Plans and limits

Every CortexDB Cloud account is on a plan. The server enforces it: past a limit a request is refused and nothing is done, so a limit is never a surprise bill. Prices are on cortexdb.ai/pricing; you change plans from your dashboard.

Self-hosted servers have no plan and no limits; everything on this page is about the cloud.

What counts

• Memories are the memories your account stores, each up to 2,000 characters of its text (a memory's text, a blob's transcript, otherwise its serialized content). A longer memory counts once per started 2,000 characters: 5,000 characters count 3. Writes (/v1/experience, each item of /v1/experience/bulk) add to the count; forgetting or erasing memories gives the room back.
• Recalls are POST /v1/recall and /v1/recall/stream requests, one each however many passes they make (and a /v1/answer sent with skip_answer_llm, which never reaches the model).
• Answers are POST /v1/answer and POST /v1/compose, the requests that reach the answer model. They count against their own allowance, never against recalls.
• Tenants are the scopes one level under your account, such as org:acct_42/user:acct_42 or org:acct_42/app:support (Tenants on the cloud). Your first is the one your account starts with.
• Listing memories, reading one by id, and the account's own plan (GET /v1/plan) count against none.

Recalls and answers count per calendar month in UTC and start again on the first.

Your plan and usage

GET /v1/plan answers your account's plan, its limits (null is unlimited) and what you have used:

curl -sS https://api.cortexdb.ai/v1/plan \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORTEXDB_TOKEN" -H "X-Cortex-Actor: $CORTEXDB_ACTOR"

{
  "subtree": "org:acct_42",
  "plan": "free",
  "limits": {"max_memories": 10000, "max_recalls_month": 1000, "max_answers_month": 100, "max_tenants": 1,
             "read_per_second": 1.0, "read_burst": 20.0, "write_per_second": 1.0, "write_burst": 20.0},
  "usage": {"memories": 1234, "recalls_this_month": 56, "answers_this_month": 3, "tenants": 1},
  "memory_unit_chars": 2000,
  "month": "2026-10",
  "resets_at": "2026-11-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "upgrade_url": "https://cortexdb.ai/pricing"
}

Your dashboard shows the same numbers. Every response to your token also carries the month's recall budget: X-RateLimit-Monthly-Limit, X-RateLimit-Monthly-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Monthly-Reset (none on an unlimited plan).

Past a limit: 402 PLAN_LIMIT_REACHED

A request past a limit is refused before anything is done, with HTTP 402 and this body:

{
  "error_code": "PLAN_LIMIT_REACHED",
  "message": "the free plan of org:acct_42 allows 10000 stored memories; 10000 used. Upgrade at https://cortexdb.ai/pricing",
  "details": {"limit": "memories", "used": 10000, "max": 10000, "plan": "free",
              "subtree": "org:acct_42", "upgrade_url": "https://cortexdb.ai/pricing"},
  "retriable": false,
  "request_id": "req_…"
}

retriable is false: the same request succeeds only after an upgrade, room is freed, or the month turns.

Too fast: 429 SUBTREE_RATE_LIMITED

Each plan has a request rate for your whole account, reads and writes counted apart (Free: 1 a second with bursts of 20; Starter: 5 with 50; Pro: 17 with 100; Enterprise: 83 with 500). Recalls, answers and compose count as reads; each written memory counts as a write. Past it a request answers 429 SUBTREE_RATE_LIMITED with Retry-After (whole seconds) and retriable: true, and nothing was done: wait that long and send it again.

Changing plans

Upgrade from your dashboard or cortexdb.ai/pricing; the new limits apply within a minute. A cancelled plan keeps its limits until the paid period ends, then moves to Free, and your data stays. Above Free's limits nothing is deleted: writes and new tenants are refused until there is room again. For limits beyond Pro, talk to us.