How Usage & Credits Work
How Apogee meters AI usage - cost-based credits in dollars, the $29 of usage included every month, extra usage billed only as used, and the monthly maximum you set.
How Usage & Credits Work
Apogee meters usage by the actual cost of the AI work each request does, measured in dollars. This page explains how that credit model works, what affects your cost, and how to read your usage.
How Usage Is Measured
Every time you interact with Apogee - through the chat client, via MCP, or when a scheduled briefing runs - an AI model processes your request. Usage is metered by cost, not by a fixed number of requests. Two things drive the cost of a request:
- How much text the model processes - both the input (your question plus the context and sources pulled in) and the output (the response). Longer, deeper research costs more than a quick lookup.
- Which model runs - more capable models cost more per unit of text. Apogee selects the model for the task; there is no preset to choose.
Cost is tracked in dollars, and the interface reports it in dollars: how much of the month's included usage is left, and how much has been spent. There is nothing to denominate in tokens on your side.
What Counts as Usage
Different activities cost different amounts:
- Short factual lookups (e.g., "What's the status of HR 1234?") cost a few cents.
- Detailed analysis (e.g., "Compare these two bills and summarize the differences") costs more, because the model reads and reasons over more text.
- Research queries that search across multiple data sources cost the most - the research agent may call several internal tools in sequence, each adding to the total.
- Follow-up questions in the same conversation include earlier messages as context, so a long conversation gradually costs more per message.
Practical example: A quick question like "Who sponsors HR 5678?" costs only a few cents. A detailed research request like "Find all AI regulation bills this Congress and summarize their approaches" costs more, because the agent searches multiple sources and reasons over far more text.
Where Usage Comes From
Included usage is shared across every way you use Apogee. Each source draws from the same monthly balance.
Chat Client
When you send a message in the chat client, the model reads your message plus the conversation history and generates a response. If the research agent calls tools while answering, those internal calls are part of the same request's cost.
MCP Connections
If you connect via MCP (through Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or another MCP client), tool calls and AI processing draw from the same balance as the chat client. There is no separate allocation - all usage is pooled.
Briefings
Briefings (scheduled monitoring) draw from your balance when they run. Each run triggers a research query on your behalf to search sources and generate a summary. Briefings run on a schedule and use the same credits as the rest of your work.
Briefings keep running when you are at your monthly maximum. Usage past it is absorbed rather than billed.
Included Usage
Pro is $29 a month and includes $29 of usage every month. The included amount is measured in dollars of AI cost, the same units as everything above, and it resets on your billing date. Unused credit does not carry into the next month; the balance refreshes to the full included amount.
One price covers every organization type. There is no sector rate and no per-persona tier.
Extra Usage and Your Monthly Maximum
Running past the $29 included in a month does not end the month. Past that point you pay only for what you use, billed as it is incurred. Nothing is bought up front, and a month spent inside the included amount costs nothing beyond the $29.
The monthly maximum
You set a monthly maximum when you subscribe, and you can change it at any time on the Billing page. It is a hard ceiling on extra usage: you will never be billed above it. That is what makes it a figure you can hand to a finance team as a not-to-exceed number.
The maximum is a billing ceiling. It is the figure extra usage is charged up to, and no further. Apogee absorbs anything past it rather than passing it on, so the number you set is the number a finance team can rely on.
Reaching the maximum changes what you are billed, not what you can reach. Your conversations, folios, files, and past briefings stay exactly where they are. Raising the maximum on the Billing page takes effect immediately, without waiting on anyone.
Hitting the maximum also notifies Apogee, which may follow up with a promotional credit. Treat that as a courtesy on top of the self-serve raise rather than the route out, because the raise is instant and the follow-up is a human decision.
Reading Your Usage
You can see your usage in two places:
- Billing page - chat.apog.ai/billing shows how much of the month's included usage is left, in dollars, along with the date it resets, the monthly maximum you set, and any extra usage billed so far. The figure counts down rather than up, so there is no surprise at the end of the month.
- Usage indicator - A compact indicator in the chat client turns red as included usage runs low. Selecting it opens the full usage view.
Plans
Every plan includes every intelligence capability and every data source. Pro is one published price for everyone; Teams & Enterprise adds a shared allowance sized to the organization and collaboration features.
| Plan | Who it is for | Monthly credit |
|---|---|---|
| Pro ($29/month) | Everyone, whichever sector you work in | $29 of usage included every month |
| Teams & Enterprise (custom) | Teams and organizations | Shared allowance sized to the organization, plus collaboration features |
See pricing for current numbers.
What Happens When You Reach a Limit
There are two different points in a month, and only one of them changes what you pay.
When the included $29 is spent
Work continues. Usage past the included amount becomes extra usage, billed only as used, and the billing page starts showing what has been billed so far this month. Nothing pauses and nothing needs a decision from you.
When you reach your monthly maximum
Billing stops. This is the ceiling, and it behaves the same way whatever your usage looked like getting there:
- Nothing further is charged - extra usage stops accruing against your account at the maximum.
- Your existing conversations and data are unaffected - previous chats, folios, files, and past briefings all stay readable.
- Raising the maximum resumes work immediately from the Billing page.
- The maximum resets with your billing date, alongside the included usage.
Briefings continue to run at the maximum. Usage past it is absorbed rather than billed to you.
Tips for Getting More From Your Credits
Be specific in your questions
Vague questions like "Tell me about healthcare policy" make the agent search broadly and write long answers. Specific questions like "What committees is the BIOSECURE Act assigned to?" cost far less.
Reuse what is already in context
When the agent retrieves data (bill status, news articles), that data stays in the conversation. Follow-up questions about the same data cost less than starting a fresh search.
Start a new conversation for a new topic
Each message carries the earlier conversation as context, so a very long thread costs more per message. Starting a new conversation for an unrelated question resets that context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does MCP usage count against my included usage?
Yes. Whether you use the hosted chat client or connect via MCP (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and so on), tool calls and AI processing draw from the same balance.
Do data lookups cost anything?
Simple data retrieval (searching bills, fetching news) costs very little. Most of the cost comes from AI processing - generating analysis, summaries, and research synthesis.
What happens to unused credit?
Included usage refreshes on your billing date and does not roll over.
Can I be charged more than I expect?
No. Extra usage is billed only as used, and never above the monthly maximum you set. At the maximum, billing stops.
What if I need to keep working after hitting my maximum?
Raise the maximum on the Billing page. The change takes effect immediately.
Do briefings count against my included usage?
Yes. Each briefing run triggers a research query that draws from the same balance as a query you run yourself.
Why does a long conversation cost more over time?
Each message includes the prior messages as context so the response stays coherent. As the conversation grows, each new message sends more text. Starting a new conversation resets this.
Can I see exactly what I used?
The billing page shows the dollars remaining, what has been spent this month, and any extra usage billed. Per-request breakdowns are not currently exposed in the interface, but usage is tracked and reflected in those figures as you work.