Billing

Overview#

Billing is where you pick a plan, watch your credits, and keep a card on file so Gene App keeps replying. You open it from Settings > Billing. To see what every credit was spent on, open Credit usage from the See credit usage link under Credits left.

Plan credits reset monthly; top-up credits roll over.

• Plan credits (the ones your plan gives you each month) reset each month. Plan credits you did not use do not carry over.
• Credits from top-ups, bonuses and refunds roll over to the next cycle. That covers auto top-ups, one-off top-ups, referral and free-credit bonuses, daily check-in streak credits (where the streak is turned on), and credits given back for something that was not delivered.

What each reply costs#

Each AI employee has its own rate per reply. The plan cards on this page list every rate.

B2B Leads outreach emails are free, you only pay for the sending mailboxes. A B2B outreach WhatsApp message is 1 credit, every step of the sequence.

Customer email allowance#

Gene includes customer-facing transactional and marketing emails each calendar month (UTC): 1,000 on Free or trial, 10,000 on Starter, 30,000 on Growth, 60,000 on Pro, and 100,000 on Business or Enterprise. Legacy Scale workspaces get 60,000; legacy Studio and Agency workspaces get 100,000. Extra customer emails use 3 credits per 1,000 emails, charged as 0.003 credit for each email above the allowance. A send rejected before the mail provider accepts it is not counted; a later bounce still counts. If there are no credits for an extra email, Gene pauses that send until credits are available.

Cold outreach email through B2B Leads, and cold email campaigns is free per send; the sending mailboxes are billed separately. Gene account mail such as password resets, verification, team invites and billing notices does not use the workspace allowance.

What a credit costs#

A credit costs your plan's own rate, and bigger plans have a lower rate:

That rate is also what every credit you buy on top of the plan costs, so a bigger plan makes every credit cheaper, top-ups included:

• Credits you buy: a top-up is $50, and so is each auto top-up. It adds as many credits as $50 buys at your plan's rate, rounded down.
• Partner earnings turned into credits on Affiliates convert at your plan's rate too.
• No plan: credits bought without a plan are at the Starter rate.

Add-ons paid in credits take the same number of credits on every plan. Because a credit costs less on a bigger plan, the same add-on costs less money there: an extra WhatsApp line is 20 credits a month on every plan, which is about $13.20 of credits on Starter and $6.60 on Business.

Top-ups follow your plan's rate from October 7, 2026 (on October 6 they were briefly 100 credits for $50 on every plan). An add-on you already had keeps the price it last paid until its next renewal on your plan's renewal date, then renews at the credits above.

Paying from a Gene Deposit#

If you prepaid a Gene Deposit with Gene, the Gene team can set your workspace to pay for credits from it instead of from a card. Billing and Credit usage then show Paid from your Gene Deposit with what is left of it.

• Each item is taken from the deposit at its own price. A mailbox, each month of it, a domain, a pre-warmed bundle, an extra WhatsApp line and WhatsApp calling are each taken from the deposit as their own line in Stripe, for exactly that item's price: its credits at your plan's rate. The line names the item, for example "Gene: mailbox [email protected], Oct 14 to Nov 14 (12 credits)". The item's credits are added and spent in the same step, so your credit balance does not move. These items are not paid by buying $50 packs.
• For AI replies and everything else, your credits top up from the deposit. Whenever one of these would leave you with fewer than 10 credits, Gene buys more from the deposit first, in $50 packs (as many as that charge needs), then takes the charge. Each pack is its own Stripe line, for example "Gene: 75 credits top-up ($50.00)". There is no auto top-up switch to turn on; with a deposit it is always on.
• Buy 75 credits now for $50 (the number is your plan's) in the deposit panel buys one $50 pack from the deposit whenever you want. Purchases the Gene team makes for you come out of the deposit too. No card is needed, so the Payment method box is hidden unless you already have a card on file.
• Credits are bought at your plan's rate, or the Starter rate with no plan, the same as with a card.
• A deposit held in euros pays the dollar price at that day's European Central Bank reference rate. On Credit usage, a pack reads "Bought from your Gene Deposit" with the dollar price and the amount taken from the deposit, for example "Bought from your Gene Deposit: $50.00 (€44.37)", and the line under it says whether it was "Topped up automatically" or "Bought in Billing", with the rate. An item reads "Paid from your Gene Deposit: $7.92 (€7.03)", with its Stripe line word for word under it, next to the item's own charge.
• Gene Deposit transactions, under the deposit panel on Billing, lists the deposit's lines as Stripe has them, newest first: each with its date, what it was, the amount in the deposit's currency and, for a deposit not in dollars, the dollar amount. Press Show older to see more. Your Gene 2.0 invoices paid from the deposit are there too, labelled "Gene 2.0: invoice ...", as is money added to the deposit.
• If an item is not delivered (a domain that could not be bought, for example), its price goes back on the deposit as its own line, "Gene: refund, ...".
• If the deposit cannot cover an item, credits you already have pay for it instead. If they cannot either, or the deposit cannot cover a top-up, the charge is refused, nothing is taken, and the message says what the deposit has left. Your card is never charged instead. When a top-up fails, the deposit panel on Billing reads "The last top-up from your deposit did not go through. Your Gene Deposit may be used up, so ask Gene to top it up." Ask your account manager to top up the deposit.
• The same deposit keeps paying your Gene 2.0 invoices.

