1. Preview first
Use /v1/cost/preview before broad batch, export, or fanout workflows.
The first route for AI agents on Japanese public information
7 product lines, ¥3–¥240, plus a per-product-line weekly passport free tier. No monthly minimum. No cancellation fee.
For Japanese public information, calling jpcite first is cheaper, faster, and easier to verify than scraping scattered official pages via web search. Before your LLM writes a long-form report, jpcite returns primary-source evidence + known_gaps[] (LLM-expansion prompts and other added fields are on the Q2 2026 roadmap). Pricing runs from the ¥3 Raw evidence atomic unit up to the ¥240 Deep DD / M&A / audit bundle, with a per-product-line weekly passport (week starts Mon 00:00 JST) that makes the first call free. Production workflows can still control spend with monthly caps, request-level cost caps, idempotency, and customer/project tags.
Cost formula versus raw long-document input
If you send source chunks directly to an LLM, cost is roughly raw document tokens × external model input price + output tokens. With jpcite, cost is roughly ¥3 per billable unit + the much smaller token cost of reading a compact Evidence Packet.
- This is most useful for repeated agents that would otherwise re-send long official PDFs, ministry pages, or search-result chunks.
- It is not always cheaper for one-off lightweight questions where ordinary search or a short source page is enough.
- External LLM prices can change. jpcite keeps the retrieval/evidence part fixed at ¥3 per billable unit and separate from model inference cost.
- Japanese operator disclosure
- Stripe billing (PCI DSS Level 1)
- Cloudflare delivery (DDoS / WAF)
- Professional-services disclaimers on relevant responses
Production agent workflows: set caps first
For recurring AI agent, CRM, professional-service, or review workflows, set previews, monthly caps, request-level caps, idempotency, and customer/project tags before broad runs. Current public self-serve pricing is ¥3 tax-exclusive per billable unit.
2. Cap each paid run
Send X-Cost-Cap-JPY and Idempotency-Key on paid POST workflows to control budget and retries.
3. Attribute by client
Use X-Client-Tag to split usage by company folder, client, project, or deal.
Per-persona typical query and jpcite unit price (10 persona)
Each row maps a typical persona query to the jpcite product line and its published unit price (Raw ¥3 / Citation C=¥12 / composed ¥40-240 tax exclusive). The "Typical query" comes from docs/_internal/persona_revenue_path_2026_05_28.md §1 sample queries. Whether jpcite reduces an agent's total cost for a given query depends on that query and is established by measurement, not assumed here — benchmark pending, shown after same-query measurement.
Source-of-truth (claim-guard): docs/_internal/persona_revenue_path_2026_05_28.md §1.1-§1.10. Each persona row is a synthetic composite of public cohort enumeration queries + published price SOT (Raw ¥3 / C=¥12 / composed ¥40-120 / Deep ¥240). jpcite provides material/scaffold only — finishing is the agent's domain. Whether jpcite lowers an agent's total per-query cost depends on the query and is determined only by same-query measurement (input/output tokens, web-search rounds, cache reuse, FX) — benchmark pending; no fixed reduction figure is claimed. Japan-specific professional-fence statutes (zeirishi-hou §52 / kaikeishi-hou §47-2 / gyousei-shoshi-hou §1 / shihoshoshi-hou §3 / sharoushi-hou §27 / bengoshi-hou §72) and the Premiums & Representations Act (景表法) are strictly observed.
What you get for ¥3
Most
Published rows carry source links
jpcite prioritizes ministry, prefecture, JFC, and other official sources. Known source gaps are surfaced instead of hidden.
14,472
subsidies / loans / tax incentives / certifications
+ 2,286 case studies + 1,185 enforcement + 13,801 invoice registrants + 9,484 statutes.
261
MCP tools
Normal search/detail calls are 1 unit. Batch/export tools show their billable-unit formula before paid execution.
Invoice
Qualified invoice support
Taxable entities can claim the input-tax credit. Stripe Tax auto-issues invoices with the required issuer details.
Because we avoid known aggregator pages as sources, we maintain the program corpus from official and reviewed sources. Customers pay the same ¥3 per billable unit, with no monthly fixed fee.
