Auto-reload keeps charging my card: how to turn it off on OpenAI, Anthropic and OpenRouter (and what to use instead).

Last checked November 2, 2026 against the OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenRouter pages linked below.

Why auto-reload turns a loop into an open bill

A prepaid balance is a pile of credits you already bought. Auto-reload, auto top-up, and the Claude plan equivalent buy another pile when that balance falls under a threshold you set. A looping agent spends the pile, the threshold trips, the card is charged, and the loop spends the new pile. The stop moves from “credits ran out” to “the card keeps working.”

On OpenAI, the optional monthly recharge limit only caps those automatic purchases. OpenAI’s sentence is the one to remember: “A recharge limit is not an API usage limit. It controls automatic credit purchases, not the amount of existing credits you can use.” Manual purchases do not count toward it. [1]

On the Anthropic Console, auto-reload purchases credits when the balance falls below the threshold, up to a target you set. If the balance is already at or below that threshold when you turn it on, you are charged immediately. [3]

On a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, or Ultra), usage credits are a different product from Console credits. With them on, a session or weekly plan limit does not block you. Requests switch to API pricing and continue until the monthly spend limit, or until the balance runs out with auto-reload off. [4]

On OpenRouter, the FAQ says you can top up by hand or set up auto top-up so the balance is replenished when it gets below the threshold. [5]

Turn it off

OpenAI

New API accounts use prepaid billing. The off switch OpenAI documents is on that setup, and it is on unless you change it. [1]

1. Go to the organization’s API billing overview. You need permission to manage billing for that organization.
2. Select Add payment details and finish the payment step.
3. Choose the initial credit purchase. The minimum is $5. The default is $10.
4. Review Use auto-reload before you confirm. It is turned on by default during setup. Turn it off if you do not want automatic credit purchases.
5. If you leave it on, set the balance threshold, the balance to restore to, and an optional monthly reload limit. Then confirm the purchase.

The same article explains how automatic recharges behave after setup: they add credits when the balance falls below the threshold, the minimum recharge is $5, and your trust tier sets the maximum recharge and the maximum balance. It does not list a later menu path for turning Use auto-reload off. The control it names, and the moment it says to turn that control off, is during setup. [1]

If a recharge payment fails, OpenAI sends an email. On prepaid billing, API usage stops when the available balance is exhausted, subject to the delay below. [1]

Anthropic Console

This is prepaid usage credits for the Claude API, the playground, and Claude Code on a Console organization. You need an Admin or Billing role. The Billing page is platform.claude.com/settings/billing. [3]

To turn auto-reload off: click Manage auto-reload, then Turn off, and confirm by clicking Turn off again. [3]

The same screen is where you turn it on:

1. Open the Billing page. In Credit balance, click Set up auto-reload. If auto-reload is already on, the button reads Manage auto-reload.
2. In When credit balance reaches, enter the balance that triggers a purchase.
3. In Bring credit balance back up to, enter the balance to reload to.
4. Click Turn on, or Update if you are changing settings that are already on.

If the balance is already at or below the minimum you set, the button reads Turn on and purchase or Update and purchase. You are charged right away to bring the balance up to the target, plus applicable taxes. [3]

Monthly API credits on Max, Ultra, and Team plans are a third balance. They are spent before purchased credits, unused amounts expire at the end of the billing cycle, and they cannot be used in Claude Code or the Claude apps, including extra usage. [3]

Claude plan usage credits

Usage credits are for Pro, Max, and Ultra. They are separate from the monthly API credits above. Monthly API credits do not apply to usage credits in Claude, Claude Code, or Claude Cowork. Usage credits do apply to Claude and Claude Code together: combined usage counts toward the plan limits. [4]

With usage credits enabled, once a five-hour session limit, a weekly limit, or the Max or Ultra Fable weekly limit is used up, requests switch to pay-as-you-go and keep working. They continue until the monthly spend limit, or until the balance runs out with auto-reload off. Those charges are separate from the subscription. [4]

The article says you can enable auto-reload so a purchase happens when the balance falls below a threshold, and it lists Auto-reload settings next to the monthly spending cap and usage alerts. It does not name a Turn off button for that setting, the way the Console article does. What it does document: [4]

• Settings, then Usage. Click Adjust limit for a monthly spend limit, or Set to unlimited if you want no spending restriction.
• Usage alerts notify you when you approach those spend limits.
• Disable usage credits anytime in Settings, then Usage. After that, only the plan’s included usage remains.

Most paid plans have a session limit that resets every five hours and a weekly limit. Verified Ultra accounts do not have the five-hour limit. Max and Ultra also have a separate weekly Fable limit. Usage credits do not change when those limits reset. [4]

OpenRouter

The FAQ says you can top up the balance manually or set up auto top-up so it is replenished when it gets below the set threshold. That page does not name the screen or button that turns auto top-up off. [5]

What the limits reference does document is a cap on one key. GET /api/v1/key returns limit, limit_reset, and limit_remaining. limit null means that key is unlimited. A 402 whose error.metadata.limit_source is openrouter_key_limit means that key’s credit limit is exhausted. The handling note says to raise the key’s credit limit or wait for limit_reset. [6]

That cap is on the key. Auto top-up is on the account balance. A key limit can reject that key while the account still refills. The limits page does not state the clock for limit_reset. Budget windows, which are a different control and return 403, reset on UTC: daily at 00:00 UTC, weekly on Monday at 00:00 UTC, and monthly on the first of the month at 00:00 UTC. [6]

What breaks when it is off

OpenAI

When a prepaid account runs out of credits, API requests start returning a billing error. credit_balance_exhausted means the organization has no prepaid credits remaining. The broader error.type may still be insufficient_quota. Retrying does not restore access. [1] [2]

