Pipedream pricing: Connect, credits and MCP
Pipedream now sells Connect, an API and SDK for adding integrations and MCP tools to your own app or AI agent. Building and testing is free; production needs Startup, $150 a month or $99 a month billed yearly, with 10,000 credits and 100 external users included. Past those, a credit costs $0.012 and a user $2 a month. A credit is 30 seconds of compute for one action, MCP tool call, proxy request or trigger event.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Credits a month | External users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free build and test | $0 | $0 | Daily limit not published | Development only |
| Startup production | $150 | $99 | 10,000 then $0.012 each | 100 then $2 each |
| Business | Custom, annual contract | Volume pricing | Volume pricing | |
US dollars a month. Billed yearly, Startup saves $612 a year (34%). Pipedream's tagline: “Free to build. Pay when your integrations go to production.”
What a month on Startup costs
With up to 100 external users, as the credits grow:
| Credits a month | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Per credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $150 | $99 | $0.015 $0.0099 yearly |
| 25,000 | $330 | $279 | $0.0132 $0.0112 yearly |
| 50,000 | $630 | $579 | $0.0126 $0.0116 yearly |
| 100,000 | $1,230 | $1,179 | $0.0123 $0.0118 yearly |
| 250,000 | $3,030 | $2,979 | $0.0121 $0.0119 yearly |
Startup's fee plus $0.012 for every credit past 10,000. Pipedream says the rate “drops at higher volume” but doesn't publish the lower rate, so above 10,000 credits these are the most a month can cost; Business has volume pricing.
And with 10,000 credits, as the external users grow:
| External users | Users past 100 | A month, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | Included | $150 |
| 250 | $300 | $450 |
| 500 | $800 | $950 |
| 1,000 | $1,800 | $1,950 |
| 2,500 | $4,800 | $4,950 |
$2 a month for every external user past 100 on Startup; billed yearly, take $51 off each month.
What uses a credit
“Credits measure Connect API usage. Running an action, calling a tool through MCP, sending a request through the Connect proxy, and emitting an event from a deployed trigger each use 1 credit per 30 seconds of compute.”
“Listing apps and accounts, configuring components, and other management calls don't use credits.” A deployed trigger uses credits only when it sends an event on: the docs list “Trigger emits for deployed triggers (when an event is broadcast from a deployed trigger to the subscribed webhook)”. So Startup's 10,000 credits cover 10,000 action runs or tool calls that each finish within 30 seconds; a longer one uses a credit for every 30 seconds it runs.
There's no ceiling on a paid plan: “You can run any number of credits for any amount of compute time on any paid tier.” And no carry-over: “On paid tiers, unused included credits are also not rolled over to the next month.”
How much does Pipedream MCP cost?
It depends on who calls the tools. “Anyone can use Pipedream’s hosted MCP servers for their own use for free”. “To use Pipedream MCP in your own app or agent to make tool calls on behalf of your users, you can get started for free in development mode”, and in production every MCP tool call uses credits like any other Connect call. MCP servers are included on Free, Startup and Business alike.
On Startup that means 10,000 tool calls of up to 30 seconds a month are included, about $0.015 a call billed monthly or $0.0099 billed yearly, and each one past that is $0.012, $12 per 1,000. 100,000 calls a month come to $1,230 billed monthly.
For a whole company there's also Conduit, which Pipedream runs for you as Conduit Cloud: “Conduit Cloud is free for up to 100 users.”
What counts as an external user
“Each distinct user of your app who connects at least one account through Connect, identified by the external user ID you pass. One user with five connected apps counts once.” Startup includes 100: “Nothing breaks — each additional user is $2 per month on Startup. Scaling past a few thousand users? Talk to us about volume pricing.”
Is Pipedream free?
For building and testing: “Development gives you full API, SDK, and MCP access to build and test, free. Serving real external users in production requires Startup.” The free plan caps credits by the day, at a number Pipedream doesn't publish: “Daily credit limit: Free workspaces have a daily limit of free credits that cannot be exceeded”.
Pipedream Workflows is closing
“Workflows and String are shutting down on March 31, 2027. Pipedream Connect is not affected and remains fully supported.” Workflows no longer takes signups or subscriptions, so it has no price to compare. If you're moving workflows, Pipedream Workflows alternatives prices them on n8n, Zapier, Make and the others, including the platforms that, like Pipedream, don't charge by the number of steps.
Pipedream pricing: quick answers
How much does Pipedream cost?
Building and testing is free. Running Connect in production takes Startup: $150 a month, or $99 a month billed yearly ($1,188 a year), with 10,000 credits and 100 external users included, then $0.012 a credit and $2 a user a month. Business is a custom annual contract with volume pricing.
How much does Pipedream Connect cost?
Startup's $150 a month covers 10,000 credits and 100 external users. At 50,000 credits a month it comes to $630 billed monthly or $579 billed yearly; 500 external users add $800 a month. Pipedream says “Startup includes 10,000 credits each month; after that, each credit is $0.012, and the rate drops at higher volume.”
How much does Pipedream MCP cost?
For your own use, nothing: “Anyone can use Pipedream’s hosted MCP servers for their own use for free”. In your own app or agent, MCP is free in development, and in production each tool call uses credits like an action, 1 per 30 seconds of compute. On Startup that's 10,000 calls of up to 30 seconds included, then $12 per 1,000; 100,000 such calls a month cost $1,230 billed monthly or $1,179 billed yearly.
Is Pipedream free?
For building and testing. “Development gives you full API, SDK, and MCP access to build and test, free. Serving real external users in production requires Startup.” The free plan has a daily credit limit whose size Pipedream doesn't publish: “Daily credit limit: Free workspaces have a daily limit of free credits that cannot be exceeded”.
What is a Pipedream credit?
“Credits measure Connect API usage. Running an action, calling a tool through MCP, sending a request through the Connect proxy, and emitting an event from a deployed trigger each use 1 credit per 30 seconds of compute.” “Listing apps and accounts, configuring components, and other management calls don't use credits.”
What does Pipedream charge past the included credits?
$0.012 a credit on Startup, $12 per 1,000, with no cap: “You can run any number of credits for any amount of compute time on any paid tier.” Unused credits don't carry over: “On paid tiers, unused included credits are also not rolled over to the next month.”
What counts as a Pipedream external user?
“Each distinct user of your app who connects at least one account through Connect, identified by the external user ID you pass. One user with five connected apps counts once.” Startup includes 100; past that, “Nothing breaks — each additional user is $2 per month on Startup. Scaling past a few thousand users? Talk to us about volume pricing.”
Can I still buy Pipedream Workflows?
No. “Workflows are now in maintenance mode. Your existing workflows will keep running normally through March 31, 2027, but we’re no longer accepting signups or subscriptions, and we won’t be shipping new features for Workflows.” The docs add: “Workflows and String are shutting down on March 31, 2027. Pipedream Connect is not affected and remains fully supported.”
Other platforms that bill in credits: Gumloop pricing and Lindy AI pricing. Every platform side by side: compare automation platforms.
Sources: Pipedream pricing (both billing modes), plans and pricing and pricing FAQ, MCP servers, Conduit Cloud, read on 7 October 2026.
Prices checked against each platform's official pricing page on .