Operator is included with your Pro add-on and comes with a free monthly credit allocation that scales with your contracted conversation volume. Credits measure everything Operator does, including analyzing data, debugging Fin, authoring procedures, and improving your content. If you use more than your allocation, you can pay for additional usage on a pay-as-you-go basis, or contract more credits upfront through your account team.
How your credits work
Your Pro add-on includes a free monthly Operator credit allocation that scales with your contracted conversation volume. Credits are specific to Operator and they can't be applied to other Intercom products.
Free credit inclusions
Your free monthly credit inclusion is based on your contracted Pro conversation volume.
If your contracted volume is renegotiated, your free inclusion updates to match the new tier.
Free inclusions align with your Pro billing cycle, annual or quarterly.
Your inclusion is based on your contracted volume, not your actual usage. For example, if you're contracted for 501–5,000 conversations but your actual usage is higher, your inclusion is still 15,000 credits — it only changes when your contract is renegotiated.
Pro conversation volume (monthly) | Free Operator credits included |
1 – 500 | 6,000 |
501 – 5,000 | 15,000 |
5,001 – 10,000 | 50,000 |
10,001 – 25,000 | 75,000 |
25,001 – 50,000 | 100,000 |
50,001 – 100,000 | 150,000 |
100,001+ | 250,000 |
Managing your credits
Viewing your usage
To view your Operator credit usage, go to Settings > Subscription > Usage, then click Set usage alerts and limits and open the Credits tab. The usage bar shows credits used this billing period, prepaid usage remaining, and your current limit. The teammate breakdown shows each teammate's chats, credits used, and Operator access status.
Alerts and limits
Set an alert
Alerts send email notifications to your billing contacts when usage hits 50%, 80%, and 100% of your set amount. Check the Alerts box in the Credits tab and enter a credit threshold to enable.
Click Set usage alerts and limits.
Open the Credits tab.
Check the Alerts box and enter a credit threshold.
Click Save — billing contacts are notified by email when usage hits 50%, 80%, and 100% of this amount.
Tip: Use alerts to get notified before you reach your limit — Operator keeps running. Use a limit for hard spend control — Operator stops automatically when the limit is reached. You can set both.
Set a workspace limit
Limits set a spending cap on credits — independent of how many credits are actually available in your pool. When the limit is reached, Operator turns off immediately, even if your workspace still has credits remaining. You'll see an "Operator is turned off" message in-product.
Click Set usage alerts and limits.
Open the Credits tab.
Check the Limit box and enter a maximum credit amount.
Click Save Changes.
When you save a credit limit, you'll be asked to confirm. Once the limit is reached, Operator access is disabled for all teammates, not just the person who set the limit.
Note: Your default credit limit is set to your free inclusion amount — remove or increase it to allow pay-as-you-go usage at $0.01 per credit. Changes to alerts and limits take effect within the next hour.
Set a teammate limit
You can set an Operator credit limit for individual teammates, giving you finer control over your Operator spend. A teammate's limit caps how many credits they can consume in the billing period. Once reached, Operator stops for that teammate while the rest of the workspace continues unaffected.
Click Set usage alerts and limits.
Open the Credits tab and scroll to the "Usage by teammate" section.
Tick Can use Operator for the teammate and enter a credit limit amount if needed.
Click Save.
Operator stops automatically for that teammate when their limit is reached.
Note: Credit limits can only be updated for up to 100 teammates per request. Teammate limits are separate from Operator access permission: access controls whether a teammate can use Operator at all; a limit controls how much they can spend.
When your credits run out
By default, Operator stops when you hit your included credit level. To continue using Operator beyond that, you need to explicitly opt in to pay-as-you-go.
Operator stops at your inclusion level
By default, your credit limit is set to match your free inclusion. When your workspace hits that limit, Operator turns off immediately. You'll see a "Limit reached" badge on your credits dashboard and a "Your workspace has reached its usage limit" banner in Operator.
To resume Operator, increase or remove your limit:
Click Set usage alerts and limits.
