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How your AI Agent Usage and tracked [ALPHA]

Turn on the Streamtime Agent, decide who can use it, and control what it costs you.

🕰️ Est. Time: 8 minutes
🎯 Goal: Understand how AI is included in your plan, how top-up usage is billed, and how to set up a payment method for it
🔑 Requirements: Billing access in Account Settings

The AI Usage page is where you switch AI on for your account, see how much of this month’s allowance has been used, and decide how much extra usage (if any) you’re happy to pay for. Every paid plan includes a monthly AI allowance, so you can try the Streamtime Agent without being charged.

ℹ️ The Streamtime Agent is currently in invitation only alpha testing, and is still being actively developed. If you can’t see it, your account isn’t enabled yet. Reach out to help@streamtime.net to ask about joining.

⚙️ Finding the AI Usage page


Head to ⚙️ Settings in the sidebar, choose Account Settings, then open the AI Usage tab on the right-hand side. You’ll need Billing access to see it.

You’ll also see a short summary of this month’s AI usage on the Billing page. Click More Information to jump straight to AI Usage.

🟢 Turning AI on and off


AI stays off until someone with Billing access turns it on. While it’s off, nobody in your team can use the Streamtime Agent, and nothing is charged.

Turn AI on

  1. Go to Account Settings > AI Usage.

  2. Click Enable.

Turning AI on doesn’t commit you to paying anything. Your team uses the included allowance first, and you’re only charged if you set a top-up limit. Next, choose who on your team gets access, and give them a top-up limit if they need one.

Turn AI off

  1. Click Disable at the top of the AI Usage page.

  2. Click Turn Off AI to confirm.

Nobody in your account can use AI until it’s turned back on. Anything already used this month is still tracked.

🪙 How AI usage is measured


AI usage is measured in credits. Each time someone asks the Streamtime Agent something, the credits used depend on how much work the request took. A quick question uses fewer credits than a request that pulls in lots of data, or a long back-and-forth.

A few things worth knowing:

  • Longer conversations use more credits per message. The Agent rereads the whole conversation every time you reply, so later messages in a long thread cost more than early ones.

  • Picking up an old conversation can cost more than carrying on with one you’re actively in.

  • Requests that fail still use credits, because the work was done even if the answer didn’t come through.

✨: Start a new conversation when you move on to a new topic. Each request stays smaller, so your allowance goes further.

📦 Your included monthly allowance


Every paid plan includes AI credits each month at no extra cost 🎉 You’ll find them in the Included Monthly Allowance tile.

The AI Usage page, showing the Included Monthly Allowance, Top-Up Monthly Limit and Payment Method tiles above this month's usage bar

How big is the allowance?

It’s based on what you pay for your monthly subscription, with a minimum so even accounts on our lowest prices get a useful amount.

How the allowance works

  • It’s shared. Everyone in your team with AI access draws from the same pool.

  • It resets every calendar month and doesn’t roll over.

  • It’s set at the start of each month, worked out from your plan the first time AI is used that month. Upgrade mid-month and the bigger allowance kicks in from next month.

➕ Setting a top-up limit


Once your included allowance runs out, AI stops for the rest of the month unless you’ve set a top-up limit. Top-up lets your team keep going, and you only pay for what’s used.

Your top-up limit starts at $0, so you’re never charged for AI unless you choose to be.

Before you start

You’ll need:

  • a paid plan (top-up isn’t available on Free or VIP access)

  • a payment method for AI usage (see Set up a payment method for AI below)

If either is missing, the Top-Up Monthly Limit tile shows $0 and tells you what’s needed next.

Set your top-up limit

  1. On the AI Usage page, click the ✏️ edit icon on the Top-Up Monthly Limit tile.

  2. Enter a Monthly limit in your billing currency. You’ll see roughly how many credits that buys underneath.

  3. Choose when it applies:

    • This Month and Every Month After

    • Just This Month: next month goes back to your usual limit

    • From Next Month: this month stays as it is

  4. Click Set Limit.

The Set Top-Up Limit window, with a monthly limit of 100.00 AUD and the Apply to options

Raising your limit takes effect straight away. You can lower this month’s limit, but not below what’s already been used. To stop any more top-up this month, set it to exactly what’s been used.

The limit is the most you’ll be charged for top-up in a month. It isn’t prepaid, so if your team uses less, you pay less.

👥 Choosing who can use AI


The Team Member Limits table lists everyone in your team, plus anyone who used AI this month and has since left. For each person you’ll see the credits they’ve used, the top-up they’ve used, and their top-up limit.

