AI Tool Atlas

CodingDocumented overviewLast checked Oct 1, 2026

Cycles: Pricing, Features & Best Use Cases

Open-source runtime authority layer that enforces budgets and action limits on autonomous AI agents before they execute.

Cycles homepage screenshot, coding AI tool

Our take: Cycles fits engineering teams running autonomous agents that need a self-hosted, open-source budget and action limiter placed before each model or tool call.

Main limitation: Self-hosting required; managed cloud is not yet available

By the AI Tool Atlas editors. Based on the vendor's official documentation; we have not tested this product hands-on. What “documented overview” means

Is Cycles right for you?

Cycles fits engineering teams running autonomous agents that need a self-hosted, open-source budget and action limiter placed before each model or tool call. Based on the vendor's documentation, not on a hands-on test.

Best for: Teams running autonomous agents in production

Also a good fit for

  • SaaS builders needing per-tenant AI spend limits

Consider another tool if self-hosting required; managed cloud is not yet available

Or if

  • Production support starts at $1,500/mo billed annually
  • Application must enforce results itself; it does not control tools directly

Cycles in the news

Headlines from US outlets, selected automatically — not endorsements. Updated Oct 2, 2026

Cycles pricing and usage limits

Prices checked Oct 1, 2026 on the official US pricing page. Official pricing ↗ Prices and limits change often.

Cycles pricing page with plans and prices — screenshot of the coding AI tool, Oct 1, 2026
The official Cycles pricing page as we saw it. runcycles.io, captured Oct 1, 2026

Free access and trial conditions

Software is free and open source under Apache 2.0; no license key or feature gating

Paid plans: what changes as you upgrade

Community web

Free source (opens in a new tab)

Custom

For: Evaluating or non-critical workloads

Limits

  • Self-hosted
  • Best-effort response

Includes

  • Apache 2.0 software
  • Public security advisories
1 more
  • Public roadmap

Production Support web

$1,500 source (opens in a new tab)

Monthly, annual commitment

$18,000 per year, introductory pricing

For: One production deployment

Limits

  • One production workload path

Includes

  • Private Slack channel and email
  • Next-business-day response
1 more
  • Early security advisories

Enterprise web

$6,000 source (opens in a new tab)

Monthly, annual commitment

From $72,000 per year

For: Mission-critical or regulated deployments

Limits

  • Multiple or regulated workloads

Includes

  • Named engineer
  • Quarterly architecture reviews
1 more
  • Custom incident-response terms

Usage caps, credits and extra costs

Paid plans add support and assurance only; no percentage of agent spend; self-hosting infrastructure is yours

Not stated

What is Cycles, and how does it work?

Cycles is an Apache 2.0 open-source, self-hosted service that checks budgets before an AI agent makes a model call or tool call. Applications reserve budget, and a rejected reservation lets the host skip the call, which the site presents as a way to stop runaway spend and risky actions. It ships SDKs and an MCP server with guides for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf, plus API and protocol references. Paid plans add support and assurance rather than features; a managed cloud is listed as planned.

Cycles homepage — screenshot of the coding AI tool, Oct 1, 2026
Cycles's official site: how the product presents itself. runcycles.io, captured Oct 1, 2026

What you provide and what you get back

How Cycles works: what you provide, where it runs and what you get backYOU PROVIDEYour inputBudget reservations from your app…Scope definitions such as tenant…PoliciesCODINGCyclesAPIfrom $1,500 (Production Support)free tier availableaccount requiredchecked Oct 1, 2026YOU GET BACKThe resultAllow or reject decisionsSettled usage recordsSigned evidence exports (paid sup…input → Cycles → output · from the vendor's own pages, no hands-on test unless stated
What you give Cycles and what comes back, from its documentation

You provide

  • Budget reservations from your application
  • Scope definitions such as tenant or workflow
  • Policies

You get back

  • Allow or reject decisions
  • Settled usage records
  • Signed evidence exports (paid support)

Where you can use it

Platforms
API
Account
Required
License
Apache 2.0 source (opens in a new tab)
Deployment
Self-hosted source (opens in a new tab)
Integrations
MCP server, SDKs (4 languages) source (opens in a new tab)
Failure mode
Fail-closed on reserve-time outage source (opens in a new tab)
Support
Community / $1,500 per month / from $6,000 per month source (opens in a new tab)

What people use Cycles for

Scenarios are worked out by our editors from the documentation; the actual result depends on your input and plan.