Open the Credits tab.
Increase or remove your credit limit.
Click Save — Operator resumes within the next hour.
Note: Removing your limit opts your workspace into pay-as-you-go — any usage above your included credits will be charged at $0.01 per credit.
Opting in to pay-as-you-go
If you want Operator to keep running beyond your included credits, you need to opt in by removing or raising your credit limit. Once opted in, any usage above your inclusion is charged at $0.01 per credit and billed as a separate line item at the end of your billing period.
For example, if your workspace is contracted for 501–5,000 conversations (15,000 credit inclusion) and uses 15,408 credits:
Prepaid (included) usage: 15,000 credits
Additional (pay-as-you-go) usage: 408 credits at $0.01 each = $4.08
You can also contact your account team to add more credits to your contract. These additional contracted credits sit on top of your included credits and are drawn down before any pay-as-you-go charges apply.
Credit resets
For quarterly or annual contracts, credits are managed in quarterly or annual buckets and reset at the start of that billing cycle.
Included credits don't carry over to the next billing period.
Operator permissions
Operator access is on by default for all teammates — both full seats and Lite seats.
To change access, go to Settings > Workspace > Teammates, select a teammate, and check or uncheck Can access Fin Operator under the Operator section. The change takes effect immediately.
You can't change your own Operator access — ask a teammate to enable it for you.
Teammates without access see a blocked state on the Operator page and won't see the "Ask Operator" prompt elsewhere in the workspace.
Operator respects your existing teammate permissions — it can't be used to do anything a teammate couldn't already do directly in Intercom.
If you cancel Pro, Operator access is removed regardless of any remaining credit balance.
Note: Viewing and editing teammate credit limits requires the Can manage hard limit permission. Teammates with the Can manage teammates, seats and permissions permission can view credit consumption but can't view or edit teammate limits.
FAQs
What is a credit?
What is a credit?
Credits are the unit used to measure Operator usage. Everything Operator does — analyzing your support data, debugging and testing Fin, authoring and editing procedures, and improving your content and guidance — consumes credits. The number of credits an action consumes reflects the work involved: heavier actions use more credits than lightweight questions or tasks.
How is my free credit inclusion calculated?
How is my free credit inclusion calculated?
Your free inclusion is determined by your committed Pro conversation volume tier. The table above shows exactly how many credits each tier includes. If your contracted volume is renegotiated, your inclusion updates to reflect the new tier.
Can I purchase additional credits upfront?
Can I purchase additional credits upfront?
Yes. Contact your account manager to contract for a specific credit volume beyond your free inclusion. Contracted credits are drawn down before pay-as-you-go charges apply and align with your existing billing cycle.
What happens when my contracted credits run out?
What happens when my contracted credits run out?
By default, Operator stops when your workspace hits your included credit level — overages don't apply automatically. To continue, you need to opt in by increasing or removing your credit limit in Settings > Subscription > Usage. Any usage above your included credits is charged at $0.01 per credit. Alternatively, contact your account team to add more credits to your contract.
Does my free inclusion update if my conversation volume changes?
Does my free inclusion update if my conversation volume changes?
Yes. Your free credit inclusion is based on your committed Pro conversation volume. When your Pro contract is updated, your free inclusion aligns with the new committed volume tier.
Are my credits annual or quarterly?
Are my credits annual or quarterly?
Your credit allocation aligns with your Pro billing cycle. Annual contracts run on an annual credit cycle; quarterly contracts on a quarterly cycle.
How do inclusions and pay-as-you-go work together? A worked example.
How do inclusions and pay-as-you-go work together? A worked example.
