Seamlessly built into your MIS, Arbor AI can turn your requests into actions and make your everyday tasks even easier. As your collaborator and assistant, Arbor AI shows up right where you need it, freeing up your time for the tasks that only you can do. 

This article explains how your Arbor AI Monthly Free Allowance works, what to expect if you’ve used up your allowance, and how you can pay to upgrade to extended Arbor AI access.

Monitoring Your Usage

You can monitor your Monthly Free Allowance via the Arbor AI Dashboard, which can be found in the navigation under School -> Arbor AI. 

• Free Monthly Allowance - This shows how much of your Monthly Free Allowance you've used up so far. If your school uses up your monthly allowance, your access to Arbor AI features will pause. You can either pay for an AI Subscription to keep using Arbor AI, or wait until your allowance resets at the start of the next calendar month.
• Purchased AI Credits - This shows how much of your AI subscription you've used up so far. We'll use up your Monthly Free Allowance first, then automatically switch to using your AI Subscription when the free allowance runs out. Your Monthly Free Allowance will reset on the first of each month, and it will always be used up before your AI Subscription. 

Usage Notifications

When you've nearly used up your Monthly Free Allowance, Arbor will: 

• Email your Head Teacher and Data Manager to let them know
• Send your Head Teacher and Data Manager a notification in the MIS 

The notifications will be available in the Notifications pop-out in the sidebar, and on the 'Alerts' section of your homepage.  

FAQs

What is my Monthly Free Allowance of Arbor AI?

We believe every school should benefit from AI, without worrying about costs getting out of control. That’s why we’re giving your school free access to our standard Arbor AI features. We’ve designed the Monthly Free Allowance to help every Arbor school get started with Arbor AI and benefit from these time-saving features for free, every single month.

You’ll be able to see how much you’ve used at any time via your Arbor AI dashboard, and we’ll send you automatic alerts so you know when your free allowance is about to run out.

Why do we have a Monthly Free Allowance Policy?

We believe every school should benefit from Arbor’s time-saving AI features. That’s why your MIS now includes a built-in monthly free allowance of AI usage.

Within this allowance, you can use the following features at no cost:

• Ask Arbor - your AI assistant for instant answers to school and student questions.
• Suggest Email - your AI assistant that helps you draft your emails, letters, and SMS.
• Student Summary - your AI assistant that helps teachers build instant student reports.
• Suggest formula - your AI assistant that turns your descriptions into new tables and formulas.

Since each AI interaction carries a cost, limits are essential to keep our tools high-quality, fair, and sustainable for all schools. We’ve designed the Monthly Free Allowance to help every Arbor school get started with Arbor AI and benefit from these time-saving features for free, every single month. If you use up your free allowance, your standard AI features will be paused for the rest of the month and you’ll have the option to purchase an AI Subscription. 

If you’re regularly using up your Monthly Free Allowance, it’s a good sign that your school is saving time and getting value out of Arbor AI. We’ve priced our AI Subscriptions affordably, to make sure the cost is easily outweighed by the time your staff will save. 

Which products are included in the free allowance?

Your Monthly Free Allowance covers our standard Arbor AI features: Ask Arbor, Suggest Comms, Student Summary, and Create Formula. We’ll be adding more over time. 

How do I know when I've used up my Monthly Free Allowance?

You can track your usage via the Arbor AI dashboard in your MIS:

• At 80% usage: Your Headteacher is notified via email and in-app notifications.
• At 90% usage: Your Headteacher and your Arbor Partnership Manager are notified via email and in-app notifications.
• At 100% usage: Your Headteacher and your Arbor Partnership Manager are notified via email and in-app notifications. Your Arbor AI features will be paused for the month. You can either pay to upgrade to AI Subscription to keep using them, or wait for your allowance to refresh next month.

How much usage do I get?

Monthly Free Allowance:

If you use up your whole monthly allowance, you won’t be able to use Arbor AI until the following month, unless you choose to buy an AI Subscription.

Paid AI Subscription:

If your free allowance runs out, your school can buy an AI Subscription. This gives you a much larger allowance for all standard Arbor AI features. 

If your school uses up your subscription, you can easily upgrade to a larger one by contacting our team. You'll be able to track your subscription usage in the AI dashboard as well.

* All usage estimates provided are approximate.

Your school’s actual consumption of AI credits may vary based on the complexity, length, and structure of your queries and requests. More complex or multi-step questions typically use more AI credits behind the scenes, meaning you’d use more of your free allowance in one go.

We recommend monitoring your usage via your Arbor AI dashboard to understand how your school is using your free allowance each month. 

Can I manage user and school permissions?

Yes. You can control who accesses Arbor AI features by setting permissions in Arbor. This helps make sure staff use Arbor AI features in a way that suits your policies and needs. You can find more information about which business roles Ask Arbor will be enabled for on this help centre article.

By default, teachers and pastoral staff are excluded from accessing your standard Arbor AI features. They can be switched on manually, but you’ll see a warning that this may use up your allowance more quickly. 

If your school purchases an AI Subscription, you'll get a much larger allowance, making it easier to extend access to teachers and pastoral staff so they can benefit from time-saving AI features as well.

What If I use up my Monthly Free Allowance?

You can upgrade to an AI Subscription to continue using Arbor AI features if you use up your free allowance. 

* All usage estimates provided are approximate.

Your school’s actual consumption of AI credits may vary based on the complexity, length, and structure of your queries and requests. More complex or multi-step questions typically use more AI credits behind the scenes, meaning you’d use more of your free allowance in one go.

If you don’t use up your full AI Subscription after 12 months, it will expire and you’ll need to buy it again (or you can just use your monthly free allowance instead).

We recommend monitoring your usage via your Arbor AI dashboard to understand how your school is using your free allowance each month. 

How do we purchase an AI Subscription?

When you’re close to using up your Monthly Free Allowance, you’ll receive automated threshold notification emails at 80% usage, 90% usage and 100% usage. Simply respond to those emails and our team will get in touch to help you purchase an AI Subscription quickly so you don’t lose access.

What happens once we buy an AI Subscription?

Once you buy an AI Subscription, you’ll still continue to receive your free allowance each month. After you’ve used that up, your school’s Arbor AI usage will automatically switch to use your AI Subscription balance instead.

If you don’t use up your full AI Subscription after 12 months, it will expire and you’ll need to buy it again (or you can just use your Monthly Free Allowance instead).

Does AI Subscription expire?

If you don’t use up your full AI Subscription after 12 months, it will expire and you’ll need to buy it again (or you can just use your Monthly Free Allowance instead)

Will new AI features be included in Monthly Free Allowance and AI Subscription?

We plan to keep adding new standard Arbor AI features to your MIS which will be included in your Monthly Free Allowance and AI Subscriptions, unless stated otherwise.

Is Auto Absence included in my Monthly Free Allowance and AI Subscription?

No, Auto Absence is handled differently from standard Arbor AI features. Read more about it here.

Why Am I Using Up My Monthly Allowance?

Your school’s actual consumption of AI credits may vary based on the complexity, length, and structure of your queries and requests. More complex or multi-step questions typically use more AI tokens behind the scenes, meaning you’d use more of your free allowance in one go.

We recommend monitoring your usage via your Arbor AI dashboard to understand how your school is using your free allowance each month .

Glossary of Terms