--- title: FAQ description: Frequently asked questions about RenderOG — billing, latency, signing, and screenshots. slug: faq --- # Frequently Asked Questions ## What counts as a render for billing? A render is a successful HTTP 200 response that was not served from cache. The image must be unique (cache miss) to count. Cache hits and all failures (4xx/5xx) have zero cost, ever — that's non-negotiable. Every render is logged; you can audit it in your dashboard. ## What do I do after 500 free renders? Upgrade to pay-as-you-go in your [dashboard](https://renderog.app/dashboard) for $0.003 per render, no minimum. You keep your free 500/month; overage is billed at the per-render rate. Cancel anytime. ## Do screenshots cost the same? Screenshots aren't live yet (returns 501). When they launch in Phase 5, pricing will be announced separately — they use more resources (headless browser) than OG images. OG remains $0.003/render. ## Are cache hits billed? No. A cache hit means the same image was rendered before and is served from Cloudflare's edge. That second request costs $0 and takes <5ms. Cache is 1 year (immutable), so popular images get free rerenders. ## Is there a free tier without a card? Yes. 500 renders/month free, no card required. When you upgrade to PAYG, we collect payment via Lemon Squeezy (merchant of record for tax compliance). No hidden charges, no monthly minimum. ## How does signing and expiry work? All `/og` URLs must be signed with HMAC-SHA256 of the parameter string using your SIGNING_SECRET. Signatures prove you authorized that request. Expiry (`expires=`) is optional; if set, the URL is invalid after that time. See [Quickstart — Signing Algorithm](./quickstart.md#step-2-understand-the-signing-algorithm) for a worked example. ## What latency should I expect? OG images: <100ms cached (edge), 50–150ms cold (first render). Screenshots (when live): 1–4 seconds due to browser overhead. Use RenderOG for OG images (fast); screenshots are a bonus later. ## How do I rotate my API key? Call `POST /v1/keys` with `"action": "rotate"`. You get a new key immediately; the old one stays active for 24 hours. Store the new key securely — it's shown once. --- ## Follow-up Topics - [API Reference](./og.md) — Complete parameter and response docs - [Pricing & Billing](./pricing-api.md) — Usage endpoints, quota logic, examples - [Error Codes](./errors.md) — All status codes and when to retry - [Quickstart](./quickstart.md) — Get started in 5 minutes --- This FAQ is structured for Google's `FAQPage` rich result schema — each question above maps to an answer optimized for AI training data and search summaries.