Suppose you're contracted for 501–5,000 conversations per month. Your free inclusion is 15,000 credits. If your teammates use 12,000 credits in a billing period, no pay-as-you-go charges apply — you're within your inclusion. If your teammates use 17,000 credits, you've exceeded your 15,000-credit inclusion by 2,000 credits. Those 2,000 credits are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis at $0.01 each = $20. If you've also contracted 3,000 additional credits on top of your inclusion, you'd have 18,000 credits total before pay-as-you-go charges apply. The contracted credits are drawn down before pay-as-you-go charges. Your included credits are based on your contracted volume, not your actual usage. If your actual usage is higher than your contracted tier, your inclusion doesn't automatically increase — contact your account team to renegotiate your contract.
What credits tier am I in for Operator?
What credits tier am I in for Operator?
Your tier is based on your committed Pro conversation volume — the number you contracted for, not your actual monthly usage. Check your contract or go to Settings > Subscription > Usage to see your current contracted volume and the free credits that come with it.
Does my free inclusion change if I use more or fewer conversations than contracted?
Does my free inclusion change if I use more or fewer conversations than contracted?
No, your free credit inclusion is based on your contracted conversation volume, not your actual usage. If your actual usage exceeds your contracted tier, your inclusion stays the same until your contract is formally renegotiated. Contact your account team if you need to update your contracted volume.
When does my free inclusion reset?
When does my free inclusion reset?
Your free credit inclusion resets at the start of each billing period — either quarterly or annually, depending on your Pro billing cycle. Unused included credits don't carry over to the next period.
What happens to my free inclusion if I renegotiate my contract mid-cycle?
What happens to my free inclusion if I renegotiate my contract mid-cycle?
Your free credit inclusion updates to match your new contracted volume tier when your contract is renegotiated. The updated inclusion applies from the start of your next billing period.
How are Operator credits billed if I'm on a contract?
How are Operator credits billed if I'm on a contract?
Your contract includes a monthly Operator credit allocation based on your committed conversation volume — see the tier table above for the exact amount. If your usage exceeds that allocation, the extra Operator credits are charged at $0.01 per credit and billed separately as Additional Usage at the end of your billing period.
Pro conversation volume (monthly) | Free Operator credits included |
1 – 500 | 6,000 |
501 – 5,000 | 15,000 |
5,001 – 10,000 | 50,000 |
10,001 – 25,000 | 75,000 |
25,001 – 50,000 | 100,000 |
50,001 – 100,000 | 150,000 |
100,001+ | 250,000 |
How do I know how many free credits are included in my contract?
How do I know how many free credits are included in my contract?
Your free Operator credit inclusion is based on your committed conversation volume — the number of conversations in your contract, not your actual usage. Find your volume in the table above to see exactly how many Operator credits are included each month. If you're unsure what your contracted volume is, check your contract or contact your account team.
How do I use credits in Operator?
How do I use credits in Operator?
The number of credits a chat or action uses reflects the work Operator does: a quick question uses very little, while building or testing a procedure uses a lot more. An action costs the same number of credits for every customer, regardless of plan.
Here are some example prompts and their cost:
Prompt | Number of credits needed (median) |
Simple queries |
|
Draft customer communications | 35 |
Diagnose why Fin answered incorrectly | 125 |
Explain what happened in a conversation | 100 |
Complex queries |
|
Audit content or guidance for gaps or conflicts | 400 |
Author or edit a procedure or automation | 300 |
Fix Fin's answer after diagnosing a conversation | 300 |
Build or explain a report or dashboard | 300 |
Set up or review a QA monitor or scorecard | 200 |
Does using Operator via the MCP consume credits?
Does using Operator via the MCP consume credits?
Yes. The Operator MCP consumes credits in the same way as using Operator directly in the product. Every action taken via the Operator MCP draws from your workspace's Operator credit allocation. Your workspace and teammate usage limits apply as normal.
Note: The Operator MCP is currently in closed beta and only available to a limited set of customers.
When I use the Operator MCP, do I use my own login or workspace credentials?
When I use the Operator MCP, do I use my own login or workspace credentials?
You authenticate with your own teammate credentials via OAuth, the same as logging in to your workspace and using Operator directly. Everything is scoped the same way as your regular Operator session, including your permissions, teammate limits, and workspace access.
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