diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 83db89f..12fd3cf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ different event from one that moved because it was wrong.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- The pricing template priced every call at $0, so a copy used unedited let
+  any run past `--max-cost-usd` (#28). Its prices are now null and its `as_of`
+  a `YYYY-MM-DD` placeholder that the loader refuses, and any entry pricing
+  both input and output at 0 is refused unless it says `"free": true`.
 - Every validation message on the site's calculator and planner read
   "[object Object]" (#25). Messages now say what is wrong, mark the field
   invalid, and are tied to it for screen readers; a result is announced as one
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0cbdc3a..70ab744 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -182,7 +182,9 @@ This one spends money. Set a key, name an adapter, and cap the run.
 
 Cost needs a pricing table **you** supply, because plumbline ships no figures
 for vendors whose terms treat pricing as confidential. Copy the template and
-fill in the rates from the vendor's own page:
+fill in the rates from the vendor's own page, and the date you read them.
+plumbline refuses the copy until you have, so an unedited template can never
+price a run at nothing:
 
 ```
 cp docs/pricing.example.json my-pricing.json
diff --git a/docs/PLAN.md b/docs/PLAN.md
index 8acabcb..5cd86e7 100644
--- a/docs/PLAN.md
+++ b/docs/PLAN.md
@@ -336,7 +336,10 @@ So:
   table and lay it over the shipped one, wired to `plumbline run --pricing`.
   Every supplied entry must carry its own `source` and `as_of`, on the same
   reasoning that applies to a shipped one.
-- `docs/pricing.example.json` is a template with placeholder figures.
+- `docs/pricing.example.json` is a template whose prices are null and whose
+  `as_of` is the placeholder `YYYY-MM-DD`, which the loader refuses, so an
+  unedited copy cannot price a run. An entry with both prices at 0 is refused
+  unless it says `"free": true`.
 - A test asserts no shipped entry for this vendor carries a numeric price, so a
   figure cannot drift back in unnoticed.
 
diff --git a/docs/pricing.example.json b/docs/pricing.example.json
index 886e25b..97854a6 100644
--- a/docs/pricing.example.json
+++ b/docs/pricing.example.json
@@ -5,10 +5,14 @@
     "price a vendor plumbline ships no figures for, or correct a shipped price",
     "that has gone stale, without editing the package.",
     "",
-    "The numbers below are placeholders. plumbline does not ship a tariff for",
-    "TypeSafe: its customer agreement treats pricing information as confidential,",
-    "so reading the published page and writing the figure down is your act, not",
-    "plumbline's. The page is named in the shipped entry's source.",
+    "The entries below are unfilled on purpose. plumbline does not ship a tariff",
+    "for TypeSafe: its customer agreement treats pricing information as",
+    "confidential, so reading the published page and writing the figure down is",
+    "your act, not plumbline's. The page is named in each entry's source.",
+    "",
+    "Until every as_of is a real date, plumbline refuses this file, so an unedited",
+    "copy can never price a run. Replace each null with the price per million",
+    "tokens and each YYYY-MM-DD with the day you read it.",
     "",
     "Key every model string that can appear. An alias resolves server-side and",
     "the response reports a version, and pricing prefers whatever answered, so a",
@@ -17,24 +21,25 @@
     "",
     "source and as_of are required on every entry. Use null, never 0, where a",
     "vendor publishes no price: null is the absence of a claim and 0 is the claim",
-    "that those tokens are free.",
+    "that those tokens are free. An entry with both prices at 0 is refused unless",
+    "it also says \"free\": true.",
     "",
     "Keys starting with an underscore are skipped, so this note can stay."
   ],
 
   "jev-1.13.0": {
-    "input_usd_per_million": 0.0,
-    "output_usd_per_million": 0.0,
+    "input_usd_per_million": null,
+    "output_usd_per_million": null,
     "source": "TypeSafe published tariff, https://docs.typesafe.ai/models.md, read by me",
-    "as_of": "2026-01-01",
-    "note": "Placeholder figures. Replace with what the page says, and set as_of to the day you read it."
+    "as_of": "YYYY-MM-DD",
+    "note": "Replace both nulls with what the page says, and as_of with the day you read it."
   },
 
   "jev-latest": {
-    "input_usd_per_million": 0.0,
-    "output_usd_per_million": 0.0,
+    "input_usd_per_million": null,
+    "output_usd_per_million": null,
     "source": "TypeSafe published tariff, https://docs.typesafe.ai/models.md, read by me",
-    "as_of": "2026-01-01",
+    "as_of": "YYYY-MM-DD",
     "note": "The alias, in case a run is costed before any response has reported a version."
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/plumbline/config.py b/src/plumbline/config.py
index 8192ea2..5c32cf7 100644
--- a/src/plumbline/config.py
+++ b/src/plumbline/config.py
@@ -115,9 +115,13 @@ def _anthropic(input_usd: float, output_usd: float) -> Pricing:
 
 #: Fields a supplied entry may carry. Anything else is a typo worth naming.
