You are about to go live with your agent. You are on the Free plan and wondering if Starter is worth it, or if you should jump straight to Growth because you expect decent volume. You spend twenty minutes reading comparison tables and still are not sure. Meanwhile the agent is not live yet.

Here is the honest version: start on Starter, go live, and let the first month of real data tell you if you need to move up. You can change your plan in 30 seconds without losing a single setting. The only mistake you can make is spending more time on this decision than it deserves.

In this article, you'll learn:

• Which plan matches your actual conversation volume
• How credits work and how fast you'll use them
• What happens at the limit - hard stop or auto-charge
• Whether you're locked in, and what happens if you need to change
• What the trial includes and what happens after it ends

Which Plan Do I Actually Need?

If you're not sure, start on Starter. Real usage data after your first month will tell you more than any estimate. Upgrading takes less than a minute.

Here's what actually separates the tiers:

Free - Free gives you enough room to connect your knowledge base, configure your agent, and see how it performs - without spending anything. When you're ready to go live, you'll want more credits than Free provides.

Starter --The right answer for most teams going live for the first time. You get real features, real capacity, and all the core functionality: Sources Auto-Sync, Actions, and Handoffs. If you outgrow it, you'll know within the first month and moving up is instant. Low risk, high upside.

Growth - This is where teams land when Starter isn't enough and credit outages would actually cost them something. If your agent is handling real customer volume every day and you can't afford downtime, this is your plan. It's the most common choice for teams running a live support operation.

Scale - For teams where support is part of the product experience, not just a cost. No Outlearn branding on your widget, maximum headroom, and the peace of mind that comes from not watching a credit counter. If your team is constantly managing limits, Scale removes that friction entirely.

Enterprise - Custom credit volume, dedicated infrastructure, SSO, AI fine-tuning, and white-glove onboarding. For organisations where support is complex enough that a standard plan feels like a compromise. Talk to the team - there's no self-serve signup for this one.

For the full feature and pricing breakdown, see the Outlearn pricing page.

Not sure about your volume? Start on Starter. Real usage data after your first month will tell you more than any estimate. Upgrading takes less than a minute.

What Is a Credit, and How Fast Will I Burn Through Them?

A credit is the unit your agent spends each time it responds to a customer. Every AI response costs between 1 and 5 credits depending on which model your agent is using:

Most teams run on Standard models, which means 1 credit per conversation response. On a Starter plan with 2,000 credits, that's roughly 2,000 responses per month - which covers a few hundred full conversations depending on length.

If you switch to a Premium model, your effective capacity drops significantly. A Starter plan at 5 credits per response handles roughly 400 responses instead of 2,000. Factor this in when choosing your model.

For a full breakdown of how credits work, see Understanding Credits. 

What Happens When I Run Out of Credits?

When your credit balance hits zero, your agent stops responding to new conversations. Existing conversations in progress are not affected - only new ones starting after the balance hits zero.

You have two options to prevent this:

Auto-recharge - Your agent purchases extra credits automatically when your balance runs low. You set a monthly spending cap so there are no surprise charges. Once the cap is reached, no more credits are purchased until the next billing period.

Manual top-up - You can purchase extra credits at any time at +1,000 credits for $40.

Outlearn sends alerts at 80% and 95% usage so you're never caught off guard.

To set up auto-recharge, see Setting Up Auto-Recharge. 

Are There Hidden Costs or Overage Charges?

No. The only additional charge beyond your plan is extra credits, and those are opt-in - either through auto-recharge (which you control with a monthly cap) or manual purchase. Nothing gets charged automatically unless you've enabled auto-recharge.

Monthly vs Annual - Is It Actually Worth It?

Short answer: yes, if you're past the evaluation stage.

Annual billing saves you roughly two months of cost compared to monthly across all paid tiers. That's real money - check the exact numbers on the Outlearn pricing page. But the financial savings aren't even the best argument for going annual.

The better argument is peace of mind.

When you pay monthly, your plan is a recurring decision. Every billing cycle is a small moment of "do we still need this?" Annual billing takes that off the table. Your agent becomes infrastructure - something that just runs, like your hosting or your email provider. That mental shift matters, especially for teams where support reliability is important.

When annual makes sense:

• You've finished evaluating and you know Outlearn works for your team
• You're running a live operation where the agent is handling real customers
• You want to lock in the lower rate before your volume grows

When to stick with monthly:

• You're still in the trial or early testing phase
• You're not sure about your long-term volume yet
• You want flexibility to downgrade or cancel without a conversation

One more thing: you can switch from monthly to annual any time from the Billing page. You don't have to decide upfront - start monthly, validate the value, then switch when you're ready. Outlearn prorates the difference so you're not paying twice.

Can I Upgrade or Downgrade Anytime?

Yes - and this is worth emphasising. There are no penalties, no lock-in, and no hoops to jump through on any self-serve plan. Changes take effect immediately and Outlearn prorates the difference, so if you upgrade mid-month you only pay for the remaining days at the new rate.

Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period, so you keep what you've paid for until the cycle ends.

The short version: you're never stuck. Change your plan whenever the situation calls for it.

Does Unused Usage Roll Over?

It depends on the type of credit.

Plan credits (the credits included in your monthly plan) reset at the start of each billing period. Unused plan credits do not carry over.

Purchased extra credits (credits bought via auto-recharge or manual top-up) roll over indefinitely until used.

Can I Pause My Subscription?

Pausing is not currently available. If you need to reduce costs temporarily, downgrading to the Free plan is the closest option - it keeps your agent and configuration intact while stopping billing.

What Happens After the 14-Day Trial Ends?

The trial is fully featured - no artificial limitations, no watered-down version of the product. What you test is exactly what you get.

At the end of 14 days, you'll be prompted to add a payment method to continue. No credit card is required to start the trial, and nothing gets charged automatically unless you choose to subscribe.

If you don't add a payment method, your account moves to the Free plan. You won't lose your setup - your agent, sources, and configuration are all preserved - but your agent will stop responding once the 100 free credits are used.

What About Enterprise?

Enterprise is for teams that need more than Scale can offer: custom credit volume, dedicated infrastructure, SSO, AI model fine-tuning, and white-glove onboarding.

There's no self-serve signup for Enterprise. Book a call with the team or email support@outlearn.com to start the conversation.

Best Practices

• Start on the plan closest to your estimated volume and upgrade when real data tells you to - not before.
• Enable auto-recharge with a reasonable monthly cap before going live. A credit outage during peak hours is worse than a slightly higher monthly bill.
• If you're evaluating Outlearn for a larger team or enterprise rollout, use the trial on a Growth or Scale plan so you're testing at realistic capacity.