API access may not stop immediately after credits run out. Usage processed during that delay can appear as a negative credit balance, and that amount is deducted from the next purchase. OpenAI’s line: “Do not rely on the prepaid balance as an instantaneous spending cutoff.” Leave credits above zero if you need the cutoff to land before the card is involved again. A new purchase can take a few minutes to show on the balance. [1]

A positive balance does not mean a request is under every limit. Request and token rate limits, the organization’s approved monthly usage limit, and any enforced spend limits are separate from the prepaid balance. [1]

Anthropic Console

If you run out of credits, you can no longer call the API or use the playground until you add more. Buy credits from the Billing page with an Admin or Billing role. Purchased credits are available immediately. You are billed only for successful API calls and completed tasks. A client that disconnects or times out in the middle of a request that was on track to succeed is still charged. [3]

OpenRouter

Credit limits return 402. Read error.metadata.limit_source: [6]

• openrouter_key_limit: that key’s credit limit is exhausted. Raise it, or wait for limit_reset.
• openrouter_credits: the account balance cannot cover the request, or this one request is too expensive for the in-flight budget. Retrying the second case does not help. Lower max_tokens or the prompt, or add credits.
• openrouter_in_flight_budget: running and recently completed requests already fill the in-flight spending budget. This can happen while the balance is still positive. Wait for the Retry-After header.

A negative account balance can return 402 even for free models. Adding credits so the balance is above zero allows those models again. Budget limits (guardrail, workspace, or a spent key budget) are a different failure: 403, not this 402. [6]

If you leave it on

OpenAI: monthly recharge limit, then a monthly spend limit

If Use auto-reload stays on, the optional monthly recharge limit controls how much can be purchased through automatic recharges. [1]

• Manual credit purchases do not count toward this limit.
• If an automatic recharge would exceed the remaining monthly limit, only the remaining amount may be added, and only if it meets the $5 minimum.
• If the monthly limit has already been reached, automatic recharges add nothing until the next month.

That still is not a usage cap. Credits already on the balance can be spent. The hard spend limit is the control that can stop requests, and it is monthly, on the organization or on one project. It is not a daily cap, and it is not a cap on one API key. Spend alerts notify you and leave traffic running. A hard limit can stop affected requests. Enforcement is not instantaneous, so recorded spend can slightly exceed the amount, and the limit resets with the next monthly cycle. [2] The steps are in the OpenAI hard spend limit guide.

Paid usage tiers are Build, Launch, and Grow. The organization upgrades when total credit purchases reach $5, $100, and $500. Higher tiers generally provide higher rate limits. Those tiers are separate from configured spend limits and from the prepaid balance. [2]

Anthropic: a monthly spend limit on usage credits

The Console pay article does not document a monthly cap on auto-reload purchases. On Claude plan usage credits, the documented cap is the monthly spend limit: Settings, then Usage, then Adjust limit. Set to unlimited removes that restriction. Usage alerts fire as you approach the limit. Requests keep going until that monthly limit, or until the balance runs out with auto-reload off. [4]

A spend limit on the Console is a different setting from auto-reload. How it is set, and the errors it returns, is in the Anthropic spend limit guide.

OpenRouter: a limit on the key

The FAQ does not document a monthly ceiling on auto top-up. Credit purchases carry a 5.5% fee, with an $0.80 minimum. Crypto payments are charged 5%. Inference itself is not marked up. [5]

A per-key credit limit still rejects that key with 402 and openrouter_key_limit when limit_remaining is exhausted, even if the account balance refills. limit null means the key has no credit limit. [6] How to read usage_daily without putting a gateway in front of the key is in the OpenRouter spend alerts guide. A daily check beside the provider limit is in the daily budget per key guide.

Already charged

Each provider publishes its own refund rule. The rules below are only what these pages say.

OpenAI

Purchased credits expire after 1 year. OpenAI cannot extend that date. Credits are non-refundable unless required by law or contract, or an approved exception applies. Unused credits may qualify for a refund for a verified billing error, confirmed unauthorized activity, or a confirmed OpenAI service failure or incorrect account restriction. Credits already used may qualify only for confirmed unauthorized use or a verified billing correction, subject to applicable law or contract. Contact OpenAI Support for a review. The troubleshooting article says to use the chat widget in the Help Center. [1] [2]

Anthropic

Purchased Console credits expire one year from the purchase date, and that date cannot be extended. The pay-for-API article says all credit purchases are non-refundable. [3]

Usage credits usually do not expire. In some places, including Japan, they expire six months after purchase starting September 10, 2026, with an email seven days before. [4]

OpenRouter

Unused credits may be refunded within 24 hours of the transaction, from the refund button on the Credits page. The unused credit amount goes back to the payment method. Platform fees are non-refundable. Cryptocurrency payments are never refundable. If no refund is requested within 24 hours, unused credits become non-refundable. The terms also reserve the right to expire unused credits after one year. Billing questions go to support@openrouter.ai. Technical questions go to the Discord #help forum. [5]

FAQ

Sources

1. OpenAI Help Center, Setting up and managing prepaid API billing. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8264644-setting-up-and-managing-prepaid-api-billing
2. OpenAI Help Center, Troubleshooting API usage and spend limits. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6614457-troubleshooting-api-usage-and-spend-limits
3. Claude Help Center, How do I pay for my Claude API usage?. https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8977456-how-do-i-pay-for-my-claude-api-usage
4. Claude Help Center, Manage usage credits for paid Claude plans. https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12429409-manage-usage-credits-for-paid-claude-plans
5. OpenRouter, FAQ. https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq
6. OpenRouter, API credit and rate limits. https://openrouter.ai/docs/api_reference/limits