Category: Plan limits and subscriber rules

This guide explains what happens when you exceed your plan's subscriber or email sending limits in Sender and the steps you can take to resolve the issue and resume sending.

Where to Find This Setting

In the Sender dashboard, go to: Account settings → Billing

On this page you will see the Your plan section on the left, which displays your current plan name, its ACTIVE status badge, the plan expiration date, and the Change or renew plan button. To the right, the Email campaigns section shows three usage counters with progress bars: active subscribers, unique subscribers emailed, and emails sent. Each counter displays your current usage against your plan limit. Below that, the SMS campaign section shows your SMS credit left, Unique subscribers messaged, and SMS messages sent. When any counter exceeds its limit, the number and its progress bar turn red, indicating that the limit has been reached.

Steps to Resolve Exceeded Limits

Step 1 — Identify which limit you exceeded

Go to Account settings → Billing and review the Email campaigns section at the top of the page. Check the three counters: active subscribers, unique subscribers emailed, and emails sent. Any counter that has exceeded its plan limit will display in red with a filled red progress bar. Identify whether you have exceeded your active subscriber count, your unique subscriber emailed count, your email sending allowance, or a combination of these. The specific limit you exceeded determines which resolution options are available.

Step 2 — Choose a resolution path

Once you know which limit is exceeded, you have three options. To upgrade, click Change or renew plan on the Billing page. Select a larger plan tier or a higher subscriber level that accommodates your current usage, then complete the purchase. Your new limits take effect immediately. To renew your current plan, click Change or renew plan and repurchase the same plan to reset your limits for a new billing cycle. To wait, take no action and your limits will reset automatically when your next billing cycle begins.

Step 3 — Reduce your subscriber count (if applicable)

If you exceeded your active subscribers limit and prefer not to upgrade, go to Subscribers in the left sidebar. Use the Email status and Advanced filter options to identify inactive, bounced, or unengaged subscribers. Select the subscribers you want to remove and use the Actions menu to delete them. Your active subscriber count recalculates every hour, so allow time for the updated count to reflect on the Billing page before attempting to send campaigns again.

Step 4 — Verify your limits and resume sending

Return to Account settings → Billing and confirm that all three counters in the Email campaigns section are within your plan limits. Once your active subscribers, unique subscribers emailed, and emails sent are all below their respective limits, you can resume creating and sending email campaigns. Navigate to Email campaigns in the left sidebar and proceed with your next campaign as normal.

What Happens After the Change

Upgraded plan — If you purchase a higher plan, the new email credit allowance, subscriber limits, and any additional features take effect immediately. Your new plan expiration date is set based on the billing cycle you selected.

Renewed plan — If you renew your current plan, your email credits, unique subscriber counter, and emails sent counter all reset to zero for the new billing cycle. Your active subscriber count remains unchanged since it reflects your current subscriber list.

Automatic upgrade at renewal — If auto-renewal is enabled and your active subscriber count exceeds your current plan's limit at the time of renewal, the system automatically upgrades your account to a larger plan that can accommodate all of your active subscribers. This results in a higher charge on your next billing date.

Waited for next billing cycle — When your billing cycle renews, your unique subscribers emailed and emails sent counters reset automatically. You can resume sending without taking any action, provided your active subscriber count is still within your plan limit.

Removed subscribers — After deleting subscribers, the active subscriber count recalculates within the hour. Once it falls within your plan limit, sending is restored without needing to change your plan.

Billing Tips

Monitor your usage regularly — Check the Email campaigns counters on the Billing page periodically, especially before large campaign sends, to avoid hitting limits unexpectedly.

Understand the two subscriber types — Active subscribers reflect how many recipients are currently stored in your account, while unique subscribers emailed tracks how many distinct addresses you have sent to during the current billing period. Both counts must stay within your plan limit.

Be aware of auto-upgrade behavior — If your active subscribers exceed your plan limit and auto-renewal is enabled, the system will automatically move you to a more expensive plan at renewal. Remove surplus subscribers before your renewal date if you want to stay on your current plan.

