Message credits measure chatbot usage across AI replies, actions, voice calls and live chat. A conversation can use several kinds of credits, so its message count is not necessarily its credit cost.
To see your allowance and consumption, open Subscription or follow Checking your current credit usage.
AI text replies
Select your chatbot and open Settings > Model & Advanced. Check the credit cost shown for your chosen model and the selected context size before saving a change.
AI reply credits = model's base credit cost x context multiplier
- 8k context uses x1.
- 16k context uses x2.
- 32k context uses x4.
For the same model, moving from 8k to 16k doubles the reply cost; moving from 8k to 32k quadruples it. The context window is the space available for instructions, retrieved knowledge and conversation history. See Extending chat context size.
Model availability and base rates can change. Use the current values in the model selector rather than a saved list of model names or costs. See Selecting an AI model.
Visitor messages to the AI do not have a separate message charge. Other activity triggered during the conversation, such as an action or an enabled AI summary, can add to usage.
Actions and integrations
An action lets the chatbot do something beyond answering from training data, such as checking an order or calling a booking API. Configure the connection and required actions under Connect and Settings > Actions. See AI Actions and Custom API integrations.
Built-in integration calls and custom API calls add usage on top of the AI reply:
- The standard ChatLab platform: one credit per call.
- A custom white-label platform: two credits per call.
The platform the bot is assigned to determines which rate applies. An agency owner can also have bots on the standard ChatLab platform. See Custom domains for white-label setup. A single answer may require multiple action calls, and attempted calls can consume credits even if the external service returns an error.
Use the capability information in Settings > Model & Advanced to choose a model that supports the actions you need. Do not infer action support from its name or credit cost.
Voice calls
Open Settings > Voice Conversation to check the selected voice model and its current per-minute rate.
- Minimum charge: a started call is charged at least one minute at that rate.
- Longer calls: additional duration is charged at the same rate and rounded up to whole credits.
- ElevenLabs Voice: text-model reply credits apply in addition to voice-duration credits.
- Available balance: there must be enough credits to start the call. A call can end automatically if the available balance is insufficient to continue.
See Voice Conversation and Phone calls for setup and channel-specific requirements.
Live chat with a human
During Live Chat, each visitor message and each operator message costs one credit. For example, five messages from each side use ten credits. This differs from visitor messages addressed to the AI.
Monthly allowance and limits
Monthly usage resets at the beginning of each calendar month, independently of your subscription payment date. Your account allowance is shared by its chatbots. Where a per-chatbot credit limit applies, a bot can reach that limit before the account's shared allowance is exhausted.
If a chatbot stops because its credits have run out, check Subscription and the bot's limits. Review available plan or credit add-on options, or wait for the monthly reset. A manually paused bot is a separate case; see Pausing and unpausing chatbots.