Spending and accounts ·

📈 Anticipated this month

Based on spending so far this month, scaled to the whole month. Revenue assumes every paid account pays a full month, less Stripe's 1.5% + 20p.

👩‍🏫 Accounts

🧭 Recommendations

🧠 Spend by model

🧩 Spend by tool

🔎 Top accounts by AI cost this month

Watch for unusually heavy use; plan limits already cap everyone.

🚀 If you grow

Each paying teacher making 30 resources a month at this month's average cost, priced at the average of your two plans.

⚙️ Current settings

Change these in Render → lessonforge → Environment, then Save Changes. The site restarts with the new values.

💷 How to reduce spending

Set a hard monthly cap at console.anthropic.com → Settings → Limits, and add billing alerts. A bug or abuse can then never run up a surprise bill.
Lower thinking effort: AI_EFFORT is now low by default (20–40% cheaper and faster). If complex resources (schemes of work, exam questions) feel thin, try medium.
Send more tools to the fast model: add ids to AI_FAST_TYPES (now: exit, starter, report, homework, rubric, quiz). Candidates: worksheet, diff, adapt. Visual and research resources always use the main model.
Fewer web searches: AI_MAX_SEARCHES is now 2 by default. Set 1 to save more, or 3–5 for more thorough research.
Cheaper main model: set AI_MODEL to claude-sonnet-5-5 (about half the price of Opus). Compare 10–20 resources first.
Allowances: monthly limits are in src/plans.js. Free stays at 5. If Pro margins tighten, a 60–80 limit still feels generous to most teachers.
Price heavy features higher: web research already uses 2 of the allowance. Visual resources could do the same if they become a big share of spend.

🏗️ How to scale

Up to a few thousand teachers: the current setup (one Render server and one SQLite database file) is enough. The server mostly waits on the AI.
Anthropic rate limits: new API accounts can make fewer requests per minute. Limits rise automatically as you spend. If you expect a launch spike, ask Anthropic for a higher tier in the console.
Bigger server: in Render, upgrade the instance (Settings → Instance type) if pages slow down under load.
Many thousands of teachers: move the database to Render Postgres so you can run several servers side by side. This is a one-off code change.
Backups: turn on disk snapshots in Render so the database can be restored.
Data location: Render runs in the US by default; UK schools may prefer an EU region (Frankfurt). Moving region means creating a new service and copying the database.

🏫 Latest school enquiries

Costs are estimates from recorded token counts and list prices (see src/costs.js). Anthropic's console shows your exact bill, and Stripe your exact revenue.