AI usage pays for AI work in Exayard. Takeoffs, sheet reads, plan analysis, and questions to Exa all draw on your company's AI usage for the month. You see no prices while you work. The Usage page shows how much of the month you have used.

Two things in Exayard use AI usage: questions to Exa, the assistant inside the app, and takeoff runs, where Exa reads and traces your sheets. Reading a file you upload, such as splitting a PDF into pages, counts as AI work too.

This help center is free. Asking a question in the help chat, reading articles, or talking to support uses no AI usage at all.

A takeoff run is charged for the sheets it reads, not for the items on your list. Materials that follow from a measurement are not detected a second time: mortar, grout, sand, cement, waste, paint for a number of coats, or rebar from the bar schedule are calculated in the estimate from the measured quantities. A 20-sheet masonry job is 20 sheets of reading, however many materials come out of it. See Custom formulas for how line items derive quantities from measurements.

Measuring by hand, drawing, estimates, spreadsheets, and every other tool without AI use no AI usage.

Every plan includes an amount of AI work each month, shown in money at full price:

A drawing sheet uses about $15 of AI work. That is an average, so a busy sheet uses more and a simple one uses less. The amounts are shown in your billing currency.

The whole team shares one pool. Any member's work draws on it. Yearly plans get the same amount, refilled month by month.

On a paid plan, your usage refills on your billing date. On Free, it refills on the first day of each month (UTC). Settings > Usage shows Refills on and the date.

On a paid plan, usage you did not use carries over for two months, then it expires. Carried over usage is used first, before this month's. The Usage page shows it on a small line under the bar.

Free's monthly usage does not carry over. Whatever is left at the end of the month expires.

Extra usage keeps work going after this month's AI usage is used up. It is available on every plan, Free included.

There are two ways to get it, and both are for admins:

Every purchase has a $100 minimum, in your billing currency. Extra usage is charged at full price, the same price the plan amounts above are counted at. Usage you buy belongs to the company and lasts 12 months from the day you buy it.

When nothing is left, Exayard says "This month's AI usage is used up." What happens next depends on your plan and your role.

A takeoff that reaches the limit pauses. Sheets already being read finish, and the rest wait. The takeoff card shows how many sheets are done. When usage is available again, the takeoff picks up where it stopped by itself. Sheets already read are not read again.

A reply from Exa that has started always finishes. The next question waits until usage is available again.

Measuring by hand and every other tool without AI keep working.

Admins get an email and a note in Exayard when the team has used 80% and 100% of the month's AI usage, and again at 80% and 100% of the extra usage limit. A month before bought usage expires, admins get one reminder. See Usage tracking.

Does asking a question in the help center use AI usage? No. The help chat and support are free. Only Exa inside the app and takeoff runs use AI usage.

Is AI usage shared across the team? Yes. The monthly amount and any extra usage belong to the company. Every member draws on the same pool.

How do I know how much is left? Open Settings > Usage. The bar shows the percent of this month's AI usage you have used and the date it refills.

What happens to my usage if I cancel my subscription? After cancelling, your company moves to the Free plan. Free includes $30 of AI work a month for the company, about 2 drawing sheets, and an admin can buy extra usage from $100. Any extra usage balance is kept, though it still expires on its own date.

Can I get a refund on AI usage? No. AI usage is not refunded once it is included, bought, or used, because it pays for computing time at the moment the work runs. Cancelling stops your next charge. Subscription plans explains how to cancel.

Where do I see what each piece of work used? The Usage page lists every piece of AI work with what it used. Click Download there to export the list for your records.