Read usage and set a spend cap
Read the usage dashboard, understand each overage state, and set a monthly spend cap so a runaway workflow can't run up a surprise bill.
Goal
Find out how much of your plan you have used this billing period, understand what each meter's status badge means, and set a monthly spend cap that pauses dispatch before your bill climbs past a number you choose.
When to use this
Reach for this page when you want to:
- Check how close a workspace is to its included compute, storage, or form-submission limits before the next invoice.
- Find out why a meter shows Throttled, Frozen, or Hard cap.
- Set or change the monthly spend cap that protects an account from an unexpected overage bill.
The usage dashboard and the spend cap are both account-scoped, reached through any workspace URL. Reading usage is open to any account member. Editing the spend cap requires the account owner or an account admin role.
Open the usage dashboard
The plan page lives in the sidebar under Plan & Usage at /<workspaceSlug>/billing. Its Usage This Period card shows a single meter, workflow runs used in the current cycle. For the full per-meter breakdown, open the usage dashboard.
Open Plan & Usage
In the workspace sidebar, click Plan & Usage. This opens
/<workspaceSlug>/billing, the billing overview with your current plan, subscription status, and the workflow-runs card.Open the usage dashboard
Click View usage to go to
/<workspaceSlug>/billing/usage. The breadcrumb reads Billing > Usage, and the Billing link returns you to the overview.Read the five meter cards
The dashboard shows one card per metered dimension: Workflow runs, Compute time, File storage, State storage, and Form submissions. Each card shows current usage against the amount included on your plan, a status badge, and a projection of where the meter lands by period end.
Each card carries the line Projected by period end: <n> <unit> and a collapsible Top contributors table that lists which workflows are driving that meter this period. Start there when a number looks higher than you expect. Usage counts update periodically, so a meter may trail the most recent runs by a short window.
When a meter shows Unlimited, your plan includes no fixed ceiling for that dimension, so there is no overage to track on it. Active workflows are unlimited on Scale, for example.
Read the overage states
Each meter card carries a status badge. The badge moves through these states as usage climbs toward and past the included amount:
| Badge | When it shows | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy | Below 60% of included | Nothing to act on. |
| Approaching limit | 60% to 79% of included | You have used most of the included amount. An info notice has already gone out. |
| Throttled | 80% and above on a metered dimension | You are over the included amount and overage is being billed. Workflows keep running; this is a soft throttle, not a stop. |
| Frozen | State storage hit its freeze threshold | New state writes are blocked until you free space or upgrade. Existing data and scheduled workflows are unaffected. |
| Hard cap | File storage, outbound bandwidth, or form submissions hit their hard ceiling | New writes on that dimension are blocked. This ceiling cannot be exceeded by paying overage. |
Overage is post-paid: usage above the included envelope is summed at period end and billed on your next invoice. The priced dimensions are compute time, file storage, state storage, outbound bandwidth, and form submissions. Workflow runs are counted and shown but are not directly priced, so a high run count alone does not add an overage line. For per-plan inclusions and the exact overage rates, see Understand billing limits and Plans and pricing.
State storage is the one meter that pauses writes rather than billing without limit. When it hits its freeze threshold the badge reads Frozen, and the card links to Review remediation options. That page lets you prune traces per workflow or upgrade. Reads, dashboards, and exports keep working while a meter is frozen.
"Setting up overage billing" is temporary
Right after you subscribe or change plans, a meter may briefly show Setting up overage billing with a Refresh button and the line This usually finishes within the hour. This is overage billing provisioning itself; it clears on its own. Click Refresh to recheck, or come back later. Once it finishes, the meters render normally.
Set a monthly spend cap
The monthly spend cap is a guardrail so a runaway workflow can't run up a surprise bill. Dispatch pauses when your projected month-end spend reaches the cap, and resumes at the start of the next billing cycle, or sooner if you raise the cap. The cap is account-scoped and applies across every workspace on the account.
The default cap at signup is five times your plan's monthly base price. The cap is required: you can change it, but you cannot remove it. Its floor is your plan's base price after any founding-member discount, so you cannot set the cap below what your subscription already costs.
Open the cap dialog
On the billing overview at
/<workspaceSlug>/billing, click Adjust cap. The dialog is titled Monthly spend cap. The button appears only when you have an active subscription and the account owner or account admin role.Enter a new cap
In the Cap (USD per month) field, type the new monthly limit. The helper text shows your floor, for example
Required. Floor: $99/month (plan base after your founding-member discount).You cannot save a value below that floor.Choose when a lower cap takes effect
Raising the cap takes effect immediately with no extra step. Lowering it mid-cycle opens a confirmation with three choices: Cancel, Schedule for next cycle (the non-destructive default, applied at the next period start), and Pause immediately (which can pause in-flight dispatches now). Pick the option you want, then confirm.
Save the cap
Click Save cap. The new cap, or the scheduled change, is stored against the account.
Watch the cap banner
A banner on the billing overview tracks projected spend against your cap. It stays silent below 80%. At 80% of the cap it turns amber and reads Approaching spend cap. At 100% it turns red:
Spend cap reached - dispatch is paused for the rest of this cycle.
Adjust the cap or wait for the next period to resume.The banner offers Adjust cap (if you can edit it) and View usage. Email and in-app notifications also fire as projected spend crosses 60%, 80%, and 100% of the cap, deduplicated once per period so you are not flooded.
When the cap pauses a workflow, there is no Resume workflow button. Dispatch resumes automatically once you raise the cap or the billing period rolls over. The safety banner on the workflow offers Adjust cap instead of a resume action. See Why a run paused for how each pause reason resumes.
Verify it worked
- On the usage dashboard, each of the five meter cards shows a current value, an included value (or Unlimited), and a status badge. The projection line reads
Projected by period end. - After saving a cap, reopen Adjust cap. The Cap (USD per month) field shows your new value. If you scheduled a lower cap for next cycle, the current cap is unchanged until the period rolls over.
- The cap banner reflects your new headroom: it stays silent again once projected spend is back under 80% of the cap.
Troubleshooting
The save fails with a floor error. Setting the cap below your plan's base price (after any founding discount) is rejected with the error code SPEND_CAP_BELOW_FLOOR, and the dialog reports the floor amount. Raise your entry to at least the floor shown in the helper text and save again. The cap cannot be cleared; it must always be at least the floor.
There is no Adjust cap button. Editing the cap requires the account owner or account admin role, plus an active subscription. If you only have read access, you can still view usage but not change the cap. Ask an account owner or admin to adjust it.
A meter still shows Setting up overage billing. This provisioning state normally clears within the hour. Click Refresh on the meter. If it has not cleared after an hour, contact support.
A workflow paused for spend cap and won't resume. That is expected: spend-cap pauses have no manual resume. Either raise the cap from Adjust cap, or wait for the next billing cycle, when dispatch resumes automatically.
Related
- Understand billing limits for what each meter counts and the per-meter behavior at each threshold.
- Plans and pricing for included amounts and overage rates per plan.
- Manage your subscription to upgrade, downgrade, or update your payment method.