> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lindyai-docs-usage-credit-optimization-tips.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Understanding Your Usage > Why you saw a usage warning, how your plan works, and what to do if you need more Lindy pausing to check in before continuing a resource-heavy task ## Usage Warning: Why Am I Seeing This? Lindy paused a task because it's using significantly more resources than usual. This is a **protection for you**, not an error. Every action Lindy takes uses part of your plan. When a task starts using more resources than expected, Lindy pauses to check in before continuing. This is most common with ad hoc research tasks, but can happen with any task. You can **continue** (the task finishes normally) or **stop** (no additional resources are used). If you stop, you can still chat with Lindy in that conversation and resume later. You're not doing anything wrong. The warning just makes sure you stay in control of how your plan is used. ## Plan Usage by Feature Your Lindy plan covers all features. Here's a general sense of resource usage: | What Lindy does | Resource impact | | ---------------------------------- | --------------- | | Email triage and labeling | Very low | | Drafting email replies | Low | | Meeting prep briefings | Very low | | Meeting recording and notes | Moderate | | Scheduling and calendar management | Very low | | Follow-up emails | Low | | iMessage delegation | Low | | Ad hoc research and tasks | **Varies** | **Most users never come close to their plan's limits.** Your plan resets every billing cycle (monthly from your signup date). Unused resources do not roll over. ## Checking your usage To see your task usage, go to **Settings → Billing**, then scroll down to the usage section. ## What Happens When You Hit Your Usage Limit? 1. **Lindy pauses** until your next billing cycle. 2. **Your data and settings are safe.** Lindy won't automatically restart paused tasks, but nothing is deleted. You can manually restart anything when your plan resets. 3. **Your plan resets monthly** from your signup date. You have two options: 1. **Upgrade your credits**: Go to **Settings → Billing → Upgrade** to move to a higher plan on a month-to-month basis. Note that there is no option to purchase one-off credits. 2. **Enable Overages**: In **Settings → Billing**, toggle on Overages to let Lindy continue working beyond your plan limit. Note that overage usage is charged at **2x the cost of regular Lindy credits**. No. When your plan resets, you'll need to manually restart any tasks that were paused. Nothing is lost: your conversations, settings, and history are all preserved. If you're regularly hitting your limit, [reach out](mailto:support@lindy.ai) and we'll find the right fit. ## Credit Optimization Most users never come close to their limit. If you want to stretch your plan further, these are the levers that make the biggest difference, in rough order of impact. ### Pick the right model To reduce credit usage in Lindy, switch the model in your conversations to a more cost-effective option. Advanced models earn their cost on hard reasoning and analysis; routine work like summarizing, drafting, and lookups runs well on a cheaper one. You can set a default model for all conversations: 1. Go to [chat.lindy.ai/home](https://chat.lindy.ai/home) 2. Open the model dropdown below the main taskbar 3. Choose your preferred model 4. Select **Set as default** ### Habits that stretch your plan Every message in a conversation re-reads everything above it, so a long-running thread gets more expensive with each turn. Starting a fresh chat for an unrelated topic keeps every conversation lean. You lose nothing by doing it: what Lindy knows from your emails, meetings, and calendar carries across every conversation, so a new chat still knows your context. The flip side of the same rule. One thread per topic is the goal, not the fewest threads possible. If you have five questions about the same deal, ask them in one conversation instead of opening five. If your next question has nothing to do with the last one, start fresh. Ad hoc research is the one row in the table above whose cost genuinely varies, and vagueness is usually the reason. A precise brief tells Lindy when it's done; an open-ended one doesn't. * **Costs more**: "Research Acme." * **Costs less**: "Give me five bullets on Acme's funding history and their last two product launches." The same goes for length. If you want a short answer, say so. Routines run on their own schedule whether or not you read the result, and each run uses part of your plan. Daily briefs, email drafting, follow-up bumps, and meeting prep all keep going until you turn them off. Open the **Routines** page from the left sidebar and review the **Personal** tab once a month. Flipping a routine off stops it without removing it, so you can turn it back on whenever you want. See [Routines](/coming-soon/routines) for the full list of what ships built in. Recording and transcribing a meeting is one of the heavier things Lindy does. If it's joining everything on your calendar but you only ever read the notes from client calls, narrow it. On the **Routines** page, open the **Personal** tab and click the **Meeting note taking** card. You can have Lindy join **All meetings**, **External only**, or **Specific meetings**. When a connection expires, Lindy keeps trying to do the work you asked for, and the failed attempts still use part of your plan. A dropped integration can quietly cost you for weeks. Open **Integrations** and check the status on each connection. Anything marked as needing reconnection, usually an expired token, is worth fixing right away. See [Integrations](/integrations/overview). A quick look at **Settings → Billing** once a week turns an end-of-month surprise into a small adjustment you make on a Tuesday. It's also how you notice a routine burning more than you expected. Worth knowing: if you go over and have Overages enabled, that usage is charged at **2x** your plan's standard rate. You don't have to catch all of this yourself. If a single task starts running unusually heavy, Lindy pauses and checks in before continuing. See [Usage Warning](#usage-warning-why-am-i-seeing-this) above. For legacy Lindy workflows, see the [Credit Optimization](/account-billing/credit-optimizations) guide for additional strategies. ## Overages If you exceed your plan's usage limit, overage usage is charged at **2x your plan's standard rate**.