Learn how Hugo credits, usage, and Pay-As-You-Go billing work in Crisp.

Hugo is Crisp's AI Agent, designed to handle customer conversations while keeping billing predictable. Hugo is included by default starting from the Mini plan, so you do not need a separate subscription to get started.

Included Hugo credits

Each paid Crisp plan includes a monthly amount of Hugo credits, expressed as a USD usage value. These credits are used when Hugo processes conversations, tests, and other AI-powered actions.

Included monthly Hugo credits by plan:

• Free → no included Hugo credits
• Mini → $5 of Hugo credits
• Essentials → $25 of Hugo credits
• Plus → $75 of Hugo credits

Credits reset every billing cycle, currently on the 4th of the month.

Check your remaining credits

To review your current credit balance, go to Crisp, then open AI Agent → Agent → Billing.

If you recently ended a trial or switched to a paid plan, included credits may appear after the billing charge is processed. This can take about 1 to 2 hours after the charge goes through.

How Hugo billing works

Hugo credits are token-based. The more context Hugo needs to read and the more detailed the conversation becomes, the more credits are consumed.

A Hugo conversation is not billed per message. It covers the exchange Hugo handles with a customer, from the first AI-handled message until the conversation is resolved, routed, or escalated.

Usage can vary depending on:

• Message length → longer customer messages and replies use more tokens
• Conversation depth → more back-and-forth requires more context
• Knowledge usage → larger knowledge sources can require more processing
• Language complexity → some languages and requests can require more tokens
• AI model selected → different models may have different usage costs
• Number of Hugo replies → each AI response adds to the conversation cost

On average, a full Hugo-handled conversation costs around $0.05 to $0.10 USD, but this remains only an estimate. Your real cost depends on your setup, the model selected, and the type of conversations Hugo handles.

Optimize Hugo costs

If your average cost per conversation is higher than expected, you can usually reduce it by simplifying the setup and giving Hugo more focused resources.

Choose a less expensive AI model

Some models can cost more than others. If the selected model is more advanced than your use case requires, switching to a less expensive model can reduce the average cost per conversation.

Keep Hugo's replies concise

Shorter replies usually consume fewer tokens. Review your Hugo instructions and ask Hugo to be direct, structured, and concise where appropriate.

Use focused knowledge sources

Very long or overly broad knowledge resources can increase usage because more content may need to be processed for each reply. Prefer short, structured Q&A resources and clear knowledge base articles whenever possible.

Enable Pay-As-You-Go

By default, once included Hugo credits are consumed, Hugo stops answering automatically and incoming conversations are escalated to human operators until credits become available again.

To let Hugo continue answering beyond included credits, enable Pay-As-You-Go from Crisp in AI Agent → Billing → Pay As You Go.

Pay-As-You-Go lets you:

• Continue using Hugo after included credits are consumed
• Set billing limits
• Prevent unexpected overspending
• Keep Hugo within the budget you define

If your workspace is still in a trial period, Pay-As-You-Go may remain unavailable until the trial ends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions which were not covered in this article? Here is a collection of the most frequently asked questions on this topic.

How do I add more Hugo credits?

Go to Crisp, then open AI Agent → Billing → Pay As You Go and enable Pay-As-You-Go. Additional Hugo usage will then be billed according to the limits you configure.

Are workflows counted in Hugo pricing?

No. Workflows are not billed as Hugo usage and do not consume Hugo credits. If you previously used a legacy MagicReply (Deprecated) workflow block, it keeps its own workflow behavior and does not turn the whole workflow into Hugo usage.

What happens when my Hugo credits are fully consumed?

If Pay-As-You-Go is disabled, Hugo stops answering automatically. New conversations are escalated to human operators until credits reset or additional usage is enabled.

Can I use workflows without letting Hugo answer conversations?

Yes. You can disable Hugo from AI Agent → Agent → Activation or keep Hugo enabled while routing selected situations to workflows. Hugo and workflows can coexist, so you stay in control of which experience handles each conversation.

Why did my credit balance not refresh after upgrading?

Included credits can take about 1 to 2 hours to appear after the subscription charge is processed. If the balance still does not refresh, send a test message in AI Agent → Evaluate → Playground to refresh the billing display.

Updated on: 03/05/2026