---
title: Pricing
description: Extentos is free to start — discovery, validation, the on-device simulator, and real-hardware DAT testing need no account. A free account unlocks the browser simulator, project scaffolding, and the managed AI gateway. The gateway is the one metered surface; every account gets $2 of free credit, then prepaid credits at provider list price.
type: resource
platform: all
related:
  - /docs/getting-started/with-agent
  - /docs/concepts/ai-gateway
  - /docs/concepts/transport-vs-app
  - /docs/resources/security
---

Extentos is free to start, and a good deal of it needs no account at all. Two lines matter, and they fall in different places: the **account line** — a free account unlocks the browser simulator, project scaffolding, and the managed AI gateway; everything else is anonymous — and the **money line** — the managed AI gateway is the one surface that meters real provider spend. Even the money line starts with a free credit grant. Here's the whole picture, and exactly where each line falls.

## Free, no account at all

These work with no signup, no email, no payment — anonymously, keyed only to an install id:

- **Discovery & reference MCP tools** — `getPlatformInfo`, `getCapabilityGuide`, `getCodeExample`, `searchDocs`. Everything an agent reads to learn the platform.
- **Validation & guidance MCP tools** — `inspectIntegration`, `validateIntegration`, `getPermissions`, `getProductionChecklist`, `getCredentialGuide`. All the correctness gates and setup guidance. The full list is the [MCP tools reference](/docs/reference/mcp-tools).
- **`LocalSimTransport`** — Extentos's on-phone in-memory simulator (no DAT SDK, no network, no backend).
- **Real-hardware testing through `RealMetaTransport`** — you bring your own Meta Developer Center registration (a one-time, free, ~15–30 min setup with your personal Meta credentials). Testing the DAT-native primitives on glasses touches no Extentos account.

These never expire, never charge, and require no Extentos account. (Two things that *look* like they'd be here aren't: minting a **browser-simulator** session and running **`generateConnectionModule`** both need a free account — see below — because each provisions an account-bound backend resource.)

## Free, with a free account

Three things need an Extentos account — and the account is free (no card, no payment). The first time your agent hits one, the backend returns an `auth_required` response with a verification URL, your agent surfaces it, you sign in once, and from then on it just works:

- **The browser simulator** at [extentos.com/s](https://extentos.com/s) — `createSimulatorSession` mints an account-scoped session. It runs on Extentos's backend (WebSocket hub, voice STT/TTS proxy, event-log persistence), the one piece that costs per-session infrastructure.
- **Project scaffolding** — `generateConnectionModule` mints your **account-bound project key** (baked into the build so production gateway usage attributes to your account), so it needs the account too.
- **The account-scoped project tools** — assistant config, credentials, connection-page writes, analytics. These read and write your dashboard project, so they need to know whose it is. You can skip them entirely: everything they set has a code-side equivalent, including the assistant model (`AssistantProvider.Managed(model = …)` wins over the dashboard).

Details:

- **Free email-only account.** Google OAuth (one click, ~5 seconds) or email + password. Sign-in is the entire commitment.
- **Signing in also opens your managed-gateway free credit** — every account starts with **$2** of free AI-gateway credit (see the next section).
- **Simulator session minting is unlimited and free.** No session quota, no cap on *creating* sessions. (What a session *runs* — managed AI usage inside it — draws down your gateway credit like anywhere else; see below.)
- **Everything anonymous still works.** The account gates only these three surfaces and the managed AI gateway — discovery, validation, guidance, the on-device sim, and real-hardware DAT testing stay anonymous.

The flow happens through your agent without manual token-paste — the device-code mechanic ([RFC 8628](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8628)) handles the handoff, the same pattern `gh auth login` and `vercel login` use.

## Metered: the managed AI gateway

If your app uses the [Phase 4 assistant runtime](/docs/concepts/assistant), its voice AI runs through Extentos's [managed gateway](/docs/concepts/ai-gateway) on Extentos's provider key by default — no API key in your app. That convenience is the one thing Extentos meters and bills, because it's real provider spend Extentos fronts.

