Usage Metering

Synaptiq meters usage based on conversations -- the core billing unit across all plans. This page explains what counts as a conversation, how to monitor your usage, and what happens when you approach or exceed your plan limit.

What Counts as a Conversation

A conversation is a single chat session between your AI widget and a visitor. Here is precisely how Synaptiq defines it:

• A conversation starts when a visitor sends their first message in a chat widget.
• The conversation ends when the visitor closes the widget, navigates away, or after 30 minutes of inactivity.
• If the same visitor returns and starts a new session (after the 30-minute timeout), that counts as a new conversation.
• A visitor who opens the widget but never sends a message is not counted.

What does NOT count as a conversation:

• Widget loads or impressions (the chat bubble appearing on the page)
• Internal test conversations initiated from the admin dashboard when Test Mode is enabled
• Conversations that are immediately flagged as spam by the built-in filter
• API calls to read analytics or manage configuration

Qualified Leads vs. Conversations

Synaptiq tracks qualified leads as a separate metric in your analytics, but billing is based on conversations, not qualified leads. A qualified lead is a conversation where the visitor provided at least one piece of contact information (email, phone, or company name) and met the qualification criteria you configured in Admin > AI Configuration > Lead Scoring.

This distinction matters: you are billed for all conversations, including those that do not produce a qualified lead.

Monitoring Usage in the Dashboard

Your current usage is visible in two places:

Billing Overview

Navigate to /admin/billing to see your usage summary:

• Conversations used -- the count for the current billing cycle
• Conversations remaining -- how many are left before you hit your plan limit
• Billing cycle dates -- when your current cycle started and when it resets
• Usage trend -- a sparkline showing daily conversation volume over the current cycle

Analytics Dashboard

The main analytics view at /admin/analytics includes a Usage tab with more detail:

• Conversations broken down by widget, page, and traffic source
• Daily and weekly usage charts
• Projected usage for the remainder of the billing cycle (based on your trailing 7-day average)
• Qualified lead conversion rate per widget

Usage Alerts

Synaptiq sends automatic alerts as you approach your plan limit. Alerts are delivered via email to all team members with the Admin or Billing role, and as in-app notifications in the dashboard.

| Threshold | Alert type | What happens | |---|---|---| | 80% used | Warning | Email + in-app notification. No action required -- this is informational. | | 90% used | Urgent | Email + in-app banner. Recommends upgrading or purchasing an overage pack. | | 100% reached | Limit hit | Email + in-app banner. Behavior depends on your plan (see below). |

You can customize alert recipients and disable in-app banners at /admin/billing/notifications. Email alerts to billing contacts cannot be disabled.

What Happens at 100%

Behavior when you reach your conversation limit depends on your plan:

Starter ($497/mo): You receive a notification when approaching your 500 conversation limit. Conversations are soft-capped — your agent stays live, and a banner appears in your dashboard recommending an upgrade. Synaptiq allows a 10% grace buffer (50 extra conversations) before pausing the widget. The widget reactivates automatically when your billing cycle resets.

Growth ($997/mo) and Enterprise: These plans include unlimited conversations, so you will never hit a usage cap. Growth plans are additionally billed $25 per qualified lead.

Qualified Lead Billing (Growth Plan)

On the Growth plan, you pay a base rate of $997/month plus $25 for each qualified lead. A qualified lead is a conversation where the visitor met your configured qualification criteria (BANT or MEDDIC) and was marked as qualified by the AI agent.

What counts as a qualified lead:

• The visitor provided contact information (email, phone, or company name)
• The AI assessed the visitor against your qualification criteria and scored them as qualified
• The lead appears with a "Qualified" status in your dashboard

What does NOT count:

• Conversations where the visitor did not meet qualification criteria
• Test conversations initiated from the admin dashboard
• Conversations flagged as spam

Usage billing for qualified leads is charged at the end of each billing cycle based on the total count for that period. You can monitor your qualified lead count in real time at /admin/billing.

Billing Cycle Reset

Your billing cycle is based on the date you activated your plan:

• Monthly plans: Usage resets on the same calendar day each month. If your plan started on January 15, your cycle resets on the 15th of each month. For months without that day (e.g., February 30), the reset occurs on the last day of the month.
• Annual plans: Usage still resets monthly on the same schedule. Annual billing affects pricing only, not usage metering.
• Starter plan: Resets on the same schedule as all paid plans (based on activation date).

When usage resets, your conversation count returns to zero and any unused overage packs expire. The reset happens at midnight UTC on your reset date.

Checking Usage via the API

If you are on the Growth or Enterprise plan, you can query your usage programmatically:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  https://synaptiqintel.com/api/v1/usage/current

The response includes:

{
  "plan": "growth",
  "billing_cycle_start": "2026-03-15T00:00:00Z",
  "billing_cycle_end": "2026-04-15T00:00:00Z",
  "conversations_used": 4832,
  "conversations_limit": null,
  "qualified_leads": 1247,
  "days_remaining": 10
}

A null value for conversations_limit indicates an unlimited plan.

Tips for Managing Usage

• Enable Test Mode when configuring widgets so test conversations are not counted against your quota.
• Use the projected usage chart in Analytics to anticipate whether you will exceed your limit before the cycle ends.
• Set up qualification filters aggressively if you are on a limited plan -- pre-chat forms that capture intent can reduce low-value conversations.
• Consider upgrading if you consistently hit your Starter conversation limit. Upgrading to Growth gives you unlimited conversations and CRM sync.