Other options
Public pricing as of April 2026. Please verify current rates on each vendor's official page.
| Option | Monthly | Per-unit cost | API | MCP | Primary src | source_url | Qualified issuer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jpcite | ¥0 (no fixed) | ¥3.30 (tax incl.) | Yes | Yes | Most | Most rows | Yes |
| J-Grants Plus class SaaS | ¥10,000–30,000 | Not published | No | No | Partial | Partial | — |
| Subsidy aggregator portals | ¥5,000–20,000 | Not published | No | No | No | No | — |
| Commercial DBs (Teikoku DataBank etc.) | Custom quote | Not published | After contract | No | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| Build your own scraper | Maintenance hours / month | Labour cost | Self | Self | Yes | Self | — |
We carry no seat-based SaaS tier and no seat fee — deliverables are priced by product line, not per seat. For workloads that would otherwise require a fixed monthly data plan, usage-based billing can be cheaper at low volume; compare against your actual alternatives. As a simple reference, 10,000 billable units/month is ¥33,000 tax inclusive.
API + MCP
For AI developers and enterprise evidence workflows. 261 MCP tools plus REST. The 3 req/day per IP anonymous daily allowance is usable without signup or card.
Anonymous
Evaluation / personal trials
¥0
3 req / day per IP (resets at JST next-day 00:00)
- No card, no signup — start instantly via device flow
- All fields readable (fields=default)
- Both MCP and REST
- Switch to metered for production workloads
Metered
Production / large workflows / agents
¥3.30 / unit (tax incl.)
¥3.00 tax exclusive + 10% JCT, Stripe metered
For recurring workflows, combine monthly caps, X-Cost-Cap-JPY, Idempotency-Key, and X-Client-Tag to control budget and attribute usage by customer or project.
- No published paid daily quota. Protective rate limits may apply during abnormal bursts; sustained high-volume use is billed at the public ¥3/billable unit rate.
- Self-set monthly spend cap. Set
monthly_cap_yenin the Customer Portal or viaPOST /v1/me/cap. Once hit, the API returns 503 withcap_reacheduntil the next JST monthly billing cycle. Default = uncapped. - fields=full (enriched + source_mentions + lineage)
- Months with 0 paid usage cost ¥0
- Qualified Japanese invoice auto-issued by Stripe
- Cancel anytime from the Stripe Customer Portal
Before you subscribe
- ¥3.30 tax inclusive per billable unit (¥3 tax exclusive + 10% JCT). Normal search/detail calls are 1 unit.
- Batch/export endpoints can bill multiple units. For example,
/v1/programs/batchbills deduped IDs × ¥3. Each high-fan-out endpoint documents its formula and supports cost caps. - Usage from JST 00:00 on day 1 to 23:59 on the last day of the month is auto-charged on day 1 of the following month.
- No minimum term, no cancellation fee. Cancel from the Stripe Customer Portal; API access remains valid through the current billing month and current-month usage is still billed.
- Information service only; no document drafting, no legal advice, no tax advice.
Confirm consent above to enable the button.
Monthly estimate
Bill: ¥330 / month (¥300 tax exclusive)
Currency note. Billing is JPY. USD figures are approximate at ¥150/$ and will vary with your card network's FX rate on the charge date. Stripe Tax adds 10% JCT to invoices (the listed ¥3 is tax exclusive; ¥3.30 is tax inclusive). Foreign-issued cards work without extra setup.
When NOT to use us
jpcite is an information-only service. If any of the following apply, please use a different option.
- You need tax representation, tax advice, or filing on your behalf — prohibited under 税理士法 §52. Please consult a registered tax accountant, or an attorney where legal advice is required.
- You need real-time statute updates — source updates are scheduled and can lag by up to 24 hours. For instant amendment reflection, refer to e-Gov or 官報 directly.
- You want adoption-rate guarantees — we display the rates that public agencies publish; we do not predict or guarantee adoption. The application decision rests with the applicant.
- You require custom contracts or quotes — fully self-serve only. The published price applies to every customer equally.
All customers get
Qualified invoice (インボイス)
Stripe Tax auto-issues a Japanese qualified invoice. Itemised per period: billable units × unit price + 10% JCT. Tax-exclusive presentation.
