Fees and cost estimates
Development status: Experimental implementation exists — An experimental implementation exists; this page describes the intended public developer capability. An experimental fee calculator exists in an internal prototype but charges nothing. A fee that adjusts with network demand, metering of confidential computation by the cryptographic work performed, and estimates before submitting work are being explored. No fees are charged anywhere today, no prices are published, and nothing is publicly available for live use.
Before you read: Transaction lifecycle: from submission to result.
What would using Cubane cost, how would fees be set, and could you get an estimate before submitting work? The short answer is that nothing costs anything today, because no fees are charged anywhere and there is no public network, and that no prices exist. This is the primary page for fee concepts: it explains the intended fee that adjusts with demand, the intent to meter confidential computation by the cryptographic work performed and the planned estimates before submitting work, and it states the current status of each.
Why fees are part of the model
In the intended design, fees would pay for the use of network resources and help manage demand. For a developer, that means the cost of using the network would be linked to what an application asks it to do, and that demand on the network would be reflected in what work costs.
Three questions would matter to an application: what its work would cost, how that cost could change as demand on the network changes, and whether it could know a cost before committing to the work. The sections below take these in turn — a fee that adjusts with demand, metering of confidential computation, and estimates before submitting work.
This page explains concepts and their current status only. It contains no prices, formulas or parameters, and none of the concepts below is in effect on any network. Fee terms are defined in the Glossary.
Fees that adjust with demand
Status of this section: Experimental implementation exists — an experimental calculator in an internal prototype that charges nothing; fees are not enforced.
The design being explored includes a fee that adjusts with network demand: the fee for a piece of work would be higher when demand on the network is high and lower when it is low. A fee of this kind is intended to help manage demand during busy periods.
An experimental fee calculator exists in an internal prototype, but it does not charge fees, and fees are not enforced. How the fee would be calculated, and at what level it would apply, is not described.
Metering confidential computation
Status of this section: Being explored — the design is being explored; its public interface and support are not settled.
The design being explored would meter encrypted computation according to the amount of cryptographic work performed. The intent is that the cost of a confidential computation would reflect the work it requires, so that a small confidential computation would not cost the same as a much larger one.
This matters most for Confidential jobs: tracking, cancelling and retrieving results, which can be long-running and vary widely in the work they need. No metering formula, units or prices are published.
Estimates before submitting work
Status of this section: Being explored — estimates are not available.
The planned developer experience would allow a customer to request a price estimate before submitting work. An estimate would help an organisation decide whether and when to submit a piece of work, and plan its budget around it.
The design is being explored, and estimates are not available. This page does not describe the terms of any estimate.
What you would pay today
- Nothing. No fees are charged on any network, and there is no public network.
- No prices or payment terms are published.
- No indication from the calculator. Output of the experimental calculator is not a price and is not indicative of future fees.
If you are planning a budget, treat the cost of using Cubane as unknown until prices are published with a release. Until then, the concepts above suggest how an application could be prepared:
- Keep costs out of fixed assumptions. A fee that adjusts with demand means the same work could cost different amounts at different times, so avoid designs that depend on a fixed cost per operation.
- Expect confidential work to vary in cost. If confidential computation is metered by the work it requires, larger computations would be expected to cost more than smaller ones.
- Plan for cancellation. Cancelling a confidential job that is no longer needed is part of the intended job experience, and a refund could follow; its terms are not described.
- Do not plan with prototype figures. Nothing the experimental implementation produces is a price or a planning figure.
How fees relate to other pages
- Confidential jobs — the cost of jobs, and refunds when a job is cancelled, are part of the intended job experience; see Confidential jobs: tracking, cancelling and retrieving results.
- Treasury and governed economic settings — economic settings controlled through governance are being explored; see Treasury and governed economic settings.
- Cross-border payments and remittance — a separate target use case that is being explored; see Cross-border payments and remittance.
- Service levels and admission control — a separate topic about behaviour under load; see Service levels and admission control.
Assumptions, trust and limitations
- Fee concepts may change, be deferred or be withdrawn; no price or cost commitment is made.
- Behaviour of the prototype calculator is not indicative of future fees.
- Fee concepts are described without reference to any payment method.
Not yet available, and how this page will grow
Prices, fee parameters, the estimate interface and payment methods are not yet available. They would accompany a release, with versioned reference. Further technical reference is not yet available.
What this page does not claim
This page does not claim any price, formula or payment term, that any fee is charged today, or any comparison with other networks. Anything not stated here as available should be treated as unavailable.
Related pages
- Service levels and admission control — a separate topic on behaviour under load.
- Confidential jobs: tracking, cancelling and retrieving results — where metering and refunds would apply.
- Treasury and governed economic settings — governance of economic settings.
- Cross-border payments and remittance — the payments target use case.
- Transaction lifecycle: from submission to result — where fees would apply to ordinary transactions.
Glossary
References
No approved public references yet.
