Allowances, resets and refunds

Inkling counts only what costs something to run, takes it when you ask rather than partway through an answer, and gives it back when an answer was never really served.

See what’s left#

1. Open the menu with your name in the header and choose Settings.
2. Choose Plan and usage, or go straight to Plan and usage.
3. Read the rows. Quick answers, and Pro searches on Pro, read Unlimited, with “Unmetered today and every day after it.” Metered rows show what you have used against the limit, a thin bar, and what is left, for example “47 left this month.”

The panel opens with the line “What you are on, and what is left of it. Quick answers are unmetered on every plan — the meter only counts the depths that cost something to run.” Below the depths come Document pages and Second opinions (“Not on this plan” on Free), then a Translation block with Characters in one translation and Text translations today.

The card at the foot of Discussions sums up one allowance in a line: Pro searches while they are metered, otherwise research reports, such as “You have used 2 of 5 Pro searches today.”

When allowances reset#

• Daily allowances reset at 00:00 UTC. The foot of the panel gives that moment in your own time zone, for example “Daily allowances reset at 02:00 on 3 October.”
• Monthly allowances reset at 00:00 UTC on the 1st. The second-opinion row prints its date in UTC, for example “17 left this month. Resets on 1 November.”

What counts#

You are charged when you press ask, before anything is written. A limit never stops an answer halfway through.

What you get back#

• A direct answer at Pro or Research depth gives its unit back, because nothing was searched. See Direct answers.
• An answer that ended without being served gives its unit back.
• When a posted status pauses Pro or Research, your question is answered at Quick and nothing metered is used.
• A text translation that ends because the translator could not be reached gives its unit back.
• A document that is cancelled or fails gives back the pages that were not translated; finished pages still count.
• Pressing Stop keeps the charge, on answers and on text translations alike.
• A request refused before it starts, for example because an allowance is used up, costs nothing.

When an allowance runs out#

Out of Pro searches or research reports, you see a panel at the moment you ask, never in the middle of an answer. It offers Request Pro access, Answer this with Quick instead and Not now, and says when the allowance comes back, for example “Your Pro search allowance resets on 3 October.”

Out of text translations, Translate says “You have used today’s translations; they refill at midnight UTC.” Out of document pages, it shows “You have used this month’s pages.” and offers Paste the text instead.

Fair use#

Unlimited means no daily or monthly allowance. It does not mean no brake at all. These are the current limits:

Past one of these, Inkling refuses the request for a short while; wait a moment and try again.

Good to know#

• Allowances are set by Buildersoft and can change. Plan and usage always reads the live numbers for your account, in every tab and on every device.
• Compare the plans in Free and Pro.