variance, then run a small test render on the farm (3–5 frames) to validate the estimate before scaling up.

**Q: What does the "Frame per node" setting do?** A: It controls how many frames one machine renders in a single session. Setting it to `1` (the default) gives maximum parallelism and the shortest wallclock but pays the scene-loading overhead on every frame. Higher values (3, 5, 10) reduce loading overhead and lower per-frame cost, but use fewer machines in parallel so the job takes longer. Most animation workflows end up at `3` or `5` after calibration.

**Q: How long is rendered output kept on the farm?** A: 45 days after job completion. After that, output is automatically deleted. We recommend downloading promptly or configuring the Client App for auto-download.