Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is an Operator?
An operator is how DropOps AI interacts with the physical world—your AI's hands on any machine. There are two types:
Standalone Binary Operator – A tiny 5MB executable you drop on any Linux or macOS system (server, VM, container, laptop). No install, no dependencies, no open ports. It connects outbound to DropOps and executes standard system administration commands. One operator slot per system.
Cloud Operator for AWS – A pre-configured EC2 AMI with Terraform, kubectl, AWS CLI, Helm, and security tools pre-installed. Uses Zero Standing Privileges—starts with zero access, AI requests permissions only when needed through natural conversation. Required for cloud and infrastructure commands (aws, terraform, kubectl, etc.). Counts as 5 operator slots.
What about Cloud Operators (AWS)?
The DropOps Cloud Operator for AWS is a pre-configured EC2 AMI with Terraform, kubectl, AWS CLI, Helm, and security tools pre-installed. Each Cloud Operator counts as 5 operator slots due to its expanded capabilities for managing your entire AWS infrastructure.
Cloud Operator limits by tier:
• Free / Personal: Not available
• Professional (15 slots): Up to 3 Cloud Operators
• Ultra (45 slots): Up to 9 Cloud Operators
• Founding (100 slots): Up to 20 Cloud Operators
Why 5 slots? Cloud Operators can run infrastructure commands (aws, terraform, kubectl, helm, ansible) that binary operators cannot. These commands are restricted to Cloud Operators only—binary operators handle standard system administration.
What counts as an Approved Operation?
Every action the AI takes on your infrastructure requires your approval—file edits, new files, command executions. The AI intelligently bundles related actions into single approval requests so you're not clicking "approve" a hundred times. One click can greenlight an entire deployment sequence while you stay in control of what actually runs.
What can the AI actually do on each plan?
All plans have access to the same AI capabilities. The differences are in the number of operators, team members, and operation limits. Free tier is great for trying out the platform with basic diagnostics. Personal and Professional tiers add more operators and higher operation limits for growing teams. Ultra and Enterprise are designed for large-scale deployments with unlimited operations and dedicated support.
How does pricing actually work?
You're paying for infrastructure access and team size. Each tier gives you a fixed number of operator slots and team member seats. Personal is for solo admins, Professional is for small engineering teams, Ultra is for growing startups, and Founding is for larger organizations. Note: Founding is yearly-only—it's designed for committed teams who want the best value at scale. All tiers include overage pricing if you exceed your included operations.
Can my whole team use this?
Yes! Professional supports small engineering pods, Ultra scales for growing startups, and Founding accommodates larger organizations. Free and Personal are designed for individual users only. Enterprise has unlimited team members. Check the pricing cards above for exact limits.
What's the difference between Professional and Ultra?
Professional is perfect for small engineering teams with limited operator slots and pooled operations. Ultra scales up with more team members, more operator slots, more pooled operations, and lower overage rates—plus dedicated Slack support. When your team outgrows Professional's member limit, you'll need to upgrade to Ultra. The 3:1 operator-to-member ratio means each engineer can manage their primary app, database, and staging environment.
Why yearly billing?
Commit for a year and save ~17%. Yearly plans are billed upfront but work out significantly cheaper. You can switch between monthly and yearly at any time—except for Founding, which is yearly-only by design.
Can I change plans later?
Anytime. Upgrades happen instantly with prorated billing. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current period. Your conversation history, operator configs, and audit logs are always preserved.
What payment methods do you accept?
All major credit cards through Stripe. Enterprise customers can pay via invoice with NET-30 terms. No crypto, purchase orders for Enterprise only.
What is your refund policy?
All sales are final. We encourage you to evaluate DropOps using our Free tier before upgrading to a paid plan—no credit card required. See our
Terms of Service for complete details.
What if the operator doesn't work in my environment?
We want every customer to succeed. If you hit roadblocks, we'll do everything we can to help you troubleshoot and get up and running.
Before you upgrade: Start with our Free tier first. Connect to your infrastructure, run real operations, and upgrade only when you're confident it works for you.
Technical issues after upgrading: In rare cases involving documented technical barriers that genuinely prevent use of the platform, we may consider requests on a case-by-case basis. Reach out to
support@dropops.ai with details of the technical issue.