Usage & Limits

Your Nobi subscription includes a monthly message limit, set by the bundle you choose. This guide explains how messages are counted, how to monitor your usage, what happens when you approach your limit, and what happens when you go over. The guide below assumes you are on one of the standard bundles. Custom plans above 100,000 messages a month may have different settings, and these details may not apply to them.

Understanding Limits

What Is a Message

Everything a shopper types into Nobi counts as one message. That includes a search, a chat question, a suggestion click, a product-page question, and a filter-panel question. There is no separate search allowance.

Message Limits

Counted as messages:

Customer runs a search → 1 message
Customer sends a question, Nobi responds → 1 message
Customer clicks a suggestion pill, Nobi responds → 1 message
Customer asks a question on a product page → 1 message
Customer asks a question in the filter panel → 1 message
Customer submits a Custom Action form, Nobi confirms → 1 message
An AI tool calls search_products or ask_question through Nobi's MCP server → 1 message

Not counted:

Nobi loading on the page (no interaction)
Loading more results for the same search (show-more pages)
Customer opening the chat window without sending anything
System errors or failed responses
Dashboard usage by your team

Plan Limits

Plan	Monthly Messages	Price
Preview (pre-trial)	100 (dashboard only)	Free
Trial	100,000, whatever bundle you picked	Free for 30 days
Bundle	500	$29/month
Bundle	1,000	$55/month
Bundle	2,500	$129/month
Bundle	5,000	$249/month
Bundle	10,000	$469/month
Bundle	15,000	$669/month
Bundle	20,000	$869/month
Bundle	30,000	$1,249/month
Bundle	50,000	$1,999/month
Bundle	75,000	$2,899/month
Bundle	100,000	$3,749/month
Custom	Over 100,000	Custom, talk to sales

When Limits Reset

Message counts reset on the 1st of each month at 12:00 PM UTC.

Example: If you are on the 500-message bundle and you have used 400 messages by January 31st, your count resets to 0 on February 1st.

Unused messages do not roll over to the next month.

Viewing Your Usage

On the Billing Page

Go to Account → Plans & Billing to see:

Usage summary:

Messages used this period, against your limit
Visual progress bar
When your usage resets
What this month will be billed at, once you go over your limit with "Keep going"

Usage Progress Bar

The progress bar keeps its normal color until you reach your limit. Then it changes color:

Amber - Over your limit while Nobi keeps running ("Keep going")
Red - At your limit with "Stop and hide Nobi", or at your trial limit. Nobi is hidden from your store

Real-Time vs. Reported Usage

Billing page: Shows real-time count, updated as messages are sent

Analytics: Shows usage synced hourly from our data warehouse

There may be slight differences between the two due to sync timing. For billing purposes, the real-time count on the Billing page is authoritative.

Usage Warnings

Nobi sends email notifications when you approach your message limit. These warnings help you pick a bigger bundle or change your going-over setting before you reach the limit. You can choose to turn off warning emails on the Billing page.

Warning Thresholds

You'll receive emails at:

Threshold	Message
80%	"Usage alert: you've used 80% of your Nobi messages this month"
100%	"Usage alert: you've used 100% of your Nobi messages this month"

Warning Email Contents

Each warning email includes:

Current usage count
Your bundle's message limit
What happens at your limit, based on your "When you reach your limit" setting
Link to your Billing page

Managing Warning Emails

You can enable or disable usage warning emails:

Go to Account → Plans & Billing
Find the Usage warning emails card
Turn its switch on or off
Changes save automatically

Note: Critical billing emails (payment failures, subscription changes) cannot be disabled.

Dashboard Banners

In addition to emails, warning banners appear in your dashboard. Usage banners use different thresholds from the emails, and they only show during your free trial:

90% of trial messages used: Warning banner that says how much of your trial you have used
100% of trial messages used: Alert banner asking you to convert to a paid plan to keep Nobi running

Banners appear on all dashboard pages until addressed. On a paid plan, no usage banner shows at 90% or 100%. Instead, after a month that went over your limit, a banner names the bundle that fits that month's usage.

Going Over Your Limit

When you reach your bundle's message limit, Nobi does one of two things. You pick which one on the Billing page.

