AI usage and spend

AI agents are metered rather than capped — you're charged per resolution instead of running out of an allowance. This page covers what's billable and how to keep it predictable.

What you're charged

Plus $0.032 on any resolution where the agent processed audio or images.

AI agents aren't available on the Free plan.

What counts as a resolution

All three must be true:

1. The AI handled the conversation.
2. The AI marked it resolved.
3. No human took over first.

What is not charged

Only successful, complete AI resolutions are billable. This is worth internalising when tuning your agents: handing over too readily costs you nothing, so tune towards escalation rather than away from it.

The media add-on

Voice notes and images cost more to process than text, so a resolution involving either carries an extra $0.032.

If you accept voice notes on WhatsApp — common in some markets — expect a meaningful share of resolutions to carry the add-on. It's still cheaper than a person handling the same conversation.

Controlling spend

1. The Shopify usage cap

Your hard ceiling. Every metered charge — AI resolutions and overage both — draws from a single cap.

When the cap is reached, Enscale can't create further usage charges, so AI resolutions stop. You're notified as you approach it. Raise it from your Shopify subscription — Shopify requires you to approve any increase.

2. AI credit bundles

Prepay for a block of resolutions. Resolutions deduct from the bundle first, then bill at your plan's rate once it's exhausted.

Bundle credits are valid for the bundle's period and do not roll over.

3. Scope your agents

The cheapest resolution is the one that didn't need to happen.

• Enable agents on the channels where they earn their keep. Webchat pre-sale questions are high-volume and highly automatable; a low-traffic Facebook Page may not be worth it.
• Use workflows for anything deterministic. An order-status template costs nothing; an AI agent answering the same question costs a resolution.
• Keep the knowledge base tight. Agents that flail through a long exchange before resolving cost more than agents that answer in two turns.

Monitoring

Settings → Billing shows resolutions this period, projected charge, bundle balance, and your position against the Shopify cap.

The number worth watching is cost per resolution — resolutions against total charge. If it's drifting above your plan rate, media add-ons are accumulating.

Is it worth it?

Compare against what the same conversation costs handled by a person, including the time to context-switch into it.

At $0.18, an AI resolution is cheaper than almost any human alternative. The real question isn't cost per resolution, it's whether the resolution was good — a badly-resolved conversation that becomes a complaint costs far more than the $0.18 you saved.

Track this on the Revenue page under support savings, and read it alongside your resolution charges rather than on its own.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

• AI agents — configuring agents.
• Handover — escalation.
• Billing — the full billing picture.