# AutoPilot and cap

> Let Fransys choose and add machines under a maximum budget, set your own groups, or keep a fixed number of machines.

Source: https://docs.fransys.cloud/en/clusters/autopilot-et-plafond/ Checked against the console on 2026-10-23.

## Three ways to manage machines

- **AutoPilot, within a budget**: Fransys picks the machines and adds more as load grows, never going over your cap.
- **AutoPilot, with my machines**: you choose the machine type; AutoPilot stays between each group's minimum and maximum, depending on load.
- **Choose myself**: a fixed number of machines, with no automatic adjustment.

AutoPilot is available at any criticality, but never with a single machine: set the minimum to 2 machines or more, or switch to manual for a simple test.

## The maximum budget

It's not a spending target: it's the cap the cluster must never exceed in a month. Once it's reached, AutoPilot stops adding machines and lets you know by email.

- AutoPilot needs a minimum to run. The console shows it under the slider, with a suggested amount. Below it, the cluster can't start.
- The cap covers servers and the Fransys share. Volumes, backups and IP addresses that your services add come on top.

## Machine groups

With **AutoPilot, with my machines** or **Choose myself**, you build groups: a machine type and a number, or a minimum and a maximum.

Machine types are sorted into **Shared CPUs**, **Dedicated CPUs** and **With GPU**. Each one shows its CPUs, its memory and its monthly price. A greyed-out machine type isn't offered in the region.

## When the cost goes over the cap

The cluster page flags it (“AutoPilot cap exceeded”), and so does the project page, with **Review the cap**. Raise the budget or reduce what's running.

## Change how machines are managed

In the cluster's **Change the configuration**. The summary compares today's planned price with the price after the change. The change is recorded in a plan under your name before it's applied.