Option 1: Stop and hide Nobi

What happens:

Nobi stops when you reach your limit and hides from your website until next month
MCP tool calls (search_products and ask_question) stop too
Customers don't see the chat widget
No additional charges occur
Service resumes when your billing period resets (1st of the month)

Best for:

Strict budget control
Predictable monthly costs
Lower-traffic periods where waiting is acceptable

Customer experience:

Nobi simply doesn't appear
No error messages shown
Other site functionality unaffected

When Nobi hides itself this way, it also fires a nobi-hidden-due-to-billing window event so your site's own code can react (for example, reclaim the space or show a fallback). See the Events Reference for the full event contract.

Option 2: Keep going

What happens:

Nobi keeps running past your limit
That month is billed at the price of the bundle that fits your usage
The extra charge appears on your next invoice
No service interruption

What it costs:

You pay the price of the bundle that fits the month's usage, not a per-message fee
Above 100,000 messages, the month is $3,749 plus 4 cents for each message over 100,000
Billed at the end of your billing period

Best for:

High-traffic periods where uptime is critical
Businesses where every customer interaction matters
Unpredictable traffic patterns

Example:

Bundle: 500 messages for $29
Usage: 800 messages
800 messages fits the 1,000-message bundle, so the month is billed at $55

Example above 100,000:

Usage: 110,000 messages
Month: $3,749 + (10,000 x $0.04) = $4,149

Changing What Happens When You Reach Your Limit

Go to Account → Plans & Billing
Find the When you reach your limit section
Select your preference:

Stop and hide Nobi
Keep going

Changes save automatically

You can change this setting anytime. The new setting applies immediately.

What Happens When You Hit Your Limit

With "Stop and hide Nobi"

Immediately:

Nobi stops appearing on your website
The chat widget is hidden from customers
API requests return a "limit exceeded" response
MCP tool calls (search_products and ask_question) stop too

In your dashboard:

The usage bar turns red
The Billing page says Nobi is hidden from your store until your next billing period starts, with a Change bundle button
Billing page shows status and reset date

For customers:

They simply don't see Nobi
No error messages or broken UI
Your site works normally otherwise

Resolution:

Wait for the 1st of the month (automatic reset)
Or pick a bigger bundle on the Billing page
Or switch to "Keep going" (Nobi comes back right away)
Or contact sales if you need more than 100,000 messages a month

With "Keep going"

Immediately:

Nothing changes for customers
Nobi continues working normally
Messages over your limit keep counting toward that month's total

In your dashboard:

The usage bar turns amber
The Billing page shows your count against your limit, such as "800 of 500 messages used"
The Billing page says what this month will be billed at, such as the bundle that fits your usage and how much more that costs

On your next invoice:

Your bundle's price
Plus the difference between your bundle and the bundle that fit your usage
Above 100,000 messages: $3,749 plus 4 cents for each message over 100,000
Detailed breakdown included

Managing High Usage

If You're Regularly Exceeding Limits

Consider:

Picking a bigger bundle - If you often go over your limit, pick the bundle that fits a usual month. Above 100,000 messages a month, contact sales for custom pricing
Reviewing usage patterns - Check analytics to understand when and why usage spikes
Optimizing interactions - Ensure Nobi is configured efficiently (relevant knowledge base, good product data)

Trial Period Usage

Trial Limits

During your 30-day free trial:

100,000 free messages are included, whatever bundle you picked
After the trial, the bundle you picked applies
Full functionality available
Credit card required to start the trial, but no charges until the trial ends
Note: Before starting a trial, all customers have 100 free preview messages every month in the dashboard to test Nobi. These are for dashboard testing only and are separate from the trial limit.

Monitoring Trial Usage

Your Billing page shows:

Free trial messages used, against the trial's 100,000
Trial end date
A Convert to Paid Now button

If You Exceed Trial Limits

If you use all 100,000 messages before your trial ends:

Nobi stops appearing on your website
To turn Nobi back on, click Convert to Paid Now on the Billing page
If you don't convert, Nobi stays off until your trial ends and your paid bundle starts

Important: during your trial, Nobi stops when you hit 100,000 messages, whichever going-over option you picked. Your choice is saved and takes effect after your trial turns into a paid subscription. This protects you from surprise charges during your trial.

Trial to Paid Transition

When your trial ends:

Your message count resets to 0
Your bundle's message limit replaces the trial's 100,000 free messages
Billing begins at your bundle's monthly price, anchored to the 1st of each month