Conversation Limits & Overage

How Conversations Are Counted#

A conversation is one continuous shopping session: from a shopper's first message until 30 minutes of silence (idle timeout) or 50 user messages (soft cap). Everything in between is one conversation, no matter how long.

If the same shopper returns the next day, that's a new conversation.

We chose this model because it tracks real "shopping sessions" — what shop owners actually care about — rather than message volume.

Plan Allowances#

Plan	Monthly conversations	Overage rate (if you raise the cap)
Free	200	Soft-degrade only (no charges)
Pro ($39 / month)	2,000	$10 per extra 1,000
Growth ($99 / month)	5,000	$10 per extra 1,000
Scale ($299 / month)	25,000	$10 per extra 1,000

Counters reset on the 1st of each billing cycle.

By default, paid plans are set to 1× cap, so your bill never exceeds your plan price. Past the limit, the AI keeps replying in degrade mode (shorter answers + a polite nudge). Raise the cap to 2× / 3× / 5× / No cap on the Subscription page if you want full-quality replies past your limit and are okay with the per-1,000 charge.

What Happens When You Hit Your Limit#

Three modes, each protects your bill differently:

Default: 1× cap — AI keeps replying, bill never grows#

Once you cross 100% of your plan, the AI keeps answering shoppers but in degrade mode — shorter replies plus one polite line nudging the shopper to come back next month. Your bill never exceeds your plan price. No overage is charged at 1× cap.

This is the default because it gives you the best of both worlds: shoppers always get an answer (no hard wall), and you never get a surprise bill.

Higher caps: 2× / 3× / 5× — pay per extra 1,000 for full-quality replies#

If you'd rather the AI keep replying at full quality past your limit, raise the cap. The AI then replies normally up to the cap (e.g., 2× = double your plan), with each additional 1,000 conversations billed at $10 (prorated to the actual count). Past the cap, the AI shifts into degrade mode and the overage counter freezes — your bill won't grow further.

Plan	Cap option	AI replies normally up to	Max overage charge
Pro	1× (default)	2,000 chats — degrade past that	$0
Pro	2×	4,000 chats	+$20
Pro	3×	6,000 chats	+$40
Pro	5×	10,000 chats	+$80
Growth	1× (default)	5,000 chats — degrade past that	$0
Growth	2×	10,000 chats	+$50
Growth	3×	15,000 chats	+$100
Growth	5×	25,000 chats	+$200
Scale	1× (default)	25,000 chats — degrade past that	$0
Scale	2×	50,000 chats	+$250
Scale	3×	75,000 chats	+$500
Scale	5×	125,000 chats	+$1,000

"No cap" is also available (behind a confirmation dialog) for shop owners who never want degrade mode — overage charges keep accruing.

Strict mode — AI hard-stops at limit#

Want shoppers to see a clear "I've hit my limit" message instead of degrade-mode replies? Switch to strict mode in the Subscription page:

• The AI shows a friendly "I've hit my monthly limit — please come back tomorrow" message.
• No further AI calls are made; no overage charges.
• Your bill never exceeds your plan price (same as 1× cap).

Strict mode is right for shop owners who'd rather show a hard wall than a degraded answer. Default 1× cap is right for shop owners who never want to lose a sale to a hard wall.

How You Know What's Happening#

Three signals built into the system:

1. Threshold-cross emails#

Sent automatically:

• 80% of plan — heads-up, projected bill, link to upgrade.
• 100% of plan — overage charging started, current cap, link to switch to strict mode.
• Cap reached — degrade mode active, link to upgrade for full quality.

2. Dashboard banner#

The Subscription page always shows your current state: chats used vs. plan, predicted month-end usage (linear extrapolation), and live overage accrual once you cross 100%.

3. In-AI nudges (cap only)#

Past your cap, replies append a polite one-liner: "Talk to the shop owner about upgrading for full-quality responses." Honest, polite, never aggressive.

When Overage Bills Hit#

You don't get billed mid-month. Overage rolls into your next regular invoice at the end of your billing cycle. So if you have $20 of overage in March, it appears on your March 31 invoice as a separate line item alongside your $39 Pro fee.

How to Reduce Conversation Count#

If you're consistently near your limit and want more value per conversation:

• Tighten your welcome message — shoppers skip past it less often, asking better-shaped questions.
• Remove the widget from low-value pages — homepage and product pages convert; checkout and account pages rarely need a sales agent. See Widget Placement.
• Resolve frequent gaps via Knowledge Gaps — a fixed gap means fewer back-and-forth conversations on the same topic.
• Use Memory Inspector to pin great answers — pinned answers run shorter than newly-generated ones because the AI already has the right context.

Anti-Abuse — Built In#

To keep one bad actor from burning your monthly allowance:

• Per-IP cap: max 20 new conversations from one IP per day per store.
• Per-minute rate limit by tier: 10 / 30 / 60 / 120 messages-per-minute (Free / Pro / Growth / Scale).
• 30-min idle timeout — sessions can't stay alive forever.
• 50-message soft cap — runaway conversations cycle to a fresh one.

These don't show up in your usage; they protect it.

Where to Toggle Overage Settings#

Dashboard → Subscription → What happens when you hit your limit? card.

• Two-pill segmented control: Allow overage / Strict mode.
• Cap multiplier: 1× (default) / 2× / 3× / 5× / No cap.
• "No cap" is gated behind a confirm dialog so you never accidentally remove the worst-case-bill ceiling.