#Payment & Cycles

Your storage runs in a separate Internet Computer canister. The canister needs cycles to store data, process operations, and stay available.

Think of cycles as prepaid fuel for the storage canister. Rabbithole can help with top-ups through Rabbithole Pro, but the storage belongs to you, so you can also fund the canister directly with Internet Computer tools.

#What you pay for

Payment in Rabbithole is not one subscription doing everything. There is the one-time Starter Vault setup, the Rabbithole Pro account subscription, and the cycles that keep each storage canister running.

#Starter Vault and Rabbithole Pro

Starter Vault is the baseline. It is issued when storage is created, and it still applies if Rabbithole Pro expires or is canceled. You can keep using personal encrypted storage within the starter limits: included storage and maximum file size.

Rabbithole Pro adds service features that run through Rabbithole on top of that baseline. While Pro is active, it adds:

• encrypted uploads beyond starter limits, when managed credit or your balance can fund the operation;
• automatic cycle top-ups, where Rabbithole tops up the storage canister when needed;
• storage code and frontend asset updates after your approval;
• sharing and access management.

The full feature list is on the What Rabbithole Pro gives you page.

#How automatic cycle top-ups work

Automatic top-ups are operation-driven, not calendar-driven. If you have an active Pro subscription, Rabbithole can automatically top up the storage canister before an expensive operation, such as a large On-chain Storage upload.

Technically, the storage canister checks its cycle balance and requests a top-up from the Rabbithole service canister.

For automatic top-ups, Rabbithole uses two sources in this order:

1. Managed operations credit: 2 TC for you during the Pro period. This credit is shared across all your vaults: Rabbithole spends it on the canisters that need cycles. The What Rabbithole Pro gives you page explains it in more detail.
2. Paid auto-top-up: paid funding from your balance, used only after managed operations credit is exhausted and you enable auto-top-up.

Without an active Pro subscription, the rule is simpler: the upload continues if the storage canister already has enough cycles. If it does not, you top up the canister manually.

#Supported tokens

The token list can change as payment providers add or remove support for specific networks. Rabbithole shows the available options before you confirm a payment.

Your balance is used for Pro period renewal and, if you enable auto-top-up, for paid auto-top-up after managed operations credit is exhausted.

#What cycles pay for

Cycles pay for Internet Computer resources and related storage operations.

#Canister Cycles card

The Canister Cycles card in the storage sidebar shows the cycle buffer: whether the canister has enough for uploads, normal operations, and the Internet Computer freezing reserve. It is visible only to the owner and recovery owners because this is operational and billing information for the canister.

The card separates the cycle balance into practical zones:

• Freeze is the reserve the canister needs to avoid freezing.
• Safe floor is the freeze reserve plus the estimated cost of active uploads, key derivation, finalization work, and a margin.
• Target is the safe floor plus the buffer Rabbithole uses for automatic cycle top-ups.
• Headroom is the balance above the target that is available for regular work.

Use Top up when the balance approaches the safe floor or before a large On-chain Storage upload. With active Pro, Rabbithole can top up the canister for you. Without Pro, use manual top-up.

safeFloor =
  freezingReserve
  + remainingUploadWriteCost
  + remainingUploadHashInstructionCycles
  + activeVetKeyDerivationCost
  + activeCommitCost
  + margin

#Self-managed funding

You do not need Pro to keep the storage alive. The canister belongs to you, so you can top it up directly.

Available options:

• manual top-up through the NNS dapp, icp-cli, or an ICP wallet;
• automated top-up through third-party services such as CycleOps.

#What happens when cycles run out

When a canister runs out of cycles, ownership does not change. Availability does: the network can restrict the canister's work.

On-chain Storage. The canister enters a frozen state when cycles drop below the freezing threshold. Data is preserved, but the canister may stop processing calls until you add cycles. If a canister remains unfunded long enough, the Internet Computer can remove it according to the canister lifecycle rules.

Blob Storage. If Blob Storage cannot charge for storage, data becomes unavailable on the gateway. In the current configuration, there is a 30-day grace period. After 30 days with zero balance, the gateway removes the data permanently.

#Technical details

This section is for readers who want approximate costs and the internal top-up flow.