Cost Tracking & Reports
modelBridge tracks every generation’s cost automatically. The Billing tab provides a spending dashboard with per-project breakdowns, CSV export, and self-contained HTML reports for client invoicing.
The Billing Tab
Section titled “The Billing Tab”The Billing tab shows a running total of your AI spending and a detailed log of every generation:
- Total cost across all generations
- Per-generation entries with model name, timestamp, duration, and cost
- Project chips — click to filter by project
- Pagination — initial view shows 4 entries, click “View more” to load 10 more at a time
Client and Project Tagging
Section titled “Client and Project Tagging”Every generation can be tagged with a client and project using the combo picker in the Generate tab. As you type, previously used names are suggested via autocomplete.
This lets you break down costs by:
- Which client the work was for
- Which project or deliverable the generation belongs to
Tags flow through to the generation log, CSV exports, and HTML reports.
Deliverable Tagging
Section titled “Deliverable Tagging”Beyond client and project, each generation can be tagged with a deliverable name — “Hero Film”, “Social Cut”, “BTS Reel”. This enables cost-by-deliverable breakdowns in reports, which maps to how agencies think about costs: not “how much did Kling v3 cost?” but “how much AI did we spend on the Hero Film?”
Currency Support
Section titled “Currency Support”Switch between USD, EUR, GBP, SEK, NOK, DKK, JPY, CAD, and AUD using the currency dropdown. Exchange rates are updated daily. SEK values show one decimal place (5.1 kr) for meaningful precision at low amounts. The currency setting applies to all cost displays — pre-generation estimates, billing tab, and reports.
CSV Export
Section titled “CSV Export”Export your full cost history as a CSV file for invoicing or expense tracking. The export includes all generation entries with timestamps, model names, costs (both estimated and actual), and project/client/deliverable tags. Each row includes a cost source column so you can distinguish confirmed charges from estimates.
HTML Reports
Section titled “HTML Reports”Generate self-contained HTML reports for client billing and compliance documentation. Each report is a standalone .html file that works in any browser, on any machine, without an internet connection.
What the Report Contains
Section titled “What the Report Contains”Four KPIs at the top:
- Total AI cost (internal fal.ai generations)
- External AI costs (imported from CSV)
- Combined total
- Number of generations
Charts and breakdowns:
- Cost by model (bar chart)
- Cost by deliverable (bar chart)
- Cost over time (line chart)
- Full generation log table with timestamps, model names, and per-generation costs
Compliance badge — a visual indicator confirming the report was generated from tracked data, including commercial license status per model.
External AI Costs
Section titled “External AI Costs”Not all AI costs originate inside modelBridge. If you also use Midjourney, RunwayML, ElevenLabs, or other AI tools, you can import those costs via CSV to get a unified view of total AI spending.
How to Import
Section titled “How to Import”- Prepare a CSV with columns for date, description, amount, and category
- Open the Billing tab and use the import function
- External costs appear alongside internal generations in the dashboard and reports
Two cost types are supported:
- Internal costs — fal.ai generations tracked automatically
- External AI costs — imported via CSV
How Pricing Stays Fresh
Section titled “How Pricing Stays Fresh”modelBridge resolves cost estimates through a 5-layer pricing cascade. Each model’s pricing refreshes individually when you interact with it — there is no batch refresh at startup.
- Curated supplements update automatically at every panel start
- Learned pricing updates after each generation, expires after a period of inactivity
- fal.ai API pricing refreshes on-demand when you select a model
See Costs & Pricing for the full explanation of each layer and confidence tier.
Post-Generation Billed Costs
Section titled “Post-Generation Billed Costs”When fal.ai confirms billing units after a generation, modelBridge shows the billed cost — a green “Billed $X.XX” badge in the Billing tab alongside the original estimate. The cost badge also briefly flashes green after generation, giving you immediate confirmation without switching tabs.
modelBridge uses five confidence tiers for cost estimates. See Costs & Pricing for full details on each level.
Cost Confirmation Dialog
Section titled “Cost Confirmation Dialog”For expensive generations, a confirmation dialog appears before proceeding. The dialog triggers when the estimated cost exceeds a safety threshold. It shows the cost, model name, and Cancel/Continue buttons.
Data Persistence
Section titled “Data Persistence”Cost history is stored with redundant persistence for durability. Your cost data survives Premiere Pro updates, cache clears, and plugin reinstalls.
The Billing tab includes a manual Reset function that requires typing “DELETE” as confirmation — no accidental data loss.