A pay-as-a-you-go plan is being introduced by the service that allows anyone to write and execute arbitrary Python code. Users will be able to purchase additional compute time in Colab with or without a paid subscription under the new pricing change.
The free-of- charge Colab tier will not be affected by the update. Users can buy access to compute in the form of "compute units" starting at $9.99 for 100 units or $49.99 for 500.
ChrisPerry is the product lead for the Colab.
Paid users now have the flexibility to exhaust compute quota, measured in compute units, at whatever rate they choose. As compute units are exhausted, a user can choose to purchase more with pay-as-you-go at their discretion. Once a user has exhausted their compute units their Colab usage quota will revert to our free of charge tier limits.
As a result of the pay-as-you-go roll out, Colab users can now choose between standard or premium graphics cards. The standard graphics cards in Colab are usually from the same company. The company notes that getting a specific chip type assignment is dependent on a number of factors, including availability and a user's paid balance.
Premium graphics cards deplete Colab compute units faster than standard ones.
The introduction of pay-as-you-go options in Colab was telegraphed several weeks ago when it was notified by email that it was adopting the compute units system. The shift allowed users to have more control over how and when Colab is used.
The move was seen as user-hostile by some. The limits have always been applied to all tiers of the Colab usage paid plans, according to a statement from a spokesman for the search giant.
The update is meant to give users more visibility into limits, according to the spokesman. Colab will support its free of charge tier.
Colab has grown a lot since it spun out from a research project. It is not uncommon for researchers to include links to Colab pages in the code they write for the platform.
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