Cap per-run spend of a coding agent

Who
Teams running coding agents
You provide
Budget per run
Expected result
Agent halts when reservation is rejected
Plan needed
Community
Limitation
Host application must honour the rejection source (opens in a new tab)

Isolate budgets per tenant in a SaaS

Who
SaaS platform engineers
You provide
Tenant scope IDs
Expected result
Separate spend limits per tenant
Plan needed
Community
Limitation
Requires developer integration source (opens in a new tab)

Block a risky tool call when a risk budget is exhausted

Who
Security and platform teams
You provide
Risk-weighted tool calls
Expected result
Risky action skipped when budget is spent
Plan needed
Production Support for assurance
Limitation
Cycles does not control tools directly source (opens in a new tab)

Key features and their practical limits

Cycles homepage — screenshot of the coding AI tool, Oct 1, 2026
Feature overview on the official site. runcycles.io, captured Oct 1, 2026

Reserve-then-settle budget enforcement

Reserves budget before a call and settles actual usage after Stops runaway spend before it happens

Access: All (self-hosted)Limit: Fail-closed behavior on reserve-time outage source (opens in a new tab)

Multi-language SDKs (4 listed)

Provides client libraries to call reserve and settle Speeds integration

Access: AllLimit: Language list not captured here source (opens in a new tab)

MCP server for Claude, Cursor and Windsurf

Exposes Cycles to MCP-capable coding tools with setup guides Add limits to coding assistants

Access: AllLimit: Guides cover Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf source (opens in a new tab)

Per-tenant and per-workflow scopes

Applies budgets by tenant, workflow or other scope Fine-grained control

Access: AllLimit: Scope model needs design effort source (opens in a new tab)

Cycles: strengths and limits

Where Cycles is strong

Limitations to check before paying

How to use Cycles for enforcing a budget limit on an AI agent

Cycles documentation — screenshot of the coding AI tool, Oct 1, 2026
Cycles documentation: where the steps below come from. runcycles.io, captured Oct 1, 2026

Set up Cycles

  1. Self-host the Cycles service from the open-source repository
  2. Create a tenant and budget scope
  3. Install an SDK or the MCP server in your agent application

Example: enforcing a budget limit on an AI agent

  1. Reserve budget before each model or tool call
  2. Skip the call if the reservation is rejected
  3. Settle actual usage after the call
  4. Repeat per tenant or workflow scope

Review and export the result

  1. Exhaust a small test budget and confirm the next call is blocked
  2. Inspect recorded events for reserved vs settled amounts

Cycles API

Cycles documentation — screenshot of the coding AI tool, Oct 1, 2026
Cycles documentation (continued). runcycles.io, captured Oct 1, 2026

API access and separate billing

Cycles has no public API in its official documentation. API and protocol references are published; 4 SDK languages listed API documentation ↗

Privacy, data use and commercial rights

Summarized from the vendor's current policies; this is not legal advice and a vendor's badge is not an independent audit.

How your inputs and outputs are handled

Self-hosted, so data stays in your infrastructure

Controls for business users

  • Signed CyclesEvidence exports and evidence retention (paid support)

Other tools to consider instead of Cycles

"Better suited" is based on documented features and pricing, not on a head-to-head test.

n8n: better suited to

Make: better suited to

Zapier: better suited to

Alternatives
AlternativeWhen to choose itPricingLimitation
n8n——
Make——
Zapier——

Explore Cycles further

Cycles pricing, plan by planEvery plan with USD prices, limits and what is free.Best Cycles alternativesTools for the same job, by need and starting price.Best AI coding toolsOur picks in this category, compared by price and free tiers.

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    Cycles FAQ

    Is Cycles free?

    Yes. The software is Apache 2.0 open source and free to self-host; paid plans add support. source (opens in a new tab)

    Is there a managed cloud?

    Not yet; runcycles.ai is planned but not available. source (opens in a new tab)

    What does Production Support cost?

    $1,500 per month billed annually ($18,000 per year, introductory) for one production workload. source (opens in a new tab)

    Does Cycles take a cut of agent spend?

    No; support pricing is flat and independent of tokens, requests or agents. source (opens in a new tab)

    Does it block actions itself?

    It returns allow or reject; your application must enforce the result. source (opens in a new tab)

    Sources and review methodology

    Official sources and verification dates

    Not verified: SDK language names; Managed cloud pricing; Runtime performance figures.

    How we documented and maintain this page

    Every fact about Cycles above comes from the 4 official pages listed here, last compared on Oct 1, 2026; we have not run Cycles ourselves, so it has no editorial score. How we check and re-check pages.

    Article updated Oct 10, 2026; prices checked Oct 1, 2026. Outbound links to vendors are plain links; we do not earn commissions. How we review · Report an error