 _PRICING_FIELDS = frozenset(
-    {"input_usd_per_million", "output_usd_per_million", "source", "as_of", "note"}
+    {"input_usd_per_million", "output_usd_per_million", "source", "as_of", "note", "free"}
 )
 
+#: The ``as_of`` that ``docs/pricing.example.json`` ships with. A copy that still
+#: carries it has not been filled in, so it is refused rather than priced.
+TEMPLATE_AS_OF = "YYYY-MM-DD"
+
 
 def load_pricing_file(path: Path | str) -> PricingTable:
     """Read a pricing table the operator wrote, requiring provenance on every entry.
@@ -197,11 +201,35 @@ def _entry(name: str, value: Any, path: Path) -> Pricing:
                 "whether that source still says it and a report can age it."
             )
 
+    as_of = _as_of(name, value["as_of"], path)
+    input_price = _price(name, value, "input_usd_per_million", path)
+    output_price = _price(name, value, "output_usd_per_million", path)
+    free = value.get("free", False)
+    if not isinstance(free, bool):
+        raise PricingConfigError(
+            f"entry {name!r} in {path} has free={free!r}; it is true or absent."
+        )
+    # Both prices at exactly zero is what an unedited template looks like, and
+    # it would let any run past --max-cost-usd. A model that really is free says
+    # so, and one that says so must not also carry a price.
+    both_zero = input_price == 0 and output_price == 0
+    if both_zero and not free:
+        raise PricingConfigError(
+            f"entry {name!r} in {path} prices input and output at 0, which claims every "
+            "token is free and would let any run past --max-cost-usd. If that is true, "
+            'add "free": true to the entry; if the price is unknown, use null.'
+        )
+    if free and not both_zero:
+        raise PricingConfigError(
+            f'entry {name!r} in {path} says "free": true but carries a price. '
+            "Set both prices to 0, or remove free."
+        )
+
     return Pricing(
-        input_usd_per_million=_price(name, value, "input_usd_per_million", path),
-        output_usd_per_million=_price(name, value, "output_usd_per_million", path),
+        input_usd_per_million=input_price,
+        output_usd_per_million=output_price,
         source=str(value["source"]),
-        as_of=_as_of(name, value["as_of"], path),
+        as_of=as_of,
         note=str(value.get("note", "")),
     )
 
@@ -221,6 +249,13 @@ def _price(name: str, value: Mapping[str, Any], field: str, path: Path) -> float
 
 
 def _as_of(name: str, value: Any, path: Path) -> date:
+    if value == TEMPLATE_AS_OF:
+        raise PricingConfigError(
+            f"entry {name!r} in {path} still has the template's placeholder "
+            f"as_of={TEMPLATE_AS_OF!r}. Fill in the prices you read and the date you read "
+            "them; an unedited copy of docs/pricing.example.json is refused rather than "
+            "used to price a run."
+        )
     try:
         return date.fromisoformat(str(value))
     except ValueError:
diff --git a/tests/test_pricing_config.py b/tests/test_pricing_config.py
index 20c39dd..5fae58d 100644
--- a/tests/test_pricing_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_pricing_config.py
@@ -73,13 +73,45 @@ def test_an_underscore_key_is_a_comment_and_not_a_model(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     assert set(table) == {"m"}
 
 
-def test_the_shipped_example_file_loads(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
-    """The file the note points operators at must actually parse."""
-    example = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "docs" / "pricing.example.json"
-    table = config.load_pricing_file(example)
+EXAMPLE = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "docs" / "pricing.example.json"
+
+
+def test_the_example_file_is_refused_until_it_is_filled_in() -> None:
+    """An unedited copy must not price anything, least of all at $0 (#28)."""
+    with pytest.raises(config.PricingConfigError, match="placeholder"):
+        config.load_pricing_file(EXAMPLE)
+
+
+def test_the_example_file_loads_once_it_is_filled_in(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """The file the README points operators at must parse once they have done their part."""
+    raw = json.loads(EXAMPLE.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    for name, entry in raw.items():
+        if not name.startswith("_"):
+            entry.update(input_usd_per_million=1.0, output_usd_per_million=4.0, as_of="2026-09-01")
+    table = config.load_pricing_file(write(tmp_path, raw))
 
     assert "jev-1.13.0" in table
     assert "_comment" not in table
+    assert table["jev-1.13.0"].is_priced
+
+
+def test_both_prices_at_zero_are_refused_unless_the_entry_says_it_is_free(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """0 and 0 is the claim that every token is free, which a placeholder also looks like."""
+    free = {**ENTRY, "input_usd_per_million": 0, "output_usd_per_million": 0.0}
+    with pytest.raises(config.PricingConfigError, match="free"):
+        config.load_pricing_file(write(tmp_path, {"m": free}))
+
+    entry = config.load_pricing_file(write(tmp_path, {"m": {**free, "free": True}}))["m"]
+    assert entry.is_priced
+    assert cost.cost_of(1_000, 1_000, entry) == 0.0
+
+
+def test_one_price_at_zero_is_an_ordinary_price(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    payload = {"m": {**ENTRY, "input_usd_per_million": 0}}
+    entry = config.load_pricing_file(write(tmp_path, payload))["m"]
+    assert cost.cost_of(1_000_000, 1_000_000, entry) == pytest.approx(6.0)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(