Usage & Limits | Plans & Billing | Nobi Knowledge Base

Your Nobi subscription includes monthly message and search limits. This guide explains how usage counting works, how to monitor your usage, what happens when you approach your limits, and your options for handling overages. The guide below assumes you are on a standard Nobi plan. Enterprise plans may have different settings and these details may not apply to them.

Understanding Limits

Searches vs. Messages

A search is a query sent to Nobi when in search mode. In general, these are short messages with no punctuation and are usually the first message in a conversation that’s launched from the search bar component. They are intended to be faster, do not use LLMs, and are meant for customers using Nobi as their primary search engine. A message is any other query sent to Nobi.

Message Limits

Counted as messages:

Customer sends a question, Nobi responds → 1 message

Customer clicks a suggestion pill, Nobi responds → 1 message

Customer submits a Custom Action form, Nobi confirms → 1 message

Not counted:

Nobi loading on the page (no interaction)

Customer opening the chat window without sending anything

System errors or failed responses

Dashboard usage by your team

Plan Limits

Plan	Monthly Messages	Monthly Searches	Price
Preview (pre-trial)	100 (dashboard only)	N/A	Free
Nobi (trial)	250	2,500	Free for 30 days
Nobi	250	2,500	$25/month
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom

When Limits Reset

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

Example: If you are on the Nobi plan (250 messages, 2,500 searches) and you have used 200 messages by January 31st, your counts reset to 0 on February 1st.

Unused messages and searches do not roll over to the next month.

Understanding Search Limits

Search Limits

The Nobi plan includes 2,500 searches per month. Enterprise plans have custom search limits. When you exceed your search limit, the behavior depends on your overage setting -- either searches are blocked or you are charged $0.01 per additional search.

Viewing Your Usage

On the Billing Page

Go to Account → Billing to see:

Usage summary:

Messages and searches used this period

Messages and searches remaining

Visual progress bar

Current billing period dates

When your usage resets

Usage Progress Bar

The progress bar changes color as you approach your limit:

Green - Healthy usage (under 75%)

Yellow - Approaching limit (75-90%)

Orange - Near limit (90-100%)

Red - At or over limit (100%+)

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 or search limit. These warnings help you adjust your overage settings before limits are reached. You can choose to deactivate warning emails on the Billing page.

Warning Thresholds

You'll receive emails at:

Threshold	Message
90%	"You've used 90% of your monthly messages"
100%	"You've reached your monthly message limit"

Warning Email Contents

Each warning email includes:

Current usage count

Your plan's message and search limits

Days remaining in billing period

Link to your Billing page

Options (configure overages or contact us about Enterprise)

Managing Warning Emails

You can enable or disable usage warning emails:

Go to Account → Billing

Find the Notification Preferences section

Toggle Usage warning emails 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:

90% used: Warning banner suggesting action

100% used: Alert banner indicating limit reached

Banners appear on all dashboard pages until addressed.

Overage Options

When you reach your message or search limit, you have two options for how Nobi should behave.

Option 1: Stop (Default)

What happens:

Nobi stops appearing on your website when either limit is reached

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: Charge Overages

What happens:

Nobi continues working beyond your limit

Each additional message or search is billed at the overage rate

Overage charges appear on your next invoice

No service interruption

Overage rates:

$0.10 per message and $0.01 per search beyond your limits

Rates are the same for all Nobi plan subscribers

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:

Plan: Nobi (250 messages, 2,500 searches)

Usage: 300 messages + 3,000 searches

Overage: 50 messages x $0.10 + 500 searches x $0.01 = $10.00

Invoice: $25.00 (base) + $10.00 (overages) = $35.00

Changing Your Overage Setting

Go to Account → Billing

Find the Overage Settings section

Select your preference:

Stop when limit reached (default)

Continue and charge for overages

Changes save automatically

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

What Happens When You Hit Your Limit

With "Stop" Setting

Immediately:

Nobi stops appearing on your website

The chat widget is hidden from customers

API requests return a "limit exceeded" response

In your dashboard:

Usage shows 100% (or over)

Banner alerts you that the limit was reached

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 contact us about Enterprise pricing (custom limits)

Or switch to "charge overages" (immediate resumption)

With "Charge Overages" Setting

Immediately:

Nothing changes for customers

Nobi continues working normally

Additional messages ($0.10 each) and searches ($0.01 each) are tracked for billing

In your dashboard:

Usage shows over 100%

You can see overage count

Estimated overage charges displayed

On your next invoice:

Base plan charge

Plus: message overages ($0.10/each) + search overages ($0.01/each)

Detailed breakdown included

Managing High Usage

If You're Regularly Exceeding Limits

Consider:

Contacting us about Enterprise pricing - If you consistently exceed your Nobi plan limits, an Enterprise plan with custom limits may be more cost-effective

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:

250 messages and 2,500 searches included (same as the paid Nobi plan)

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 in the dashboard to test Nobi. every month These are for dashboard testing only and are separate from the trial limits.

Monitoring Trial Usage

Your Billing page shows:

Messages and searches used during trial

Messages and searches remaining

Days left in trial

Trial end date

If You Exceed Trial Limits

If you use all 250 messages or 2,500 searches before your trial ends:

Nobi stops appearing on your website

You can wait for the trial period to reset or contact support for options

This effectively ends your trial early

Important: during your trial, Nobi stops responding when you hit your limit. Your overage setting is preserved, but it only takes effect after your trial converts to a paid subscription. This protects you from any surprise charges during your trial period.

Trial to Paid Transition

When your trial ends:

Message and search counts reset to 0

Your Nobi plan limits apply (250 messages, 2,500 searches)

Billing begins at $25/month, anchored to the 1st of each month