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Overflow Handling

Configure what happens when you exceed your monthly message quota.

Overflow billing is a paid-tier feature

Top-up balance and AUTO_PAY overflow are available on Medium and Pro plans only. On the free Basic plan, sending pauses at the cap until next month — upgrade any time to keep messaging.

Overflow Options

STOP Mode (only mode available on Basic)

Message processing stops at limit. On Medium and Pro the cap resets monthly, so service resumes on the next billing date or after an upgrade. On Basic the 100-message allowance is one-time — once reached, the only path forward is an upgrade.

Best for: Budget control, predictable costs

AUTO_PAY Mode (Medium and Pro only)

Extra messages charged at $0.10 each from account balance. Service continues uninterrupted.

Best for: Business-critical apps, customer-facing deployments

Configuring Overflow

  1. Go to Billing Preferences in sidebar
  2. Select STOP or AUTO_PAY
  3. Click Save (takes effect immediately)

AUTO_PAY Details

Unified Rate: $0.10/message (Medium and Pro)

How AUTO_PAY charges work

Process:

  1. You exceed monthly quota
  2. System checks account balance (needs ≥$0.10)
  3. If sufficient: Message processes, $0.10 deducted
  4. If insufficient: Message blocked (same as STOP mode)
  5. Balance depletes with each overflow message

Important: Uses account balance, NOT payment method. Add top-ups to maintain balance.

Monitoring: Dashboard shows overflow usage and charges in real-time

Simple, fair pricing

10 overflow messages = $1.00 on Medium or Pro. No rate confusion when changing tiers.

Choosing the Right Mode

Choose STOP if... Choose AUTO_PAY if...
Strict budget required Customer-facing deployment
Service interruption acceptable Downtime impacts business
Want to avoid unexpected charges Need uninterrupted service

When to Upgrade vs. Use Overflow

Calculate your overflow cost: (Average Usage - Tier Limit) x $0.10

Example scenarios:

Usage Current Tier Recommendation
Evaluating fit Basic (free trial) Use the 100-message trial, then commit to a paid plan
100-400 msg/mo Medium ($24.99) Stay on Medium
500 msg/mo Medium ($24.99) Stay on Medium + ~$10 overflow ($24.99 + $10/mo)
800+ msg/mo Medium ($24.99) Upgrade to Pro ($99.99 = 1,500 msgs)
1,500+ msg/mo Pro ($99.99) Stay on Pro + overflow at $0.10/msg as needed

Upgrade when overflow costs exceed ~80% of tier price difference

Review usage monthly. If trending up, upgrade proactively.

Account Balance

Balance = (Top-ups + Promotional Credits) - Overflow Used

Top-ups require an active Medium or Pro subscription

The Add Balance / Top Up flow is unavailable on Basic. Upgrade your plan to enable overflow billing.

Adding balance (Medium & Pro only):

  1. Go to Account > "Add Balance"
  2. Select amount ($2, $5, $10, $20)
  3. Complete payment
  4. Balance added immediately
  1. Go to Account > "Top Up"
  2. Select amount ($2, $5, $10, $20)
  3. Approve usage charge in Shopify
  4. Balance added after approval

Balance characteristics: Never expires, carries over monthly, refundable (minus used overflow). If you downgrade to Basic, any existing balance can still be spent down via overflow until depleted, but new top-ups are blocked.

When balance reaches $0

Overflow stops (same as STOP mode). Add balance to resume or wait for quota reset.

Troubleshooting

Messages stopped unexpectedly

Check:

  1. Hit limit with STOP mode? → Switch to AUTO_PAY or wait for reset
  2. AUTO_PAY but $0 balance? → Add top-up
  3. Subscription expired? → Resubscribe or add balance

Quick fix: Add $5-10 balance + enable AUTO_PAY

Balance depleting faster than expected

Causes:

  • Multiple assistants (each counts separately)
  • High traffic (holidays, campaigns)
  • Inefficient prompts (see usage optimization)

Can't enable AUTO_PAY

  1. Add balance first (needs ≥$2-5)
  2. Verify email is confirmed
  3. Try different browser/clear cache
  4. Contact support

Next Steps