Web.estimate_cost?

Date	Category
2025-09-16 13:50:36	Web API

web.estimate_cost returns the maximum possible FlexCredit cost of running a simulation before it starts. This helps prevent accidentally launching overly expensive simulations.

The real cost after running the simulation can be checked with the web.real_cost method.

Note that the input parameter for web.estimate_cost and web.real_cost is the task_id, not the Simulation object. This ID is returned by the web.upload method when a simulation is created.

Example

from tidy3d import web

# Create a job and upload it
job = web.Job(simulation=sim, task_name="job_example", verbose=True)

# Estimate its maximum cost before running
estimated_cost = web.estimate_cost(job.task_id)
print(f"Estimated maximum cost: {estimated_cost:.3f} FlexCredits")

A minimum simulation cost may apply, depending on simulation details.

The estimate is conservative: it assumes the simulation runs its full allocated time. For more information on the real cost and how to correctly estimate the simulation time, refer to this tutorial.