The Team Member Limits table, showing each person's credits used, top-up used, top-up limit and AI Access switch

Give someone AI access

Use the AI Access switch on each person’s row. To change everyone at once, open the menu at the top of the AI Access column and choose Enable All or Disable All.

New team members don’t get AI access until you switch it on. That’s on purpose: AI can cost you money, so access is always your call.

Set a team member’s top-up limit

Everyone with AI access shares the included allowance. Once that’s used up, each person’s own top-up limit decides how much of your top-up they can use.

  1. Click the ✏️ Edit Limit icon on their row.

  2. Choose:

    • Unlimited: they can use top-up up to your account’s top-up limit

    • Set Amount: enter a monthly amount in your billing currency. $0 means they can only use the included allowance.

  3. Click Save.

Team member limits start at $0, so nobody can use top-up until you give them a limit. Their limits don’t need to add up to your account’s top-up limit, which is always the hard stop.

When someone hits their own limit, a Limit Reached badge shows next to their name.

📊 Tracking this month's usage


The top of the AI Usage page shows what percentage of this month’s credits you’ve used, how many days are left and, at your current pace, the date you’ll run out.

The bar underneath shows each pool of credits as it’s used. Click Show Breakdown for a day-by-day chart, including the day you moved on to top-up credits, and where you’re heading by the end of the month.

💳 How top-up is billed


You’re only charged for top-up you’ve actually used. Nothing is bought in advance.

Top-up is billed separately from your Streamtime subscription. It gets its own invoice, charged to the payment method you’ve chosen for AI usage. You’ll find AI usage invoices alongside your subscription invoices in Invoice History.

When you’re charged

Rather than charging for every request, Streamtime adds up your top-up usage and charges it in one go:

  • During the month, once your unbilled top-up reaches about half of your monthly subscription.

  • At the end of the month, for whatever top-up is left over.

There’s a minimum per invoice, so you’re not charged tiny amounts. If what’s left at the end of the month is under 5 in your billing currency (A$5, for example), we don’t charge it at all. Each invoice covers the exact top-up used, not a rounded amount, in your billing currency.

While a payment is processing

Some payments, like direct debit, take a few days to clear. Your team can keep using AI in the meantime, up to a point. If unpaid top-up grows to one and a half times the charge amount before the payment clears, AI pauses until it does.

🧾 Adding a payment method for AI


AI usage always has its own payment method, separate from your subscription. It can be the same card you pay your subscription with, or a different one, so you could put AI on a team card without changing how your subscription is paid.

What you can pay with

  • Credit or debit card

  • Direct debit through Stripe: BECS (AUD), BACS (GBP) or SEPA (EUR)

Bank transfer isn’t available for AI usage, because top-up is charged automatically as it’s used. If you pay your subscription by bank transfer, you’ll still need a card or direct debit for AI.

Add a payment method

  1. On the AI Usage page, click the ➕ Add Payment Method icon on the Payment Method tile.

  2. Enter your details in the Stripe window that opens.

🛠️: If the Stripe window doesn’t open, check your browser isn’t blocking pop-ups.

Change the payment method for AI

  1. Click the ✏️ Change Payment Method icon on the Payment Method tile.

  2. Choose a saved card under AI Usage, or click Add Payment Method to add a new one.

  3. Click Save.

The Payment Method window, with a saved Visa card chosen under AI Usage

You can also manage all your payment methods from Account Settings > Billing, under Payment Methods. Each card is labelled with what it pays for (Subscription, AI Usage or both). A card can’t be removed while it’s paying for something, so move that to another card first.

🚨 Troubleshooting


When an AI payment fails

If an AI usage charge is declined:

  • AI is paused for your whole team, including the included allowance, until the invoice is paid.

  • The rest of Streamtime keeps working. A failed AI payment never locks you out of your account.

  • Your subscriber and invoice recipients are emailed about it.

  • We retry the payment about once a day for up to 30 days.

To get AI going again straight away, head to Account Settings > Invoice History and click Retry on the unpaid invoice. If the card itself is the problem, add a new payment method for AI first.

⚠️: The usage on a failed invoice is still owed. Turning AI off doesn’t cancel it.

What does this usage notice mean?

If something is stopping your team from using AI, a notice shows on the Settings page.

Notice

What it means

What to do

An AI usage invoice hasn't been paid.

A charge for top-up failed. AI is paused for everyone, including the included allowance.

Click View Invoices and retry the payment.

You've used all of your included allowance.

No top-up is set, so AI has stopped until next month.

Click Set Limit to keep going now.

You've reached this month's top-up limit.

Your top-up is used up for the month.

Raise your limit, or wait for the reset.

Your included allowance is used up.

Your team is now using top-up.

Nothing, this is a heads-up.

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