Buy the month's supply early
In one go or in pieces — it costs the same either way. You climb the same steps whether you buy $50 once or $10 five times.
ZESA Rate Watch
Know when ZESA units cost less. From real purchases, not rumours.
ZESA doesn't tell you what step your meter is on, and tariff changes arrive without a text. We watch what units actually cost from the tokens bought here — and say something before you pay.
- Six steps per calendar month
- All the way back to the bottom on the 1st
- Estimates, never official figures
How the steps work
Why the first units of the month are the cheapest.
Step widths are the published band sizes, set by ZERA and applied by ZETDC. Heights are indicative, not to scale.
Think of your meter as starting every month at the bottom of a staircase.
- The first 50 units you buy in a calendar month are on the bottom step — the cheapest.
- The next 50 are one step up, a little dearer. Then 100 more, dearer again. Six steps in all.
- Every unit after 400 in the same month is on the top step — about three times the price of the bottom one.
- On the 1st, the meter goes back to the bottom step and starts again.
So the date doesn't set the price — the count does.
If you haven't bought this month, today is as good as the 1st. If you've already bought 300 units this month, the next ones are on the fifth step until the 1st.
This meter, this month
Where is this meter on the steps?
Type a meter number and we'll say which step it's probably on, counting only what came through us this month. Add an amount and we'll work out what it buys now, versus after the reset.
The first units of the month are the cheapest. Add a meter number and we'll say which step it's probably on. The steps reset on the 1st — 26 days off.
We can only see purchases made here.Where this meter is, this month
Buying now
After the reset on the 1st
What units cost here
Our estimate, from tokens actually bought.
Still learning this month's rate.
We work out the cost per unit from tokens bought here, and we haven't seen enough this month to say anything useful yet. The steps still apply: the first units you buy each month are the cheapest, and they reset on the 1st. Check back in a few days, or buy now if you need to — your purchase helps us learn.
Learned from
0 purchases
across 0 meters
Enough to quote at
8
purchases in USD, in the window below
Steps reset in
26 days
Oct. 1, 2026
What that means for you
Three things worth doing.
Late in the month, buy only enough to reach the 1st
Don't buy October's units on the 28th of September at September's top step. The same money buys more once the steps reset.
If you're on a schedule, put the big one on the 1st
We can do that; nobody else can.
What this is, and isn't
The limits, in full.
Our rate is worked out from tokens bought through Jusa: units received ÷ amount paid, per week, per currency. It's an estimate of what people actually got — it is not a ZESA, ZETDC or ZERA figure, and it's not a price list.
We can't see purchases you made elsewhere, so when we say which step your meter is probably on, we mean "based on what's gone through us this month". If you've bought elsewhere, tell us on the checkout page and we'll adjust the nudge.
When the tariff changes, our number lags by however long it takes for enough purchases to come through — usually a day or two.
Tariff steps are set by ZERA and applied by ZETDC. The band sizes on this page are from the published schedule (as at 2025-09); prices move without notice.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Where does the ZESA rate come from? Is it official?
No — and we say so wherever we show it. ZESA's tariff is set by ZERA in six monthly steps. What we show is our estimate of the real cost per unit this week, worked out from the tokens people actually bought here (units received ÷ dollars paid). It's for deciding when to buy, not a price list. The band we think your meter is on only counts purchases made through us; if you've bought elsewhere this month, tell us and we'll adjust.
Is ZESA really cheaper on the 1st?
Not exactly — it's cheaper for the first units you buy each month, whatever the date. If you haven't bought this month, today is as good as the 1st. If you already have, the next units cost more until the 1st, when the steps reset. That's why we suggest buying just enough to reach the 1st, then the month's supply on the 1st.
Start here
Buy a token now, or set the month's one for the 1st.
No account needed for a one-off. Sign in when you want it to repeat.