Please explain: API calls and Cloud credits

Questions
,
1

Please can you explain what is meant by an “API call” in the context of cloud charging?

Also can you please explain when “credits” are used.

I cannot find a clear statement that will allow me to decide whether to further investigate the cloud options.

I think people purchasing into the system need this information in advance to make informed choices.

2

If you haven’t found these links yet, perhaps they will help…

http://www.wolfram.com/cloud-credits/

http://www.wolfram.com/programming-cloud/pricing/

3

We are currently working to improve the Cloud Credits page; we’ve learned a lot from customer feedback about what is confusing. Until that new page is live, here are a few main points:

  • There are two different types of resources which are metered. W|A API calls and Cloud Credits.
  • W|A API Calls are really just calls that return W|A pods as results. Using = or == both would make W|A API calls.
  • Cloud Credits are used for computations via a deployment and for specialized resources/tasks.
  • Cloud users are NOT charged for computations while in a Wolfram Cloud notebook. While you are logged into Wolfram Programming Cloud or Mathematica Online, you have an assigned kernel. If a deployment such as a CloudCDF, Instant AP, etc. is being accessed, that is utilizing different resources which are metered by Cloud Credits. 100ms of computation via a deployment = 1 Cloud Credit.
  • Semantic functions and entity calls (accessing the Wolfram Knowledgebase) consume Cloud Credits. 5 credits for semantic functions and 2 credits for entity calls.

WPC Free’s monthly allotment of Cloud Credits was just increased from 500 to 1000 Cloud Credits. Very soon, we will also provide a large learning bonus to help users explore the language.

Thank you for your feedback and the constructive conversation. We are continuing to make changes based on what we learn.

4

Thank-you. To be honest I don’t really understand how it works. Can I ask about an example to make things clearer?

Suppose I have a CDF that I would like people to be able to access from the web. Suppose it uses an auxiliary file of text and cannot therefore be deployed in the old way. Presumably I can set it up as a notebook and export it to the cloud.

Will I use a cloud credit each time someone uses the url?