How to Manage Serverless Inference Prepayment
Last verified 29 Jun 2026
Inference provides a single control plane for managing inference workflows. It includes a Model Catalog where you can view available foundation models, including both DigitalOcean-hosted and third-party commercial models, compare model capabilities and pricing, use routing to match inference requests to the best-fit model, and run inference using serverless or dedicated deployments.
Serverless Inference requires a positive prepaid account balance before you can send inference requests. DigitalOcean deducts your Serverless Inference usage charges from this balance as you incur them. When your balance reaches $0, DigitalOcean suspends your access to Serverless Inference until you replenish it.
On the Serverless Inference page, a banner displays your current account prepayment balance and whether auto-reload is enabled. To keep inference running, you can add a prepayment balance manually or enable auto-reload to replenish your balance automatically.
Add a Prepayment Balance
A prepayment is a one-time payment that adds funds to your account balance ahead of your usage. To add a prepayment balance, on the Serverless Inference page, click Add prepayment in the banner. This opens the Make a payment page, where you can enter an amount and pay with a saved payment method or a third-party provider.
After your payment processes, your account prepayment balance updates and Serverless Inference access resumes if it was suspended.
Enable Auto-Reload
Auto-reload keeps Serverless Inference running by automatically adding to your account prepayment when your balance runs low. When you enable it, you agree to recurring charges on the payment method on file whenever your balance reaches the threshold you set.
To enable auto-reload:
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On the Serverless Inference page, click Turn on auto-reload in the banner to open the Serverless Inference auto-reload window.
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Select the Enable Serverless Inference auto-reload checkbox.
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Under Reload when balance reaches or goes below, choose the balance threshold that triggers a reload. You can select $5, $10, or $25, or click Custom to enter your own amount.
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Under Reload amount, choose how much to add to your balance each time auto-reload runs. You can select $5, $25, or $100, or click Custom to enter your own amount.
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Click Enable auto-reload to save your settings. Changes take effect immediately and apply to all future reloads.
DigitalOcean charges your primary payment method first. If that payment fails, we may attempt your backup payment method. You can review, modify, or pause your auto-reload settings at any time from the Serverless Inference page.