What counts as one credit#

Credits are charged per reply, never per message bubble.

• A reply split into several messages is 1 credit. On WhatsApp and the other chat channels, Gene sends a reply with several paragraphs as one message per paragraph, so it reads like a person typing. That is still one reply, charged once: 1 credit for a Sales Agent reply, not 1 per message.
• Several messages from a lead answered in one reply is 1 credit. When a lead sends a few messages in a row and Gene answers them together, that one answer is charged once.
• A reply that repeats the last one is not charged. If Gene's draft is a near copy of the message the lead already read, Gene redrafts once. If it still repeats, the reply is held back and its credit goes back.
• Everything else follows the rates above: 0.3 credits for an in-app AI assistant or Portal AI Agent reply, and confirmations and reminders are free.

Free credits and what happens at 0#

Free credits#

Every new workspace starts on the free plan with 25 free credits, no credit card required. You get 50 instead if:

• your workspace signs up through a partner's referral link, or
• you are a Dubai broker who verifies a DLD licence at signup.

There is no trial and no time limit. Free credits never expire, and you stay on the free plan for as long as they last, a day or a year.

Where the daily check-in streak is turned on, your workspace also earns a few free credits each day just by opening Gene App: 5 on day 1, rising to 30 on day 7 of an unbroken streak. They roll over like a top-up.

When your balance reaches 0#

Everything that spends credits (the AI replies and other paid actions priced on this page) stops until you pick a plan or top up. Nothing else changes on its own at 0: your plan is not switched, cancelled, or downgraded.

Nothing pops up when you open the app at 0. You can keep using everything that is free: contacts, properties, the pipeline, Settings, these docs and Affiliates.

The plan dialog opens only at the moment you try something that needs a plan or credits, such as asking the AI sidebar, turning on AI replies, making an AI ad or connecting WhatsApp by QR. It names what you tried (for example "Turning on AI replies needs a plan") and offers the plans:

• The plan you choose starts that same day with the first payment, and its monthly credits are available immediately.
• With no card on file, you add the card in the same dialog and the plan starts as soon as it is saved.
• If you already have a plan and only ran out of credits, the dialog offers a top-up at your plan's rate or a bigger plan instead. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, it offers the top-up from the deposit, plan or no plan.
• You can close it and carry on. It only comes back the next time you try something that costs.

The owner or manager sees the dialog. Other members are not asked to pay. You can also pick a plan at any time on this page.

Affiliates works without credits#

The Affiliates page works without credits and never asks for a plan, even with 0 credits and no card on file. You can still share your referral link, follow your referrals, and convert or cash out what you have earned.

WhatsApp lines by QR#

Connecting a WhatsApp number by scanning a QR code needs a paid plan. Every account can connect by QR from Settings > Communication > WhatsApp, and each plan card lists its lines.

Each plan includes a number of QR lines. Every line past what your plan includes is 20 credits a month, on every plan, paid in Gene credits, not on your card:

An add-on costs the same number of credits on every plan, so it costs less money on a bigger plan, where a credit is cheaper.

The official API connect next to it is not touched by these limits. The official WhatsApp API (Meta) is not counted or charged here, and it needs no plan.

Adding a line past your plan#

1. Click Add another number on Settings > Communication > WhatsApp. It shows the price.
2. On the connect screen, a Manager agrees to the price before the QR appears (Agree and continue).
3. Scan the QR to connect the number.

