Short answer: you do not have to upgrade. The 500-minute cap only applies to Prefect Managed (serverless) runs on the Hobby plan. You can switch to your own compute at any time and keep running flows without using those minutes. The 500 minutes are a monthly quota and reset each month. Details and options: - If you keep using the Prefect Managed work pool, those serverless minutes are limited to 500 per month on Hobby. The docs don’t explicitly state the exact behavior once you hit the cap (e.g., whether managed runs queue or are blocked), but the limit applies only to managed executions. - To avoid the cap, run on your own infrastructure: - Use workers (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, local/on‑prem) connected to a work pool - Or use “push” serverless work pools on your cloud account (AWS ECS, Azure ACI, Google Cloud Run, Modal, Coiled) Useful links: - Prefect Managed (limits and behavior): Managed infrastructure - Alternatives using your cloud (no Prefect-managed minutes): Serverless push work pools - Plan limits overview: Rate limits and plan limits - Pricing/plans: Prefect pricing If you want, I can help you switch an existing deployment to a worker (Docker/Kubernetes) or to a push work pool on your cloud provider. Which setup are you using today?

You’re right — on the Hobby plan you only have access to the Prefect Managed work pool. Custom work pools (workers you run on Docker/Kubernetes/process or push pools like ECS/Cloud Run/ACI/Modal/Coiled) are not available on Hobby; that error is expected for this tier. What this means for your original question: - After you use the 500 monthly serverless minutes on Hobby, you cannot switch to your own compute within Prefect Cloud on that plan. - Your options are: - Wait until the monthly minutes reset, or - Upgrade to a paid plan to unlock custom work pools and run on your own infrastructure. Useful links: - Managed infrastructure (how minutes are counted, limits): Managed infrastructure - Alternatives (available on paid tiers): Serverless push work pools - Plan features and availability: Pricing and plans - General limits by plan: Rate limits and retention Note: The docs don’t explicitly state the exact runtime behavior once you hit the cap (e.g., whether managed runs queue or are blocked); in practice, additional managed runs won’t start until minutes reset or you upgrade. If you need a precise confirmation for your workspace, I can check with support for you.

Short version: “Bring Your Own Compute” in Prefect Cloud requires custom work pools (workers or push pools), and those are a paid‑tier feature. The Hobby plan is intentionally limited to Prefect Managed so the free tier stays simple and cost‑predictable. Why it’s gated to paid tiers: - BYOC involves cloud integrations (AWS/GCP/Azure, Docker/Kubernetes), job templates, worker management, and support for production‑grade setups—features that carry higher support and infrastructure costs and are primarily used beyond evaluation. - The Hobby plan is designed for quick starts with managed, serverless runs and a monthly minute cap. Your options: - Keep using the Prefect Managed work pool on Hobby (500 serverless minutes/month). - Upgrade to unlock custom work pools and run on your own infra. - Or self‑host open‑source Prefect and run your own workers at no cost to Prefect Cloud. Useful links: - Plan features and availability: Pricing and plans - Managed (what Hobby includes): Managed infrastructure - BYOC options (paid tiers): Serverless push work pools and Workers / Work pools - Self‑hosted alternative (free, OSS): Run a local Prefect Server and Run Prefect Server via Docker Compose If you share a bit about your environment (Docker vs. Kubernetes, cloud provider), I can outline the quickest path—either an upgrade with a matching work pool type or a self‑hosted setup.

Short answer: Yes—on paid tiers you can run your own workers anywhere and still use the Prefect Cloud UI to orchestrate, monitor, and manage runs. On the Hobby plan, no—only the Prefect Managed work pool is enabled, so you can’t attach your own workers in that Cloud workspace. How it works on paid tiers (hybrid model): - Create a custom work pool (process, Docker, Kubernetes, ECS, Cloud Run, etc.) - Start a worker that polls that pool from your infra - Deploy your flow to that pool; runs show up in the Cloud UI with states, logs, artifacts, and automations Quick start:

prefect cloud login --key <KEY> --workspace <account>/<workspace>
prefect work-pool create my-docker --type docker
prefect worker start -p my-docker
prefect deploy ./flows/my_flow.py:my_flow -n my-deployment -p my-docker

If you want BYOC without upgrading: you can self-host open‑source Prefect (Server + UI) and run your own workers there. Useful links: - Workers: Workers - Work pools: Work pools - Manage work pools: Manage work pools - Pricing (to enable custom work pools in Cloud): Pricing and plans - Self-hosted (OSS) alternative: Run a local Prefect Server If you share your environment (Docker, Kubernetes, or a specific cloud), I can map out the exact pool/worker setup and any required extras.

I can’t open a support ticket directly from here, but you can get a definitive answer fastest by contacting Prefect Support: - Email: help@prefect.io - In-app chat: Cloud UI → Help → Chat with us (bottom-right) Context to include: - Your account/workspace handle (account/workspace) - Plan: Hobby - Question: whether there’s a pay-as-you-go add-on or top-up for Managed (Prefect Managed) minutes after the 500/month cap, and any upgrade options/pricing If helpful, here’s a quick message you can copy/paste:

Subject: Hobby plan – additional Managed compute minutes?

Hi Prefect Support,

Workspace: <account>/<workspace>
Plan: Hobby

Is it possible to purchase additional Prefect Managed (serverless) compute minutes once we hit the 500-minute monthly cap, or do we need to upgrade plans? If upgrades are required, could you share the options and pricing that would allow either more Managed minutes or access to custom work pools (BYOC)?

Thanks!

For what it’s worth, the public docs and pricing pages don’t mention a top-up for Managed minutes on Hobby—typically the path is upgrading to a paid tier. Support can confirm what’s currently available. If you want, share your workspace handle and I’ll keep an eye out for any updates to relay back here.