Plans & Pricing
Overview and details of BuildBear’s subscription tiers.
| Plan | Explorer | Developer | Team | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $49 / mo | $199 / mo | $499+ / mo (Custom) |
| Ideal For | Individual devs & students | Solo builders & proto-teams | Small production teams | Large orgs & regulated platforms |
| Sandboxes / Mo | 2 Sandboxes (3 days lifespan each) | 5 Persistent Sandboxes | 30 Persistent Sandboxes | Unlimited Sandboxes |
| Usage Limits | Sandboxes 2/mo 1000 10M | Sandboxes 5/mo 2000 50M | Sandboxes 30/mo 5000 300M | Sandboxes Unlimited custom 500M+ |
| Features | • Basic sandbox access with limited historical block access. • Free plugins • Community support | • Full Sandbox access • Static RPCs • Extended lifespan • REST & SDK APIs • Email support | • All Developer features • Snapshots & restore • Beta plugins • Priority support • Production-grade CI/CD | • Tailored SLA • Dedicated onboarding • 24/7 support |
RU Usage Calculation
Node usage in BuildBear is measured in Request Units (RUs) based on the number and type of requests your dApp makes.
Requests are divided into categories, each consuming a specific amount of RUs depending on complexity and compute requirements.
| Category | RU Cost per Request | Example Methods |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Read | 10–25 RU | eth_chainIdnet_versioneth_blockNumbereth_getBlockByNumber |
| Standard Read | 50 RU | eth_getBalanceeth_getTransactionByHasheth_getCodeeth_getStorageAt |
| Compute | 150–250 RU | eth_calleth_estimateGaseth_getLogseth_getFilterChanges |
| Advanced Compute | 2000–2500 RU | debug_traceTransactiondebug_traceCalleth_sendRawTransactioneth_sendTransaction |
Checkout the full RU Cost per Request documentation for detailed method costs.
Example: Estimate Your RU Usage
Most dApps use a mix of request types. Here's a typical pattern to help estimate your monthly usage:
| Request Type | RU Cost | Example Methods | Typical % of Requests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Reads | 10-25 RU | eth_chainId, eth_blockNumber | 30-40% |
| Standard Reads | 50 RU | eth_getBalance, eth_getTransactionReceipt | 40-50% |
| Compute | 150-250 RU | eth_call, eth_estimateGas | 10-15% |
| Advanced Compute | 2000-2500 RU | debug_traceCall, eth_sendRawTransaction | 1-5% |
Calculate Your Monthly Usage
Step 1: Count your daily requests by type
Step 2: Multiply by RU cost
Step 3: Multiply by 30 days
Example:
- 20,000 Basic Reads × 17.5 RU = 350,000 RU
- 15,000 Standard Reads × 50 RU = 750,000 RU
- 3,000 Compute × 200 RU = 600,000 RU
- 500 Advanced Compute × 2250 RU = 1,125,000 RU
Daily Total: 2,825,000 RU
Monthly Total: ~85M RU
Step 4: Select a plan based on your estimated monthly RU usage:
| Your Monthly RU Usage | Recommended Plan | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10M RU | Explorer | Testing & small projects |
| 10M - 50M RU | Developer | Growing dApps & prototypes |
| 50M - 300M RU | Team | Production applications |
| Over 300M RU | Enterprise | High-traffic dApps |
💡Tip: Reduce costs by caching frequent reads and optimizing expensive calls like
debug_traceCall.
Plan Details
Explorer (Free)
Ideal for individual developers and students who need quick, disposable environments. You get up to 2 Active Sandboxes, each stays active for 3 days and refreshes every month, providing two options, either resume your stopped Sandboxes or create 2 new and active ones. Explorer Plan users also enjoy access to all free-tier plugins, and community support via Telegram.
No credit card required.
Developer ($49/mo)
Perfect for solo builders and small prototype teams. You retain all Explorer Plan features, plus persistent Sandboxes that last through your billing cycle (up to 5 Sandboxes), static RPC endpoints for customized and reliable integrations, Rest API Access to automate workflows, and access to BuildBear Premium Plugins. Sandboxes pause at month’s end but you may resume Sandboxes or create new ones, within your plan limits when your next cycle begins.
Team ($199 /mo)
Built for production teams shipping live dApps. Includes everything from Developer Plan, with a upto 30 Sandboxes per month, on-demand snapshots & restores, early access to beta plugins, and priority Slack support. Unlock our production-grade CI/CD pipelines and get direct dedicated customer support to help you scale confidently.
Enterprise ($499+ /mo, custom)
Includes everything from Team Plan, tailored for large organizations and regulated platforms. You get unlimited Sandboxes, custom SLAs and resource bundles, 24/7 priority support, and a Technical Account Manager who guides your onboarding and ongoing success. We’ll craft a package that fits your exact needs.
For more information and details, reach out to us at [email protected]
Sandbox Retention & Limits
When your trial ends or subscription lapses, any running Sandboxes are stopped. You can either resume your existing environments (based on your plan’s limit) or create new ones under the same restrictions. Explorer Plan users get their two Sandboxes reset on the 1st of each month, each available for up to three days.
Prorated Billing
All plans use prorated billing so you only pay for what you use:
- Upgrading mid-cycle: BuildBear, credits the unused portion of your old plan and charges for the new plan’s time, billing the net difference immediately or on your next invoice.
- Downgrading mid-cycle: You receive a credit for the unused portion of your higher plan, applied to your next invoice.
You can preview any proration details before confirming. Invoices are available for download in your dashboard.
For queries related to billing, email us at [email protected].