# What are the free plan limits?

> Canto's free monthly allowances for transcription, AI chat, search, and templates — when they reset, how to track usage, and what happens at the cap.

Updated: 2026-08-16 · Canonical: https://usecanto.com/help/billing/free-limits/

The free plan gives you a monthly allowance for each metered feature: transcription (100 min / mo), AI chat messages (500 / mo), searches (1,000 / mo), and template runs (100 / mo). Allowances reset at the start of each calendar month.

## What does each allowance cover?

- **Transcription** — minutes of audio transcribed, whether recorded live, captured by the notetaker bot, or imported as a file. A 40-minute meeting uses 40 minutes.
- **AI chat messages** — messages you send in chat with a recording, a folder, or across all your recordings.
- **Searches** — semantic searches across your recordings.
- **Template runs** — generating a View from a recording (Summary, Action items, Meeting minutes, Follow-up email).

Recording itself is not metered — you can record and store audio regardless of the allowance. The limit is on turning audio into transcripts and on AI work.

## When do the limits reset?

At the start of each calendar month, all four allowances return to full. There's no rollover: unused minutes from one month don't carry into the next. The reset is tied to the calendar, not to your sign-up date.

## How can I see how much I've used?

Open settings and go to **Usage & plan**. The **This month** section shows your running totals for **Transcription**, **Chat messages**, **Searches**, **Templates**, and **Shared AI**.

## What doesn't count against my limits?

AI on shared content is unmetered. Chat, search, and template runs on recordings and folders that someone shared with you don't consume your allowances — they appear separately in usage as **Shared AI** ("Chat, search, and templates on shared content"), which is informational, not a limit.

## What happens when I run out?

Nothing is deleted, and recording keeps working. You'll see the banner "You've reached this month's limit" with the note "Your notes are safe. Upgrade to keep going — everything picks up right where you left off."

For transcription specifically: the recording that crossed the line is still transcribed but shows as **Locked**, and later recordings show **Not transcribed** — upgrading unlocks and transcribes them automatically. The full behavior, including what each state means, is in [What happens when I hit a limit?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/what-happens-at-limit/) and [Why is my recording locked or not transcribed?](https://usecanto.com/help/transcription/locked-recordings/)

## FAQ

### Do notetaker meetings use my minutes?

Yes — a meeting the bot records is transcribed like any other recording, so its length counts against the transcription allowance.

### Can I buy extra minutes without subscribing?

No. There's no pay-as-you-go top-up; the ways to go past the free allowance are Pro or a Team seat. See [What do Free, Pro, and Team include?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/plans/)

Related articles:

- [What happens when I hit a limit?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/what-happens-at-limit/)
- [What do Free, Pro, and Team include?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/plans/)
- [Upgrade to Canto Pro](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/upgrade-to-pro/)