Compute Hours
Quarterback bills LLM usage in compute hours — the wall-clock time your conversations spend actively using LLM resources.
How Time Is Measured
Each time Athena processes a turn (your message through to the complete response, including any tool calls), the platform records the duration. Time is measured in seconds, rounded up to the nearest second.
A typical conversation turn takes anywhere from a few seconds (simple questions) to a couple of minutes (complex multi-step tasks with tool use).
Included Hours
Every plan comes with a monthly allocation of included hours. These hours:
- Reset each billing cycle — unused hours don’t roll over
- Are shared across the org — all members draw from the same pool
- Cover standard usage — most teams stay within their included hours
You can monitor your usage on the Billing page in your organization settings.
When Hours Run Out
If your org exhausts its included hours for the month, Quarterback will:
- Check for dollar credits — if you have credits, overage is deducted from them
- Block requests — if no credits remain, LLM requests return a 402 error until the next billing cycle or until credits are added
This ensures you’re never surprised by unexpected charges.
Tracking Usage
Visit Org Settings > Billing to see:
- Hours used this cycle vs. included hours
- Per-member usage breakdown
- Credit balance (if any)
- Historical usage trends