Good to know:

• Only a Manager can add a paid line. No card is needed.
• Agreeing charges nothing. The credits are taken from your balance once the number is connected, and then on your plan's renewal date every month. A QR that is never scanned, or never links, costs nothing.
• The first charge only covers the days until your plan renews. For example, on a plan that renews on the 30th, a line connected on Oct 15 takes 10 credits (half a month), then 20 credits on Oct 30 and on the 30th of every month after.
• If your balance is short of a month, the connect screen says so, and you can still agree.

What a line costs, on the number#

The number's card on the WhatsApp tab shows its price and next charge, which is your plan's renewal date, for example "Extra line: 20 credits a month, next on Oct 30" on a plan that renews on the 30th. The price is the same on every plan, so changing plans does not change it. The card always shows the price of the next charge.

If there are not enough credits#

• The number stays connected, and its card on the WhatsApp tab reads "Not enough credits for this number. Top up in Billing."
• Top up here, then press Retry on that number's card (Managers).
• Gene App also tries again every hour.
• This charge does not start a card auto top-up by itself. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, each month of the line is taken from the deposit at its own price, so this only happens when neither the deposit nor your credits can cover it.

Your line count#

Settings > Communication > WhatsApp shows where you stand, for example "2 of 3 WhatsApp lines on your Growth plan". It counts connected numbers. A number still waiting for its QR scan is named on its own ("1 more is waiting for a QR scan.").

Numbers you already connected#

• They keep working. The limits only apply when you connect a new number.
• Reconnecting a number you already had (the Reconnect button on its card) never counts as a new line.
• Nothing is disconnected if you are over your plan or change plans.

Disconnecting a number#

• Disconnecting stops a paid extra line's charge from the next month. So does a number that ends without a Disconnect (banned, or released by the provider).
• The credits for the current month are not refunded.
• When a number inside your plan is disconnected, a paid extra takes the free line at its next monthly charge and stops costing credits.
• A number you disconnect leaves your count. Linking it again later is a new line, and without a paid plan that needs a plan first.

WhatsApp calling#

Calling is turned on per WhatsApp number. It is 10 credits a month per number, on every plan, paid in Gene credits at the provider's own price ($5), not on your card.

Every number with calling on pays it, numbers inside your plan included.

Turn calling on#

A Manager turns it on in any of three places:

• the Calling switch on the number (Settings > Communication > WhatsApp),
• the pop-up that opens when you press Call on a number without calling, or
• the Calling switch under the QR code while connecting a number. Nothing is charged then: calling turns on, and the first month is charged, when the number connects. If the balance does not cover it, calling stays off and the bell says "WhatsApp calling is not on yet".

Turning it on takes the credits for the days until your plan renews, then 10 credits on your plan's renewal date every month while calling stays on. Once it is on, the number's card shows the next charge, for example "On: 10 credits a month, next on Oct 30".

Note

If your balance does not cover a month, nothing is turned on and you are asked to top up. This charge does not start a card auto top-up by itself. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, each month of calling is taken from the deposit at its own price instead, so you are only refused when neither the deposit nor your credits can cover it.

Turn calling off#

• Use the same switch. It turns off at once and the monthly charge stops.
• The current month is not refunded.
• Turning it back on before that month ends costs nothing until then.

If a monthly calling charge finds too few credits#

Calling turns off for that number and you get a notice in the bell. Top up, then turn it back on.

Outreach domains and mailboxes#

Everything bought under Sending infrastructure (Settings > Communication > Email, under Cold outreach) is paid in Gene credits from this balance, not on your card. The credits are the same on every plan:

A domain's price follows what the registrar charges for that exact name, so an unusual name can cost more than a typical .com. The picker shows each price before you buy.

• A domain is one charge for its first year, taken before it is bought. The card says the price once above the names, and again on the Buy button.
• A mailbox is charged the day it is created for the days until your plan renews, then the full month on your plan's renewal date every month.
• A pre-warmed bundle is one charge for the domain and its mailboxes until your plan renews, then the monthly charge per mailbox on that date.
• A mailbox you connected yourself (with Connect a mailbox) is never charged. Gene App warms it, and you keep paying for the mailbox wherever you bought it.
• Not enough credits: nothing is bought until the balance covers it. A monthly mailbox charge that comes up short keeps the mailbox sending and is tried again every hour. These charges do not start a card auto top-up by themselves. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, each domain, bundle, mailbox and month of a mailbox is taken from the deposit at its own price, so you are only refused when neither the deposit nor your credits can cover it.
• If a purchase fails after the credits were taken, they go back to your balance. If the deposit paid for it, the price goes back on the deposit instead, as a "Gene: refund, ..." line.
• Mailboxes bought before these were paid in credits keep their monthly card charge until they are removed.

