Hello everyone!

I’m very new to developing and am trying to wrap my head around the value add of EAS at small startup levels.

For example the free plan includes 30 builds. As dumb as this question is, what constitutes a build? I get I can run a command in the CLI to have it create a build, but wouldn’t I generally only be doing this when I have something ready to push to the app stores? Is there a step I’m missing, like testing and such, where creating a build every day of a month is more relevant?

What about EAS update? What is a monthly updated user? Is it an end user who updates from the iOS or Android store? Is it an OTA update? Is it a tester who looks at a test build? All of them?

What about edge bandwidth? Is this just as simple as a rate limiter on the size of the app (so I couldn’t upload a 5tb app and download it 29 times for free)? Is there a different use case?

I’m building something relatively small, even at scale probably, and am trying to determine if EAS is a good idea for streamlining this whole process or if I’ll just get hamstrung once I start scaling up (if I manage to) because I hit one of these walls.

Thank you!

been out of the loop; OTA updates are no longer free? is there a way to use expo without paying for the updates? just have to build new binary each time? or will expo block users from app once it exceeds 1000 MAU?

I'm seeking clarification on the EAS On-Demand plan's pricing structure. The free plan offers 30 builds at no cost, and I'm curious if this benefit extends to the On-Demand plan. My impression is that it doesn't, but I want to confirm since it seems unusual. Typically, my monthly build needs are under 30, but there are times I might exceed that. It's frustrating to pay for each build under the On-Demand plan, especially when I seldom exceed the free tier's limit. Consequently, I'm inclined to stick with the free tier. Ideally, I'd prefer a system where I only pay for builds that surpass the free quota, but such an option appears unavailable.