**Billing is live.** It's a prepaid **credit** model — you're never surprised by an invoice:

- **Every account starts with $2 of free managed-gateway credit.** Sign in and it's already there.
- **After the free credit, usage draws down a prepaid balance** you top up in the dashboard's **Billing** hub (buy any amount; optional auto-reload). When the balance reaches zero, managed-gateway sessions **stop** until you add credits — prepaid means Extentos never fronts more than you've paid, and you never get a bill you didn't expect.
- **Priced at the provider's list price, no markup** — token counts for token-billed models, or connected minutes for per-minute voice models (xAI Grok voice). Extentos's margin is the provider's volume discount, not a surcharge on you.
- **All managed usage counts toward your balance — simulator, dev, and real hardware alike.** There's no free-in-the-simulator loophole; the $2 is one unified allowance across every environment, and the dashboard shows it deplete in real time.

**There is no bring-your-own-key option.** The assistant runs on the Extentos managed gateway, always. Extentos holds the provider account; you draw down credit. This is not a roadmap item — it is the design.

**Not metered at all:** apps that don't use the managed gateway. A DAT-native app (photo capture + TTS, no AI), or one that calls its own AI provider from handler code (handler-code BYOK), touches no billed Extentos surface — its Extentos runtime cost is zero.

## Real-hardware and production cost

Running your app on actual Meta Ray-Ban glasses uses Meta's Device Access Toolkit and your own Meta Developer Center registration — free, one-time, ~15–30 minutes. The DAT path (`RealMetaTransport`) doesn't bill anything to Extentos.

The **only** runtime cost from Extentos on a shipped app is managed-gateway AI usage, if you use it. Ship a DAT-native app, or one that calls its own AI from handler code, and Extentos's runtime cost to you is zero. Ship a managed-gateway voice app and the AI usage draws down your credit balance (the $2 free credit, then prepaid credits above). There's no per-seat, per-app, or subscription fee to ship either way.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I try Extentos without signing up?

Yes — a good deal of Extentos works with no account. Install the MCP server, run discovery and validation, do on-device simulation through the local in-memory sim, and test on real Meta Ray-Ban glasses, all anonymously. A free account links in only for the browser simulator, the `generateConnectionModule` scaffold step (it mints your account-bound project key), and the managed AI gateway — the signup ask fires via the same device-code flow the first time one of those is used.

### Do I need to pay to ship to production?

Not for a DAT-native app (camera, audio, sensors, voice triggers, display) or one that calls its own AI provider — those bill nothing to Extentos. If you ship the **managed-gateway voice assistant**, its AI usage is billed: the $2 free credit per account, then prepaid credits. It's prepaid, so there's no surprise invoice — and no per-seat or subscription fee to ship.

### How much is free before I pay for the gateway?

**$2 of managed-gateway credit per account** — granted the moment you sign in, shared across the simulator, dev, and production. That's roughly a few days of active voice-assistant dogfooding. You watch it deplete live in the dashboard; when it runs out, managed-gateway sessions pause until you add credits. Everything outside the managed gateway stays free regardless.

### Is the on-device `LocalSimTransport` ever gated?

No. `LocalSimTransport` runs entirely in-memory on the developer's phone or emulator and never reaches an Extentos backend. Always free, no account.

### What exactly counts toward managed-gateway usage?

Only calls made through the assistant runtime on Extentos's key — measured per the provider's billing unit: tokens (audio + text) for token-billed models, connected minutes for duration-billed voice models like xAI Grok — priced at the provider's list price. **Every environment counts** — simulator, dev, and real hardware all draw down the same balance (the $2 free credit is one unified allowance, not per-environment). See [the gateway page](/docs/concepts/ai-gateway#metering-and-billing).

### What if my development environment has no browser?

The device-code flow is designed for exactly that case. The CLI prints a URL and a short user-code (e.g. `ABCD-1234`); open the URL on your phone or another signed-in machine, approve the code, and the CLI on your headless machine picks up the link — the same pattern `gh auth login` and `vercel login` use.

### What if I already have an account from a previous machine?

Same flow, simpler — the `/activate` page shows "Approve this terminal for [your email]?" with one click. No second signup; it just tells your existing account about the new install.

## Related

- **[The managed AI gateway](/docs/concepts/ai-gateway)** — how AI billing and metering work
- **[Security](/docs/resources/security)** — what's collected, what never is
- **[Quickstart with an agent](/docs/getting-started/with-agent)** — install and first run
- **[Changelog](/docs/resources/changelog)** — when credit billing and other features shipped