Clean your list before renewal — Remove unsubscribed, bounced, and inactive contacts from your subscriber list before your billing cycle renews to keep your active subscriber count within your plan's allowance.

Check remaining plan value before upgrading — When you click Change or renew plan and select a new plan, the next step of the purchase flow shows a breakdown of any credit applied from your existing plan before you click to confirm payment.

Common Issues

Campaign sending is blocked but my counters look fine → Your active subscriber count recalculates hourly. If you recently removed subscribers, wait up to one hour for the updated count to appear on the Billing page, then try sending again.

Active subscriber count exceeds my limit even though I haven't imported anyone new → Subscribers added through forms, automations, or integrations also count toward your active subscriber total. Check Subscribers in the left sidebar and sort by Date added to identify recently added contacts.

Unique subscribers emailed shows a high count after deleting and re-adding contacts → The unique subscribers emailed counter tracks every distinct email address you have sent to during the billing period, including addresses that were later deleted or unsubscribed. This counter resets only when your billing cycle renews.

I was charged more than expected at renewal → If auto-renewal is enabled and your active subscriber count exceeded your plan limit at the time of renewal, the system automatically upgraded your account to a higher plan. Review your invoice under the Invoices tab on the Billing page to see the new plan details.

I upgraded from yearly to monthly by mistake → If you purchase a monthly plan while on a yearly plan, the remaining value of your yearly plan is applied as a credit toward the monthly plan cost, but the unused portion of the yearly plan is not refunded separately. Contact Sender support if you need assistance reverting this change.

FAQs

What happens if I exceed my active subscriber limit?

The system prevents you from sending email campaigns until you either upgrade to a plan with a higher subscriber allowance or remove enough subscribers to bring your count within the current plan limit. Your active subscriber count recalculates every hour.

What happens if I exceed my unique subscribers emailed limit?

You will not be able to send additional campaigns for the remainder of your billing cycle. To resume sending, you can upgrade to a higher plan, renew your current plan to reset the counter, or wait for your next billing cycle to begin.

What happens if I run out of email credits?

The system blocks further campaign sending until your email credits are replenished. You can upgrade to a plan with more credits, renew your current plan, or wait for the next billing cycle when credits reset automatically.

Will I be automatically upgraded if I exceed my limits?

Only if auto-renewal is enabled and your active subscriber count exceeds your plan limit at the time of renewal. In that case, the system automatically upgrades you to a larger plan to accommodate your subscriber list, which results in a higher charge.

Does removing subscribers immediately restore my ability to send?

Not instantly. The active subscriber count recalculates every hour. After removing subscribers, wait up to one hour for the updated count to reflect on the Billing page before attempting to send a campaign.

Does the unique subscribers emailed counter reset when I remove subscribers?

No. The unique subscribers emailed counter tracks all distinct email addresses you have sent to during the current billing period, regardless of whether those subscribers were later removed. This counter resets only when your billing cycle renews.

Where can I check my current usage against my plan limits?

Go to Account settings → Billing. The Email campaigns section at the top of the page displays your current active subscribers, unique subscribers emailed, and emails sent alongside your plan limits.

Can I schedule a campaign if I've already reached my limits?

No. Scheduling a campaign requires sufficient remaining email credits and unique subscriber capacity. The system reserves those limits at the time of scheduling. If you cancel a scheduled campaign, the reserved limits are released back to your account.

This guide explains the limits that apply to the Free plan in Sender, how usage is tracked, and what happens when you reach those limits.

Where to Check Your Usage

In the Sender dashboard, go to Account settings → Billing.

At the top of the Billing page, you will see two main sections. The Email campaigns section displays three usage indicators, each with a progress bar: active subscribers (your current count against the plan limit), unique subscribers emailed (the number of unique email addresses you have sent to against the plan limit), and emails sent (total emails sent against your monthly limit). The SMS campaign section shows SMS credit left (your remaining dollar balance), Unique subscribers messaged (distinct SMS recipients against the plan limit), and SMS messages sent (total SMS messages sent). Your plan name and status appear on the left under Your plan with an ACTIVE badge.

