> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bitfield.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Active devices

> What counts as an active device: an identity that sent Bitfield runtime request bytes, not a dormant install or visitor.

<div className="bf-article">
  <p className="bf-lead">
    An active device is the customer-friendly name for a Bitfield runtime identity where Bitfield was asked to run in the billing window.
  </p>

  That runtime identity can be a laptop, phone, server, worker, kiosk, CI runner, browser environment, or local box. The shape can be local or cloud. The important thing is simple: Bitfield was asked to run for that identity.

  Active device is the current public pricing label over signed Bitfield observations. It is not a separate local-only counter, and it is not a page-view counter.

  Technically, that means request bytes entered Bitfield, Bitfield decoded an envelope, and the address resolved to a slot, native handler, or live state.

  For local Bitfield, the identity is activation-based. Bitfield creates or reads `this-device.key`, derives a device public key hash, and uses an activation ID for that runtime. By default, that activation ID is the device public key hash.

  So the identity is not a cookie, incognito tab, IP address, VPN address, route name, project name, package name, or page view.

  <div className="bf-flow" aria-label="Active device request flow">
    <div className="bf-flow-step">
      <span>Plan</span>
      <strong>Included range</strong>
      <p>The account has a plan with a runtime/device range.</p>
    </div>

    <div className="bf-flow-arrow">→</div>

    <div className="bf-flow-step">
      <span>Request</span>
      <strong>Bitfield runs</strong>
      <p>A runtime identity actually asks Bitfield to run.</p>
    </div>

    <div className="bf-flow-arrow">→</div>

    <div className="bf-flow-step">
      <span>Portal</span>
      <strong>Manage access</strong>
      <p>The account portal handles activation, replacement, and revocation.</p>
    </div>
  </div>

  After that, a laptop, phone, server, or runtime identity should be easy to classify: it either asked Bitfield to run during the window or it did not.

  ## What counts

  A laptop can count. A phone can count. A tablet can count. A server can count. A Raspberry Pi can count. A runtime environment can count.

  The working rule: if Bitfield was asked to run there during the billing window, that runtime identity can count.

  ## What does not count

  A static page does not become a new active device for every person who reads it because those visitors are only receiving already-published files. No Bitfield envelope bytes means no slot, no native handler, and no live-state read for that visitor. A dormant install does not count just because files exist. A package folder does not count just because it is present. One runtime doing a lot of work is not a lot of units.

  One runtime identity can do a lot of work in one billing window and still be one identity. Different devices, different activated servers, or fresh ephemeral runtimes can count separately because they have different runtime identities.

  ## How moving a spot works

  If you stop using one runtime identity, revoke it in the account portal. That frees the spot so a replacement device, server, or runtime identity can use your key.

  ## Why pricing uses this word

  Bitfield pricing is based on active runtime/device units because the product is not priced per app, per project, per seat, token, install, revenue share, page view, click, or runtime second.

  ## Common confusion

  | Confusion                                 | Correct model                                                                |
  | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
  | "Is an active device the same as a user?" | No. It is an identity where Bitfield was asked to run.                       |
  | "Does a project count?"                   | No. A project is not the billing unit.                                       |
  | "Does every website visitor count?"       | No. Visitors reading already-published files are not asking Bitfield to run. |
  | "Does an old install count forever?"      | No. Dormant files send no Bitfield request bytes.                            |
  | "Does incognito count again?"             | No, not when it talks to the same local Bitfield runtime identity.           |
  | "Does a VPN count again?"                 | No. IP address is not the identity.                                          |
  | "Do two devices count separately?"        | Yes, when both send Bitfield request bytes.                                  |
  | "Does a server count?"                    | It can when it asks Bitfield to run.                                         |
  | "Where do I manage this?"                 | Use [account.bitfield.so](https://account.bitfield.so).                      |

  ## Next

  * Get access and activate your first runtime identity: [Get your key](/start/get-your-key)
  * See concrete billing examples: [What you pay for](/activation/what-you-pay-for)
  * Read the account lifecycle: [Account and key flow](/activation/account-and-key-flow)
  * Build across devices and servers: [Device and deployment shape](/build-your-own-surface/device-deployment)
</div>