Your current plan#

• On a paid plan, it shows the plan name and renewal date (for example "Renews Jun 27, 2026"), or "Cancels" and the date once you have cancelled.
• Payment past due: when the last charge for your paid plan did not go through, it still shows your plan's name, with a red "Payment past due" note saying how much is unpaid. Pay invoice opens the unpaid invoice on Stripe so you can pay it there, and Update card opens the card form. You cannot switch to another plan until the invoice is paid; picking one says "Pay the overdue invoice first, then you can change your plan."
• Without a paid plan, it reads "Free plan" and "No time limit": your credits are yours to spend, with no time limit. Pick a plan when you want more.
• Credits left: your total remaining credits, rolled-over credits included.
  • On the free plan the line under it reads "Free credits". A paid plan adds a monthly refill.
  • On a paid plan it shows how many credits refill each month.
  • See credit usage under it opens Credit usage.
• When some of your balance rolls over, a note further down says how much, for example "40 of your credits came from top-ups, bonuses or refunds, so they roll over to the next cycle."
• Each time a paid plan renews, and when your first paid month starts, the plan's monthly credits are added. They show on Credit usage as "Monthly plan credits".

Credit usage#

Credit usage (Settings > Billing > Credit usage) lists every credit taken from or added to your balance, what it was for, and the balance right after it. Open it with See credit usage under Credits left on the Billing page. Only Managers can open it; anyone else is told to ask a Manager. Like Billing, it stays open when you are out of credits.

At the top:

• Credits left, Used and Added for the period you picked. Used leaves out unused plan credits that reset, since those were never spent.
• On this billing period, the date your plan renews.

Below that:

• Period: This billing period (the default), Last billing period, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, or All time. On the free plan there is no billing period, so it starts on the last 30 days.
• Search by lead name: only what was spent on that lead's conversations.
• Totals per kind: one chip per kind with its total, for example "AI replies 212" or "Top-ups +600". Click a chip to show only that kind; Everything shows them all again.

Each row shows what it was, the time, the credits (added credits in green, and up to two decimals when there are any) and the credits left after it. Rows are grouped by day, newest first, and Show more loads older ones. A row with no balance next to it is from before Gene kept the balance with every row; its amount is what was charged at the time. One credit is one Sales Agent reply; the price of each AI employee is under Plans on Billing. What you can see there:

• Spent: AI replies to a lead (click the row to open that conversation), welcome messages, follow-ups, check-ins and flow messages, CRM Assistant answers, Sales Manager briefings, message translations, test chats, Portal AI Agent replies, B2B outreach messages (a follow-up step is marked Follow-up), ads, SEO articles and AI visibility, mailboxes and domains, extra WhatsApp lines and WhatsApp calling.
• Unused plan credits reset: the plan credits left over when a new month starts.
• Added: monthly plan credits, top-ups (by card, or bought from your Gene Deposit), items paid from your Gene Deposit ("Paid from your Gene Deposit: $7.92 (€7.03)", with the Stripe line under it, next to the item's charge), bonuses (free credits for a new workspace, referral and broker licence bonuses, Free Credits rewards, partner earnings turned into credits, and "Daily check-in streak" rows with the streak day, for example "Day 3 of 7", where the streak is turned on), refunds for something that was not delivered, and credits added or adjusted by the Gene team.

Every row also carries a small tag saying which credits it used or added, so you can tell what paid for what:

• On credits added: Free credits, Plan credits, Bought from your Gene Deposit or Bought with your card.
• On credits spent: Paid with and the credits it came out of, for example "Paid with plan credits" or "Paid with free credits and credits bought from your Gene Deposit". Plan credits are spent first, then the oldest of the rest.
• Mailbox and domain rows say what they cost and for which period, for example "12 credits · first month" (later months read "month from" and the date) and "42 credits · first year".

If you pay from a Gene Deposit, the Paid from your Gene Deposit panel with what is left of the deposit also sits at the top of this page.

Older rows from before every row kept its balance show no balance next to them. Their amounts are what was charged at the time.

The emails that say your credits are running low or have run out link here too ("See every credit and what it was for").

You can also ask the AI assistant "where did my credits go?". It reads the same numbers and can open this page for you.

Cancel your plan#

Cancel plan sits at the bottom of the page when you have a paid plan.