Steps to Check and Manage Your Free Plan Limits

Step 1 — Review your active subscriber count

Go to Account settings → Billing. Under Email campaigns, check the active subscribers indicator. This shows your current count against your plan's subscriber limit as a fraction (for example, 2 / 1 000) with a progress bar beneath it. If the bar is nearly full, you are approaching your subscriber limit.

Step 2 — Review your email send usage

On the same Billing page, check the emails sent indicator under Email campaigns. This displays the total emails sent this billing cycle against your monthly limit. To see a detailed log of email credit allocations and sends, select the Email usage tab below the usage summary. This log shows entries for plan credit allocations, counter resets at the start of each billing cycle, and individual campaign sends.

Step 3 — Review your SMS usage

Under the SMS campaign section on the Billing page, check SMS credit left for your remaining balance, Unique subscribers messaged for the number of distinct subscribers who received at least one SMS this billing period, and SMS messages sent for the total count. If your Free plan does not include SMS credits, these values will show zero.

Step 4 — Check your subscriber list for non-active contacts

Go to Subscribers in the left sidebar. Use the Email status dropdown filter at the top of the page to view subscribers by status. Available statuses include Active, Bounced, Unsubscribed, Reported spam, and Non-subscribed. Filter by Bounced or Unsubscribed to identify contacts that no longer count toward your limit but may still appear in your list.

Step 5 — Remove inactive subscribers to free up space

On the Subscribers page, use the Email status filter to display Bounced, Unsubscribed, or other non-engaged contacts. Select the subscribers you want to remove using the checkboxes on the left. Click the Actions dropdown and choose Delete to permanently remove them. You can also use Unsubscribe to change a subscriber's status without deleting them.

Step 6 — Verify your updated usage

Return to Account settings → Billing and confirm that the active subscribers count has decreased. The progress bar should reflect the updated count. If you have reduced your list below the plan limit, you can resume adding new subscribers and sending campaigns.

How Limits Are Calculated

Active subscriber count — Sender counts active subscribers as total recipients uploaded to your account minus those that have unsubscribed, bounced, or are duplicates. Only contacts with an Active email status count toward your plan's subscriber limit.

Duplicate handling — If the same email address exists in multiple groups, Sender counts it as one unique subscriber toward your limit. Duplicate entries across groups do not multiply your count.

Monthly email send limit — Every email sent through a campaign, automation, or transactional send counts as one send toward your plan's monthly email limit. The counter resets at the start of each billing cycle, which is visible in the Email usage log on the Billing page.

Unique subscribers emailed — This tracks the number of unique email addresses you have sent emails to during the current billing period. Sending multiple emails to the same address counts as one unique subscriber emailed.

SMS credit usage — SMS sends deduct from your SMS credit left balance. The Unique subscribers messaged metric counts distinct subscribers who received at least one SMS during the billing period. Free plan users may not have SMS credits included.

What Happens When You Hit a Limit

Subscriber limit reached — When your active subscribers count meets or exceeds your plan's limit, Sender prevents new contacts from being added. You will need to reduce your list by deleting inactive or unengaged contacts, or move to a plan with a higher subscriber limit.

Email send limit reached — When the emails sent counter reaches your monthly limit, Sender prevents additional email sends until the counter resets at the start of your next billing cycle. Scheduled campaigns and active automations may be paused until sends become available again.

SMS credit depleted — When your SMS credit left reaches zero, Sender stops sending SMS messages. You can purchase additional credits by clicking Buy SMS credits on the Billing page.

Tips for Managing Limits

Filter and clean your list regularly — Go to Subscribers, filter by Bounced or Unsubscribed using the Email status dropdown, and delete contacts that no longer serve your campaigns. This frees up subscriber slots.

Monitor your usage before sending — Check Account settings → Billing before launching a large campaign to confirm you have enough remaining email sends and subscriber capacity.

Remove non-engaged contacts — Use the Advanced filter on the Subscribers page to identify contacts who have not opened or clicked recent emails. Removing non-engaged subscribers keeps your list lean.

