---
title: Check your usage
description: See how many spans your account recorded each month, how that
  compares to your plan, and which plan you're on.
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head: []
template: doc
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  hidden: false
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---

Prefactor counts usage in [spans](/platform/concepts/span): every step your agents record is one span. Check your usage when you want to know how close the account is to its plan's allowance, or why this month's count looks different from last month's.

By the end you'll know the account's plan, how many spans it recorded in any month since it was created, and which days the spans came from.

## Before you start

- Any admin user can read usage. To upgrade the plan from this page, your admin user has the **Full access** role.

## Steps

1. Open the user menu at the top right and select **Account settings**.

   The [Account page](/web-app/account) opens on the **Details** tab.

2. Select the **Billing & usage** tab.

   The plan sits on one side and this month's usage on the other.

   ![The Billing & usage tab showing the plan and its period beside the total spans for the month, with a bar for each day.](../../../assets/screenshots/web-app/account-billing-and-usage-tab.png)

3. Read the plan card.

   On a paid plan, it shows the plan name, its status, and the **Period start** and **Period end** of the current billing period. On the free plan, it shows the plan name and **Free plan**.

4. Read **Total spans**.

   This is the number of spans the account recorded in the month shown. When your plan has a span allowance, it follows the total, as in `12,480 / 50K`.

5. Hover over a bar in the chart to see one day's count.

   Each bar is a day of the month, labelled with its date and number of spans. A marker on the chart shows a day your plan changed, with the new plan's name.

6. Use **Previous month** and **Next month** beside the month name to move between months.

   You can go back as far as the month the account was created, and forward to the current month.

The usage month is a calendar month. Your billing period can start on a different day, so compare its dates on the plan card before you match a month's total against an invoice.

To change your plan, select **Manage subscription** on a paid plan, which opens your Stripe customer portal, or **Upgrade plan** on the free plan, which opens **Choose a plan**.

## If you can't find what you need

- **The chart says "No spans recorded in this month."** Nothing in the account recorded a span that month. If you expected some, check that your agents' SDK is reaching Prefactor; see [Configuration and environment variables](/sdks/configuration).
- **"Usage could not be loaded." or "Billing details could not be loaded."** Prefactor couldn't fetch that part of the page. Reload; if it keeps happening, contact support from the **Help and support** menu at the top of the app.
- **The plan card says "Plan details are not available yet."** The account has no plan on record yet. Usage still shows alongside it.
- **There's no Upgrade plan button.** Your admin user is Read only, or upgrades aren't offered from the app for your account. Ask someone with Full access to upgrade, or to change your role on the [Account › Admin users tab](/web-app/account/admin-users).
- **Previous month is disabled.** You're on the month the account was created; there's no earlier usage.

## Related

- [Span](/platform/concepts/span) — what a span is and what each one records.
- [Account › Billing & usage tab](/web-app/account/billing-and-usage) — everything on the tab.
- [Account](/platform/concepts/account) — what an account is and what belongs to it.
- [Instrumentation strategy](/platform/instrumentation-strategy) — decide what your agents record, which drives how many spans they produce.