Usage and message limits

What is the Usage tab

The Usage tab in Settings is where you monitor your AI message consumption. It shows how many messages your AI agent has sent during the current billing period, how many messages are included in your plan, and which plan you are currently on.

This is the primary destination for questions such as:

• How many messages have I used so far?
• How many messages are left in my plan?
• What plan am I on?
• When does my usage reset?
• Why did my usage increase faster than the number of visible AI replies?

To access the Usage tab, navigate to Settings and select the Usage tab, or go directly to:

https://panel.interlinked-ai.com/en/settings?tab=usage

What you see in the Usage tab

The Usage tab displays a clear summary of your current consumption:

Field	Description
Messages consumed	The number of messages your AI agent has sent in the current billing period
Total included	The total number of messages included in your current plan
Current plan	The name of the plan you are subscribed to (Free, Starter, Pro, or Ultra)

This information allows you to understand at a glance where you stand in the current billing period. If you are approaching your included limit, you can decide whether to monitor usage more closely or consider upgrading your plan.

Included messages per plan

Each plan comes with a fixed monthly message allowance:

Plan	Included messages
Free	500
Starter	5,000
Pro	10,000
Ultra	25,000

For a detailed comparison of all plans, including pricing and billing terms, see Plans and pricing.

How usage is counted

Your plan includes a monthly usage allowance. In the panel, that allowance is summarized as messages consumed and messages included. The amount used by a conversation can vary because some customer requests require more work than a short answer.

The simple case

A short, direct AI reply uses the smallest normal amount of usage.

Typical examples include:

• A customer asks for your business hours and the AI sends a short answer
• A customer asks whether you offer pickup and the AI replies directly
• A customer asks for your address and the AI provides it without extra steps

For many everyday conversations, usage stays close to this simple pattern.

What can increase point usage

Usage can increase when the AI needs to do more work before it finishes the response. Common reasons include:

• Tool-assisted actions — The AI may need to check availability, manage a cart, verify order details, or complete another built-in action before replying.
• Multi-step reasoning — Some requests require the AI to review more context, compare options, or complete several internal steps to produce the final answer.
• Longer context or longer replies — If the AI needs to read a larger amount of conversation history or generate a more detailed answer, the interaction can consume more usage.
• More advanced models — Your selected AI model also affects consumption. More advanced models can use more points than lighter models for the same kind of task.

Why the counter may move faster than visible replies

Some customer interactions require more than a basic answer. For example, the AI may need to analyze the request, use a workflow action, and then produce the final reply. When that happens, usage can grow faster than the number of visible messages in the conversation.

This can happen when the AI needs to analyze the request, use a supported workflow action, or produce a longer response. The Usage tab is the source of truth for how much of your included allowance has been consumed.

What does not consume usage points

Not every interaction in the Interlinked AI panel counts toward your usage allowance:

• Your own actions in the panel — Navigating the dashboard, viewing CRM entries, managing orders, or configuring settings does not consume usage points.
• Manual replies from the CRM — When you take manual control of a conversation in the CRM and reply as a human agent, those replies do not count against your AI allowance.
• Workspace actions — Navigating the panel, reviewing records, managing orders, or changing settings does not consume AI usage.

When usage resets

Your message usage counter resets at the start of each new billing cycle. The specific behavior depends on your plan:

Paid plans (Starter, Pro, Ultra)

When a new billing period is paid successfully:

1. The usage counter resets to 0 messages consumed
2. Your full included message allowance becomes available again
3. Any overage charges from the previous period are billed separately

This means your usage refreshes every month for monthly subscriptions, or every month within a longer billing term for 6-month and 12-month subscriptions.

Free plan

The Free plan’s 500-message allowance follows the same reset logic. When the billing period renews, the counter resets and you receive a fresh 500-message allowance.

What happens when you reach your limit

The behavior when your included messages are exhausted depends on whether you are on a free or paid plan:

Free plan

When you consume all 500 included messages on the Free plan, the AI agent pauses. It will not send additional responses until the next billing period resets your allowance or you upgrade to a paid plan.

Paid plans

Paid plans include automatic overage usage, which means your AI agent does not stop when you reach the included limit. Instead, it continues operating and extra messages are billed separately at the overage rate for your plan.

This behavior exists to protect business continuity. If your AI agent handles sales, customer support, lead qualification, or appointment scheduling, an abrupt halt in mid-conversation could disrupt critical workflows.

For full details on overage pricing and billing, see Overage usage and extra messages.

Monitoring your usage effectively

Here are practical recommendations for managing your message consumption:

1. Check the Usage tab regularly — Make it part of your routine to review your consumption, especially during high-traffic periods.

2. Watch for approaching limits — If you are consistently reaching 80–90% of your included messages before the end of your billing period, consider upgrading to the next plan. It may be more cost-effective than relying on overage.

3. Understand your conversation patterns — Some businesses have seasonal peaks (holidays, product launches, promotional campaigns) that temporarily increase AI activity. Plan your subscription accordingly.

4. Review overage charges — If you are on a paid plan, check your invoice history in the Billing tab to understand how much overage you are generating each month.

What to do next

• Compare plans — See which plan best fits your usage pattern. See Plans and pricing.
• Understand overage — Learn how extra messages work and what they cost. See Overage usage and extra messages.
• Review your billing — Check your subscription status, renewal date, and invoices. See Billing and subscription management.