What to Do When You Hit Your Usage Limit
Reaching your usage limit means you've consumed your plan's credit allocation for your current session. You have two options: wait for the automatic reset or upgrade your plan for immediate access with higher limits.
Understanding the Limit Message
When you hit your limit, ISMS Copilot displays a message:
"You've used all your messages for this session. They'll reset soon — or upgrade for more messages and higher limits."
This tells you:
You've used your current allocation for this session
Reset countdown showing when you'll get fresh credits
Option to upgrade for immediate access with higher limits
Check the countdown timer shown in the limit message for your exact reset time. The reset is specific to your session, not a fixed daily time.
Option 1: Wait for the Reset
Your usage limit resets automatically based on your session. You don't need to do anything — just wait until the countdown completes.
What happens at reset:
Your credit allocation refreshes to your plan's full amount
You can resume sending messages immediately
A new session begins from that point
Best for:
Non-urgent compliance work
Users on the Free plan evaluating the platform
Light usage patterns
Budget-conscious users who can plan work around resets
If your reset is coming soon (e.g., a few minutes away), it's often more efficient to wait than to upgrade, especially for one-time tasks.
Option 2: Upgrade Your Plan
Upgrading gives you immediate access with significantly higher credit allocation per session. Most active compliance users find the Plus plan eliminates limit concerns entirely.
How to Upgrade
Click the "Upgrade your plan" button (top right, with star icon) or click the upgrade link in the limit message
Review Plus plan features and pricing
Choose your billing cycle:
Monthly: $24/month
Annual: $240/year (2 months free)
Complete payment through Stripe
Your new limits apply immediately after successful payment
What You Get with Plus
50 credits per session — typically enough for dozens of messages, even in longer conversations
50 file uploads per month (10x more than Free)
Priority support with faster response times
Custom data retention control (1 day to 7 years)
Advanced document generation capabilities
Over 90% of users who consistently hit Free plan limits find Plus completely solves their usage concerns. The higher allocation supports active compliance projects with multiple conversations daily.
When to Consider Upgrading
Upgrade if you:
Hit your limit more than once per week
Are working on active compliance projects (audits, certifications, implementations)
Need to analyze multiple documents or generate policies regularly
Manage multiple clients or projects as a consultant
Value time over cost (e.g., waiting for resets costs more in billable time than $24/month)
Before Your Next Session: Optimize Usage
Whether you wait for reset or upgrade, these strategies help you avoid hitting limits unexpectedly:
1. Start Fresh Conversations More Often
Long conversation threads consume significantly more credits per message. If your conversation has 20+ messages, start a new one for your next task — even if it's related.
Why this matters: A message in a 50-message thread can use 5-10x more credits than the same message in a fresh conversation.
2. Upload Files in New Conversations
Large document uploads consume extra credits, especially in long threads. Start a fresh conversation when uploading PDFs or spreadsheets for analysis.
3. Ask Complete Questions Upfront
Instead of spreading context across multiple messages:
❌ Inefficient:
"I need help with access control"
"It's for ISO 27001"
"We're a 50-person company"
"In the healthcare industry"
✅ Efficient:
"Create an ISO 27001 access control policy for a 50-person healthcare SaaS company"
One complete message uses far fewer credits than four back-and-forth messages.
4. Use Workspaces to Organize
Don't try to manage multiple clients or projects in one long conversation thread. Create separate Workspaces with focused conversations for each task.
5. Review Your Conversation Patterns
If you hit limits frequently, check whether you:
Have conversations with 30+ messages (start fresh more often)
Combine multiple unrelated questions in one thread (separate them)
Upload multiple large files in the same conversation (split across conversations)
Comparing Your Options
Factor | Wait for Reset | Upgrade to Plus |
|---|---|---|
Cost | Free | Plus $24/mo, Standard $49/mo, Pro $100/mo |
Time to access | Based on countdown | Immediate |
Credits per session | Same as before (limited) | Significantly higher |
Best for | Light, non-urgent use | Active compliance projects |
Frequency concerns | May hit limit repeatedly | Rarely hit limits |
If Limits Still Seem Wrong
After upgrading or optimizing your conversation habits, if you still hit limits unexpectedly, contact support. This could indicate:
An issue with your account's credit calculation
Very old conversations consuming credits faster (requires starting fresh)
Usage patterns that need a higher tier (Standard or Pro)
A technical issue worth investigating
Contact support through the help menu with details:
When you hit the limit
Approximate number of messages before hitting it
Whether you were in a very long conversation (20+ messages)
Any large file uploads in that session
The team can review your specific usage and help identify issues or recommend the right plan.
Plan for Your Next Session
If staying on Free plan:
Keep conversations under 15 messages
Start fresh conversations for each new compliance task
Upload files in new threads
If upgrading to Plus:
You'll still benefit from conversation management best practices
But you'll have far more flexibility for longer threads and complex tasks
Most Plus users only think about limits during exceptionally heavy usage days
Related Resources
Understanding Usage Limits — How the credit system works
Session Windows and Usage Resets — How resets work