Simple pricing

Start free with a single tag. Upgrade to Pro for unlimited tags, custom reflex rules, and 2-second pulse intervals.

Hobby
$0
Forever

Add the SDK, send pulses, and start gating your API in minutes. 50K gate calls/mo with a 30-second pulse interval.

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Enterprise
$499+/mo
Mission-critical

Sub-second pulse intervals, unlimited everything, and dedicated support with SLA.

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Feature comparison

Everything at a glance. See exactly what each tier includes.

Feature Hobby Pro Enterprise
Price $0 $49/mo $499+/mo
Pulse interval 30 seconds 2 seconds <1 second
Gate calls/mo 50,000 500,000 Unlimited / custom
Overage rate $0.05/1K Custom
Tags 1 Unlimited Unlimited
Sites 1 10 Unlimited
Custom reflex rules
Custom metrics 5 per tag Unlimited
Lease duration 5 minutes 2 minutes 1 minute
Telemetry retention 24 hours 30 days 90 days
Weight-based gating
In-app SDK
Support Docs Email Dedicated + SLA

Why Pro?

The jump from Hobby to Pro isn't more of the same. It's a different level of visibility into your fleet.

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The 2-Second Pulse

The difference between a 30-second and a 2-second pulse interval is the difference between a smoke detector and a professional fire suppression system.

Hobby (30s)

Catches sustained spikes. Great for background services and low-priority APIs.

Pro (2s)

Sees degradation early. When your AI router hits its limit, the reflex engine reacts within seconds, shedding low-weight traffic before your database locks up.

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Custom Reflex Rules

With Pro, you define exactly how the reflex engine responds to each metric. Tag-scoped rules with metric/operator/threshold/action.

Block free-tier traffic when latency exceeds 500ms. Throttle pro-tier to 50% when errors spike above 50. Enterprise traffic flows uninterrupted.

Upgrade path

Hobby users can call gate() today. The SDK works with a single tag and default rules. Upgrading to Pro unlocks unlimited tags and custom reflex rules with zero code changes.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about how WaitState works and what to expect.

What is pulse interval?

How often the SDK sends telemetry and receives updated policies. Hobby: 30s. Pro: 2s. Enterprise: sub-second. Faster pulses mean faster reflex reactions to backend health changes.

What happens if WaitState goes down?

The SDK uses its cached policy and gate decisions continue normally. If the outage exceeds the lease duration, the SDK enters safe mode and throttles to your configured rate. When the control plane is back, normal gating resumes immediately.

Does the SDK throw on rate limit?

No. The SDK never throws. gate() returns a result object: { allowed: false, reason: "over_weight" }. Clean control flow, no try/catch.

What are "gate calls"?

Every gate() invocation counts as one gate call, regardless of tag weight. Weights affect shedding priority, not billing. Set a hard cap in your dashboard to prevent surprise bills.

How do tags work?

Tags categorize traffic with numeric weights. When a reflex rule fires, low-weight traffic is shed first. This gives you automatic tier-based shedding without complex condition expressions.

Is gate() really synchronous?

Yes. gate() reads from an in-memory policy cache. It never makes a network call. Pulse sending and policy fetching happen on background timers. Sub-millisecond overhead on your request path.

What is lease duration?

How long the SDK caches its policy before it must check in again. If it can't reach the control plane before the lease expires, it enters safe mode and throttles to your configured rate. Shorter leases mean faster recovery.

Do I need to change my code to upgrade?

No. The SDK works with a single tag and default rules on Hobby. Upgrading to Pro unlocks unlimited tags and custom reflex rules with zero code changes. Just flip the plan.

What happens when I hit my gate call limit?

On Hobby, gating pauses until the next billing cycle. On Pro, overages are billed at $0.05/1K so you're never cut off mid-spike. Enterprise plans have custom volume pricing.

Your next incident is coming

Will your rate limiter know before your customers do?

Free tier. No credit card. Add the SDK in under 5 minutes.