# Getting Started

"UbiFunctions" is a serverless computing environment for IoT. Also known as FaaS (Functions as a Service), it lets you run custom functions on demand directly from Ubidots.

Although originally designed as a custom decoding tool, it has grown into an integration and analytics powerhouse.

![](/files/-MiUdQW45kGPwsIq39xc)

### Definition

An UbiFunction is user-defined NodeJS or Python code that runs on-demand, and can be invoked using any of these methods:

* Making an HTTP GET or POST request to the UbiFunction’s URL
* Publishing data through MQTT to the UbiFunction's URL
* Configuring an Ubidots event action
* A time-trigger specified by the user

### When to use UbiFunctions?

Customers commonly use UbiFunctions to:

* Extract data from third-party APIs and insert it into Ubidots
* Build a custom HTTP API gateway to receive data in a custom format
* Extract data from Ubidots, run a custom analysis or transformation, and insert the results back into Ubidots

### How to add UbiFunctions to my account?

This module is available on the [Industrial plan](https://help.ubidots.com/en/articles/7827108-plans-billing-understanding-the-advantages-of-the-industrial-plan) and above. To upgrade to an Industrial plan:

1. Select **My Profile** from the user dropdown in the top-right corner of your Admin App.
2. Select **Billing** from the left navigation panel.
3. Click **Change plan**, then select the **Industrial** plan or above.
4. Click **Update Plan** to save the change and activate UbiFunctions.

### Billing

The UbiFunctions module includes a limited number of executions and is billed based on usage:

* Includes 1 thousand executions per month
* When an execution exceeds 2 seconds, it counts as 2 or more executions in 2-second increments
* Executions are billed at **$5 per million executions.**


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