Watch for duplicate imports — Before importing new contacts, be aware that Sender deduplicates by email address. Importing the same address into multiple groups does not increase your subscriber count, but importing new addresses does.

Track your email usage log — Select the Email usage tab on the Billing page to review when your send counter was last reset and how many emails have been consumed by individual campaigns.

Common Issues

Subscriber count appears higher than expected → This typically happens when contacts with an Active status exist across your account that you may not be aware of. Go to Subscribers, sort by Date added, and review recently added contacts. Use the Email status filter to confirm how many are Active.

Cannot add new subscribers → Your active subscribers count has reached the plan limit. Go to Account settings → Billing to verify. Reduce your list by deleting bounced, unsubscribed, or unengaged contacts on the Subscribers page.

Emails are not sending → Your emails sent counter may have reached the monthly limit. Check the emails sent indicator on the Billing page. If the limit is reached, wait for the billing cycle to reset or move to a plan with a higher send allowance.

Subscriber count did not decrease after unsubscribing contacts → Changing a contact's status to Unsubscribed removes them from the active count, but the change may take a moment to reflect on the Billing page. Refresh the page and check the active subscribers indicator again.

Email usage log shows "Reset counter" → This entry appears at the start of each billing cycle when Sender resets your monthly email send allowance. It is expected behavior and confirms your new allocation is available.

FAQs

Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my subscriber limit?

No. Only contacts with an Active status count toward your plan's subscriber limit. Unsubscribed, Bounced, and deleted contacts are excluded from the count.

If the same email address exists in multiple groups, does it count as one subscriber or multiple?

Sender counts each unique email address once toward your subscriber limit, regardless of how many groups it belongs to. Duplicate entries across groups do not multiply your count.

Do automation emails count toward my monthly email send limit?

Yes. Every email sent through a campaign, automation, or transactional send counts as one send toward your plan's monthly email limit.

What happens if I reach my email send limit mid-month?

Sender prevents additional email sends until the limit resets at the start of your next billing cycle. Scheduled campaigns or active automations may be paused until sends are available again.

How do I reduce my subscriber count?

Go to Subscribers in the left sidebar. Use the Email status filter to find Bounced, Unsubscribed, or non-engaged contacts. Select them, click Actions, and choose Delete to remove them permanently. Regularly cleaning your list helps you stay within your plan's subscriber limit.

Where can I see my exact subscriber count and send usage?

Go to Account settings → Billing. Your current active subscribers count and emails sent total are displayed alongside your plan's limits under the Email campaigns section, each with a progress bar showing usage at a glance.

What does "Non-subscribed" status mean?

Non-subscribed refers to contacts who were added to your account but have not confirmed or completed a subscription action. These contacts may still count toward your subscriber limit depending on their email status. Check the Email status filter on the Subscribers page to review them.

Do SMS sends count toward my email send limit?

No. SMS messages and email sends are tracked separately. SMS usage is shown under SMS campaign on the Billing page, while email sends appear under Email campaigns.

Free Forever plan is a great way to start growing your audience without any upfront costs. It includes essential features like email automation, access to professional templates, and tools to build and send beautiful campaigns — all without a monthly fee.

Are there limits on the number of emails I can send with the Free Forever plan?

Yes, but they are very generous! With the Free Forever plan you can send up to 15 000 emails to 2 500 unique subscribers.

Are there limits on the number of subscribers I can have?

Yes, but it is more than enough for testing or starting as a small business! With the Free Forever plan, you can have up to 2 500 active subscribers. If you store more than that, you won’t be able to send email campaigns—even if your campaign is set to be sent to fewer than 2 500 recipients.

Is live chat support available on the Free Forever plan, or only email support?

Yes, live chat is available to everyone — including Free Forever users and even those just exploring Sender! We believe support should be accessible when you need it most, which is why our team is here for you 24/7.

Can I remove the Sender branding from my emails on the Free Forever plan?

Sender branding gets removed with any paid plan. The Free Forever plan campaigns and forms are always proudly carrying the Sender logo.

Can I schedule my email campaign in advance if I’ve reached my monthly limit?

