Budgets
AI Agent budgets let you control the operational costs of your AI Agents by setting daily and monthly spending caps. Once a cap is reached, agents stop picking up new conversations until the cap resets or you increase it.
Overview
AI Agent costs are based on token consumption. Every message in a conversation -- from customer questions to agent responses to internal data lookups -- consumes tokens. UltraCart tracks this usage and charges per thousand tokens at three rates:
| Token type | Cost per 1,000 tokens | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $0.0004 | Customer messages and data the agent processes |
| Cached input | $0.0001 | Previously processed context reused within a conversation |
| Output | $0.001 | Agent responses sent to the customer |
Budget caps apply collectively across all AI Agents on your account, not per agent.
What affects token consumption
Several factors influence how many tokens a conversation uses:
- Customer message length -- longer, more detailed questions consume more input tokens
- Agent response length -- comprehensive responses use more output tokens
- Data lookups -- when the agent retrieves order status, subscription details, or product data, the retrieved information counts as input tokens
- Agent instructions and personality -- more detailed instructions can lead to longer responses
Example cost calculation
Here's a sample order status conversation to illustrate typical costs:
| Speaker | Message | Estimated tokens | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer | "I'd like to check on the status of my order." | ~12 | Input |
| Agent | "Can you give me the order number?" | ~11 | Output |
| Customer | "Sure, it's 1001234" | ~10 | Input |
| Agent | (retrieves order data) | ~50 | Input |
| Agent | "Your order is currently processing and is scheduled to ship on May 27th. It should arrive within 2-3 business days of shipping. Is there anything else I can help with?" | ~41 | Output |
| Customer | "Nope, that's good. Thanks!" | ~5 | Input |
Totals:
- Input tokens: 12 + 10 + 50 + 5 = 77 tokens
- Output tokens: 11 + 41 = 52 tokens
Cost:
- Input: 77 / 1,000 x $0.0004 = $0.0000308
- Output: 52 / 1,000 x $0.001 = $0.000052
- Total conversation cost: ~$0.000083
A typical short conversation costs a fraction of a cent.
Setting your budget
To configure budget caps:
- Navigate to CRM > Workforce > Settings.
- Select AI Budgets.
- Set your Monthly usage cap and Daily usage cap.
- Select Update Budget to save.
Start with a moderate budget and monitor actual usage during your first few weeks. Real-world data is the best guide for refining your estimates.
Estimating a realistic budget
Consider these factors when planning your budget:
- Conversation volume -- how many customer interactions you expect daily and monthly. Review your current support ticket or webchat volume for a baseline.
- Average conversation length -- simple order status checks use fewer tokens than complex subscription modifications.
- Peak periods -- seasonal promotions or sales events may significantly increase conversation volume.
Budget guidelines by volume
| Volume | Monthly interactions | Suggested starting budget |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Under 100 | $1 - $5 |
| Medium | 100 - 500 | $5 - $15 |
| High | Over 500 | $15 - $50+ |
These are conservative starting points. Adjust based on your actual usage patterns.
Monitoring and adjusting
After your agents are live, monitor usage regularly and adjust as needed:
- Review token consumption in the AI Agent reporting tools
- Optimize agent instructions to be concise and efficient, reducing unnecessary output tokens
- Design conversation flows that resolve queries in as few turns as possible
- Increase caps ahead of anticipated traffic spikes (promotions, product launches)