Concepts
How To Upgrade Or Manage Billing
Where to upgrade Cortex on the web and in Desktop, plus the in-app banners that appear when credits or Premium model usage run low.
Concepts
Where to upgrade Cortex on the web and in Desktop, plus the in-app banners that appear when credits or Premium model usage run low.
How to upgrade to a paid plan or manage billing. Cortex has two main entry points — the website and Desktop — plus a few in-app prompts when you hit usage limits.
| Surface | Where to go | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Pricing, Billing, or account settings with the billing tab | Upgrade or manage billing while signed in on the web |
| Desktop | Settings → Billing & Usage | Upgrade (Stripe checkout) or Manage (billing portal) |
Free users do not get a permanent sidebar “Upgrade” item. The usual paths are Settings → Billing & Usage (active) and chat billing prompts (when usage is low).
Prices below match the public Pricing page. Use currently when quoting them — amounts can change. Prefer linking users to Pricing if they need the latest numbers.
Billing period: Monthly or Annual (annual currently saves 15%).
| Plan | Current monthly price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Free credits; Download to get started |
| Plus | $19 / month | Recommended individual plan; includes monthly credits |
| Pro+ | $199 / month | Higher credit allowance and premium models on every task |
| Ultra | $499 / month | Highest individual credit tier |
| Plan | Current price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | $50 / seat / month | Shared credit pool, centralized billing, admin controls |
| Enterprise | Custom | Contact Sales for SSO, invoice/PO, SLA, and dedicated support |
For plan details and feature lists, send users to Pricing.
Use this path when you are already on the marketing site or prefer to pay in the browser.
Team / Enterprise note: Billing & Usage may be hidden for non-admin members. If you do not see it, ask an org admin to upgrade, or use the web billing flow with an account that has permission.
You may also see upgrade prompts during normal Desktop work:
| When it appears | What you see | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Credits near or at the limit (about 80% used, exhausted, or insufficient) | A billing banner above the chat input | Use the banner action to open billing |
| Free plan or signed-out rate limits | Chat status pointing to Upgrade or Sign in | Upgrade, or sign in if you are still anonymous |
| A Premium / preferred model has no remaining usage | Model picker message such as Upgrade to use this model | Upgrade, or pick another available model |
These prompts open the same billing flow used from Settings (Desktop billing command / checkout).
Redeem referral codes in Desktop:
After a successful redeem, Cortex may open a Stripe checkout link for the related plan or credit offer. Do not invent a separate web-only redeem path unless the user already sees one documented in product.
Email support@withcortex.ai and include:
For credit balance that will not load, see Credits missing or still loading.