Unfortunately, no — you’ll need to have enough remaining plan limits to schedule an email campaign. Once you schedule a campaign, the required email credits and unique subscribers are reserved right away, and you’ll see that reflected in the Billing section under Plan Usage. If you cancel the scheduled campaign, those reserved limits will be released back to your account.

How many team members can I add to my account on the Free Forever plan?

Free Forever plan allows one user.

Are automation workflows available with the Free Forever plan?

Yes! You can create limitless automation workflows with your Free Forever plan.

Can I access premade automation templates and premium features with the Free Forever plan?

Premade automation templates are available on all plans, including Free Forever.
However, premium features are exclusive to the Professional plan.

What happens if I exceed my monthly sending or subscriber limit?

In such a case, the system will prevent you from sending any more campaigns. You will have to wait for your plan to renew or you can purchase a paid plan to continue sending.

Can I use transactional emails with the Free Forever plan?

Yes! Transactional email features are available on all Sender plans, Free Forever included! 

Does the Free Forever plan include SMS campaigns?

SMS sending is not included with the Free Forever plan. This feature becomes available when you move to a Standard or Professional plan.

Why give the Free Forever plan a try?

The Free Forever plan offers an impressive set of features to help you start and grow your audience at no cost and it has everything you need to get going.

When you’re ready to scale, upgrading is always an option, but until then, Free Forever has you covered. Ready to get started? Create your free account today!

That’s it!

If you got stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.

There are a few ways to exceed your subscription limits and different steps that should be taken once that happens.

Firstly, let’s make it clear what are active and unique subscribers:

• Active subscribers – the total number of recipients uploaded to your account that you can send emails to (excluding those that have unsubscribed, bounced, or reported spam).
• Unique subscribers – the total number of unique email addresses you’ve sent emails to in the current plan period.

Exceeded active subscribers

If you have exceeded your active subscriber count, it means that you have imported more subscribers than your plan allows. To continue sending campaigns, you need to either purchase a plan that would be big enough for your whole list OR you can remove the surplus and keep the number of subscribers that will be within your plan limits.

Exceeded unique subscribers

If you have exceeded your unique subscribers emailed count, it means that you have contacted more recipients than your plan allows. To continue sending campaigns, you need to either purchase a bigger plan or wait for your plan to renew.

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If you got stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.

At Sender.net, we do not have a daily limit for the amount of emails you send.

If you’re using a monthly plan, you can email as many subscribers as your plan allows, e.g., if you have a 5000 subscriber plan, you can email all of them as often as you would like, bearing in mind the monthly 60 000 email limit.

If you’re using the prepaid credit system, only the limitation of total emails applies – one credit equals to one email.

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If you got stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.

You can have up to 2 500 subscribers with your account under the Free Forever plan. 

Therefore, you would need to remove 500 recipients and wait a few minutes until the subscribers are recalculated or upgrade to a larger plan. 

That’s it!

If you are stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.

The terms – unique and active subscribers might be a bit confusing at first, but hopefully, this article will help you differentiate between them.

• Active subscribers number means the total amount of recipients that you have uploaded into your account (at the moment) minus those that have unsubscribed, bounced, or reported spam.
• Unique subscribers emailed number tells you how many unique email addresses you’ve sent a campaign to. It also takes into account bounces, unsubscribes, and deleted ones. If you’ve sent an email to the address – it’s counted as a unique subscriber.

The active subscribers count gets recalculated every hour. The unique subscribers’ count gets reset each billing period (monthly). Both of these numbers cannot exceed your plan limits. For example, if you have a plan with 10 000 subscribers, the Active subscriber count, as well as the Unique subscriber count, cannot go over the 10 000 subscriber limit.

Imagine your plan limit is 120,000 emails and 10,000 subscribers. You send a campaign to 10,000 subscribers, then remove them and add 10,000 new ones. In this case, the system will see that as a total of 20,000 unique subscribers and will not allow you to send the campaign and, in consequence, for you to exceed the set limit.

Can’t find the exact number of your active and unique subscribers? Read this – Where can I find active and unique subscribers?

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If you got stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.