• The plan runs to the end of the period you paid for.
• After that you are on the free plan and keep the credits you have left. Gene App keeps replying until they run out. Nothing is wiped when a plan ends.
• Before the end date, the bottom of the page reads "Your plan ends" and the date, and Keep my plan turns it back on.

Payment method#

• Shows whether a card is on file (for example "Visa ending in 4242 on file") or "No card on file." A card on file lets Gene App keep replying once your credits need topping up.
• Add card or Update card opens an inline card form. Saving stores the card for future plan charges and auto top-ups.
• Adding a card does not charge you.
• If you pay from a Gene Deposit and have no card on file, this box does not show: your credits come out of the deposit. A card you already saved stays listed here.

Billing history#

• Lists up to 10 available invoices: number, date, status and amount, with a button to download the receipt and one to open the invoice. When a workspace shows only unpaid invoices, the heading reads Open invoices.
• Only invoices with an amount on them are listed. Starting on the free plan bills nothing, so it leaves no $0 invoice here.
• With nothing billed yet, the section does not show.

Auto top-up#

This section appears when you have an active conversation plan, and only when enabled for your account. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, it does not show: your credits top up from the deposit on their own, and the one-off buy button sits in the deposit panel instead.

• Auto top-up switch: when on, Gene App charges $50 whenever you run out and adds the credits $50 buys at your plan's rate (75 on Starter up to 151 on Business), so it never stops answering.
  • Capped at 3 top-ups a day and 10 a month.
  • The extra credits roll over.
• Buy 75 credits for $50 (the number is your plan's): a one-off top-up of the same size, whether or not the switch is on.

Status messages appear if something goes wrong:

• A charge fails: "Last attempt failed. Update your payment method to retry."
• Your bank needs confirmation: "Your bank required extra confirmation. Update your payment method to retry the charge."

Choosing a plan#

Plans appear as one slider instead of a row of cards, from Free up through the paid plans. Bigger plans get cheaper credits, also when you top up.

Each step shows:

• the plan name and monthly price
• credits (a month on a paid plan, "to start" on Free)
• how much it saves on every credit against the cheapest plan, and what a top-up credit costs on it
• what the plan includes, with a WhatsApp by QR row listing the lines each plan includes (crossed out on the free plan)

Buttons:

• Your current plan shows a "Current" badge and a disabled Current plan button.
• While a payment on your plan is past due, picking another plan is refused until you pay the invoice (see Your current plan).
• Other steps show Choose and the plan name when you have no plan yet, or Upgrade to or Switch to and the plan name when you do.
• Enterprise: a card for higher volume, dedicated support, and custom terms. Its button opens a contact form to reach sales.

Popups and drawers#

• Manage subscription: manage or cancel your subscription and confirm bank-required actions.
• Switch plan: confirms a change to a different plan and waits for it to take effect.
• Start a plan / Subscribe: an inline card form that collects payment when you start your first plan.
  • You can start one whenever you want more credits or want to connect WhatsApp by QR.
  • The plan dialog that opens when you try something that costs uses the same card form, so you can also start a plan from there.
  • Billing starts the day you subscribe.
• Enterprise contact: a form to request a sales conversation about Enterprise terms.

Good to know#

• Plan names, credit counts, and prices come from the server, so they reflect current pricing.
• Adding or updating a card never charges you. Charges happen only when you:
  • start or switch a plan
  • buy credits, or get an auto top-up (from the deposit instead if you pay from a Gene Deposit)
  • pay for an outreach mailbox bought before mailboxes were paid in credits
• An extra WhatsApp line, WhatsApp calling, outreach domains and new outreach mailboxes are paid from your credits, not your card.
• Internal and comped accounts are billed differently and may not show these controls.

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Details#

How the Billing page is laid out, for when you need to look something up. It has four parts: Your current plan, Payment method (with Paid from your Gene Deposit and the Gene Deposit transactions list above it when you pay from a deposit, which replace it when no card is on file), Auto top-up (where enabled for your account, with an active plan and no Gene Deposit) and the plan slider described in Choosing a plan. Every credit taken or added is on its own page, Credit usage. Cancel plan sits at the bottom of the page when you have a paid plan. The dialogs the page opens are listed under Popups and drawers.

Plans#

The WhatsApp lines from the sections above, side by side. Extra lines and calling are paid in credits, never on your card, and cost the same on every paid plan: 20 credits a month for each extra QR line and 10 credits a month for calling on a number.