Cancel anytime
No minimum, no cancellation fee
Cancel the subscription from Stripe Customer Portal. API access remains valid through the end of the current billing month, and current-month usage is billed at ¥3/billable unit. Deleting or rotating an API key only disables that key; it is not a billing cancellation.
Statutory disclosures
特商法 / 景表法 / consumer-contract law
Japanese statutory disclosure (特商法表記), TOS, privacy policy, and a defect-handling contact are all in place. Receipts are auto-issued by Stripe and downloadable from the dashboard.
FAQ
What are the product lines and price bands?
7 product lines: Raw evidence ¥3 / Citation-only free–¥10 / Verified receipt ¥10–30 / LLM Expansion Kit ¥30 / Standard Kit ¥60 / Pro DD / Deep DD ¥240 / Freshness watch ¥50/month (product-line names are intentionally kept in English). Each product line has a weekly passport free tier (first Max Kit + 1 Standard Kit/week, week starts Mon 00:00 JST). There are no seat-based SaaS tiers (no Free/Starter/Pro/Enterprise seats), but the deliverables are priced by product line. Batch/export endpoints show their unit formula (by deduped ID count or bundle size) before execution.
Does jpcite replace report generation by GPT or Claude?
No. jpcite is the first route AI agents take when handling Japanese public information. Before your LLM writes a long-form report, jpcite returns primary-source evidence + known gaps + a prompt kit. The long-form writing itself remains the job of the agent's own LLM.
How does the weekly passport work?
For each of the 7 product lines: the first Max Evidence+Prompt Kit is free, plus 1 Standard Kit per week is free (week starts Mon 00:00 JST / Asia/Tokyo). Re-viewing an already generated artifact / stable-hash URL is always free. The Deep DD / M&A bundle is outside the weekly passport (first-time or once-a-month only). The anonymous IP allowance is counted separately: 3 req/day per IP (resets JST next-day 00:00).
Is signup required?
No. The first 3 req/day per IP are free without signup (resets at JST next-day 00:00). After the anonymous allowance, issue an API key + register a card in Stripe.
Cancellation procedure?
Cancel the subscription from Stripe Customer Portal. API access remains valid through the end of the current billing month, and current-month usage is billed at ¥3/billable unit. Deleting or rotating an API key only disables that key; it is not a billing cancellation.
Stripe auto-billing? Qualified Japanese invoice?
Yes. End-of-month metered usage is auto-charged on day 1 of the following month. Stripe Tax issues a qualified Japanese invoice with the required issuer details.
Corporations and sole proprietors?
Both. Same ¥3/billable unit for taxable / tax-exempt entities, corporations, and sole proprietors. Every invoice carries the required qualified-invoice details for input-tax-credit handling.
Can I set a monthly spend cap?
Yes. Set monthly_cap_yen from the dashboard (or POST /v1/me/cap). Once hit, the API returns 503 with cap_reached until the next JST monthly billing cycle. For broad batch or fanout workflows, also use X-Cost-Cap-JPY, Idempotency-Key, and X-Client-Tag to control request budget, retries, and customer/project attribution.
How is a billable unit defined?
Normal HTTP / MCP search and detail calls are 1 billable unit. Batch, export, and bulk-evaluation endpoints may bill multiple units based on deduped IDs or bundle size; those formulas are shown before use. /healthz and /v1/me/* meta endpoints are uncounted.
Data coverage?
As of April 2026: 14,472 Japanese public programs (11,601 searchable), 2,286 adoption case studies, 108 loan programs (three-axis risk decomposition), 1,185 enforcement actions, e-Gov law metadata and article references (coverage varies by record), 2,065 court decisions, 362 public bids, 13,801 invoice registrants, 50 tax rulesets. Most public rows carry primary-source URL + fetched_at metadata; known aggregator pages are excluded from source fields where detected. All figures are sourced on the fact sheet.
30 seconds to API key, 5 minutes to first call, no fixed monthly
7 product lines from ¥3 (Raw evidence) to ¥240 (Deep DD), each with a per-product-line weekly passport free tier. First 3 req/day per IP free. Months you do not use cost ¥0. Cancel from Stripe Customer Portal; key deletion only disables that key.