If your account exceeds its included monthly messaging allowance, additional usage is covered through Messaging Add-ons.
Each add-on provides 25,000 additional messages for $100.
You do not need to purchase add-ons manually. Octopods calculates the required add-on quantity from your account's monthly usage.
How Messaging Add-ons work
Your included messaging allowance is pooled across your Octopods account.
When your total usage exceeds that allowance:
1 add-on unit covers up to 25,000 additional messages.
Each add-on unit costs $100.
Additional units are added in increments of 25,000 messages.
The required number of units is rounded up to the next full unit.
Example calculation
Suppose your Self-serve account has 4 subscribed channels.
Your included monthly allowance is: 4 × 50,000 = 200,000 messages
If your account processes 242,000 messages during the month:
Subtract your included allowance from your total usage:
242,000 − 200,000 = 42,000 additional messagesDivide the additional usage by the 25,000 messages included in each add-on:
42,000 ÷ 25,000 = 1.68Round up to the next full add-on unit:
2 add-onsMultiply the add-on quantity by $100:
2 × $100 = $200
Your projected Messaging Add-on charge is therefore $200.
View your projected charge
Once your account is over its included allowance and an add-on charge applies, you can see the current projection from the Messaging Usage page.
To check it:
Sign in to Octopods.
Select Usage from the left navigation.
Review your Total Messages and Base Limit.
Look for the Projected Add-on Charge notice.
The projected charge updates as your usage increases during the month.
Because usage data is synced periodically, recently processed messages may take some time to appear.
When is the final add-on charge calculated?
Messaging usage is measured by calendar month.
After the month ends, Octopods finalizes the month's usage and determines the required number of add-on units.
The final amount may therefore be different from a projected amount you saw earlier in the month if your messaging usage continued to increase.
If an add-on charge applies, it is added to your upcoming Octopods invoice.
You will receive a confirmation after the add-on charge has been applied.
Will my channels stop if I exceed the limit?
No.
Exceeding your included messaging allowance does not automatically pause your connected channels.
Messaging can continue, and the additional usage is reflected in the Messaging Add-on calculation.
Usage notifications
Octopods sends notifications when your account exceeds its included messaging allowance and as the projected add-on charge changes.
Notifications are sent to your account's configured notification email. If no notification email is configured, Octopods uses an account admin email.
See Understanding Usage Notifications for details about when these notifications are sent.
How can I reduce future add-on charges?
If your account regularly exceeds its included allowance, you can:
Increase your subscribed channel quantity if you regularly need more included messaging capacity.
Review the Channel Breakdown on the Messaging Usage page to identify channels generating the most traffic.
Review automations, broadcasts, or other high-volume messaging activity that may be increasing usage.
Contact Octopods if your messaging volume has grown significantly and you want to discuss Premium.
See Messaging Limits and Included Messages for details about how your monthly allowance is calculated.
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