How does pay-as-you-go pricing work for IT support?

Every Chatref response uses coins, debited from your prepaid balance. The coin cost per reply varies from 1 to 5 depending on answer complexity, but the overall approach stays simple: you load credits when you need them, and you pay nothing when your agent is idle.

• No monthly subscriptions, no per-seat fees, and no per-bot charges.
• All features come with every account - unlimited AI agents, unlimited training documents, embeddable widget, lead capture, conversation inbox, and custom branding.
• Every new account gets $50 in free credit, no credit card required, and unused credit never expires.

That means you can spin up an AI agent for password resets, “how do I…” walkthroughs, and common system-status questions, then let it run without watching a recurring bill.

Because pay-as-you-go IT support isn’t about gating features behind monthly tiers, you have full access from day one. For an IT services team, the capabilities that matter most are:

• AI agents that resolve repeat tickets automatically - answers are grounded in your own knowledge base, not generic internet search, so agents give accurate, source-linked replies to users.
• Shared inbox for the conversations that need a human. Your team watches live chats, and when a case needs a technician’s touch, someone can step right into the same thread with the full context already in front of them.

Plus, you can build as many agents as you need - one for end-user help desk, another for internal IT procedures, another for a client portal - all under a single account with no added fees per agent.

Getting started follows the same simple flow that every Chatref account uses:

1. Create your account. Sign up and instantly receive the $50 free credit.
2. Upload your content. Point Chatref at your help docs, SOPs, ticket FAQs, and knowledge base articles. It reads everything and is ready to answer in minutes.
3. Drop in the widget. Add the Chatref embed to your support portal, intranet, or client-facing site. Customers and internal users get answers from your own material as soon as it goes live.
4. Top up credit when needed. As your usage grows, purchase additional coins directly from your account. There’s no auto-renewal contract - you control when and how much to add.

After that, your AI agent handles routine IT questions day and night, and your team only steps in through the shared inbox when a ticket genuinely needs specialised attention.

The real shift with a pricing model like this comes when ticket volume spikes. Instead of hiring extra help-desk staff to absorb the load, you let your AI agent absorb the repeatable volume - password resets, VPN instructions, “system is down” status updates - while your existing technicians focus on complex infrastructure issues. Because you pay only for the replies the agent generates, costs rise proportionally with usage, not with team size. If volume drops, your costs drop too, with no idle-seat overhead.

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What are the benefits of pay-as-you-go pricing?

The model gives you cost-effective support that aligns directly with what you use. You avoid monthly minimums, per-agent fees, and long-term contracts. When your ticket volume is low, your spend is low. You also keep full access to every Chatref feature - no premium tiers, no feature gates - and your $50 free credit means you can test the full product without spend until you see real value.

How do I set up pay-as-you-go IT support?

Sign up for a Chatref account at app.chatref.ai, claim your $50 free credit, and upload your IT documentation. Build an agent from those documents, embed the widget on your support site or portal, and you are live. There is no setup fee, no contract, and no credit card required to start. Top up your balance later when you need more credits.

Can I scale support with this model?

Yes. Because you pay by usage, you can run as many AI agents as you need without per-bot fees, and the shared inbox lets your human team handle only the tickets that require them. When ticket volume climbs, your credit burn increases, but you never pay for idle time. And you can add agents for new services, clients, or internal teams without renegotiating a plan - just upload the related content and embed the widget.