- Getting started
- UiPath Agents in Studio Web
- About UiPath Agents
- Licensing
- Running agents
- Working with files
- Contexts
- Escalations
- Evaluations
- Agent traces
- Agent score
- Managing UiPath agents
- UiPath Coded agents
Agents user guide
Conversational agents use a hybrid user- and consumption-based licensing model. This page explains how licensing works, what factors affect consumption, and provides scenarios to help you plan your deployment.
Pricing models overview
UiPath offers two licensing plans for conversational agents. Both use a consumption-based model where usage is measured in exchanges.
What counts as an exchange
An exchange includes:
- The user's prompt.
- The agent's response(s).
- Any tool calls executed in between.
Exchanges are not counted when the user's prompt contains eight characters or fewer and no tool calls are executed.
Flex licensing
Flex licensing uses Agent Units for consumption.
| User license | Use case | Cost per exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Express User (formerly known as Automation Express and Autopilot Express) | Broad internal rollout, Q&A chatbots | 50 free exchanges/user/year, then 1 Agent Unit |
| Cloud Basic User | Casual users with occasional needs | 50 free exchanges/user/month, then 1 Agent Unit |
| Attended / Citizen Developer / Automation Developer | Power users with high-volume needs | Unlimited* |
Unified Pricing
Unified Pricing uses Platform Units for consumption.
| User license | Use case | Cost per exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Express | Broad internal rollout, Q&A chatbots | 50 free exchanges/user/year, then Conversational Agent Rate |
| Basic | Casual users with occasional needs | 50 free exchanges/user/month, then Conversational Agent Rate |
| Plus / Pro | Power users with high-volume needs | Unlimited1 |
1 Subject to fair use policy: 500 exchanges per user per day.
The per-exchange rate varies by the LLM model tier configured for the agent:
| Model tier | Consumption rate |
|---|---|
| Standard models | 0.2 Platform Units (referred to as Conversational Agent Rate) |
| Basic models | 0.16 Platform Units (Conversational Agent Rate × 0.8) |
Autopilot for Everyone
Autopilot for Everyone is charged per action at the Conversational Agent Rate (0.2 Platform Units per action on Unified Pricing).
External users (no license)
- No user license required.
- Requires an external application token (created in Admin portal).
- Each exchange consumes from the tenant's unit pool starting with the first exchange.
- Deploy via iFrame embedding with an auth server.
Design time entitlement
Development and debugging of agents consumes from your design time entitlement. This is a daily LLM call allotment separate from user license free exchanges. Design time usage does not count against user free exchange allotments.
Exchange consumption by user license
This table shows how consumption works at different exchange volumes:
| User license | Exchanges 1-50 | Exchanges 51+ |
|---|---|---|
| Express / Automation Express | Free | Consumes from tenant pool |
| Basic / Cloud Basic User | Free (monthly) | Consumes from tenant pool |
| Plus / Pro / Attended / Citizen Dev | Unlimited* | Unlimited* |
| External (no license) | Consumes from pool | Consumes from pool |
Tool consumption
While some tool costs are included in the base exchange, certain tools have additional consumption requirements. Tools are billed per activity executed, not per connector configured.
| Tool | Flex (Agent / Misc Units) | Unified (Platform Units) |
|---|---|---|
| Analyze files | 1 AU per file | 0.2 PU per file |
| IXP tool | 1 AU per page | 0.2 PU per page |
| MCP tool | Included | Included |
| Context Grounding (semantic search) | Included | Included |
| Context Grounding (DeepRAG) | 1 AU per ~20 pages | 0.2 PU per ~20 pages |
| Integration Service activity | Included | Included |
| API workflow | 5 IS API calls per activity executed | 0.02 PU per activity executed |
| Cross-platform RPA | 1 Robot Unit | 0.2 PU |
| Windows RPA (Unattended) | Requires Unattended Robot | Requires Unattended Robot |
| Autonomous Agent (nested) | Nested agent's consumption | Nested agent's consumption |
Scenarios
The following scenarios illustrate how licensing works in practice.
Scenario 1: Simple Q&A assistant
Agent configuration
- Tools: Context Grounding semantic search only
- No additional tools
Consumption calculation
Because this example uses only Context Grounding semantic search, there is no additional tool cost per exchange.
Free exchanges are not pooled across users. Each user has their own individual free allotment. If User A performs 20 exchanges and User B performs 80 exchanges, User A still has 30 free exchanges remaining while User B has exceeded their 50 free exchanges and their additional 30 exchanges consume from the tenant pool.
Example: Usage with different license types:
- User A (Express): 20 exchanges sent this month → 20 free used, 30 remaining in their yearly allotment
- User B (Basic): 100 exchanges sent this month → 50 free used, 50 consume from tenant pool
- User C (Plus): 500 exchanges sent this month → all free (unlimited*)
- Total tenant pool consumption: Only User B's 50 exchanges exceeding their free tier
For customers who want a pure consumption-based model without maintaining Automation Cloud user accounts, deploy your conversational agent via iFrame embedding using anonymous access. This begins consuming units immediately with no free tier.
Scenario 2: Self-service assistant with multiple tools
Agent configuration
- Context Grounding semantic search
- Analyze files tool
- Integration Service connector
- API workflow with two connector activities executed
Consumption calculation
Additional tool costs
| Interaction type | Consumption (Flex) | Consumption (Unified) |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic search | Included | Included |
| File analysis | 1 AU per file | 0.2 PU per file |
| IS connector | Included | Included |
| API workflow (2 activities executed) | 10 IS API calls | 0.04 PU |
Example: Monthly usage with different license types and tools:
| User | License | Exchanges | Flex consumption | Unified consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Express | 30 (20 Q&A, 10 file analysis) | 30 free exchanges, 10 AU for file analysis | 30 free exchanges, 2 PU for file analysis |
| B | Basic | 75 (50 Q&A, 15 file analysis, 10 API workflows) | 50 free, 25 exchanges from pool + 15 AU tools + 100 IS API calls | 50 free, 5 PU exchanges + 3.4 PU tools = 8.4 PU |
| C | Plus | 200 (mixed tools) | Exchanges free*, tool consumption applies | Exchanges free*, tool consumption applies |
Bring your own model (Preview)
Conversational agents support LLM Configurations so you can use your own LLM subscriptions. This feature is in preview. During the preview period, there is no charge per exchange, however additional consumption based on tool usage still applies.
Managing consumption
Admin controls
Administrators can manage consumption at the tenant level:
- Monitor usage through the Admin portal.
- Set up quotas for consumption thresholds.
- Review usage by agent.
Next steps
- Deployment: Deploy your agent
- Limitations and FAQ: Current limitations and troubleshooting
- Pricing models overview
- What counts as an exchange
- Flex licensing
- Unified Pricing
- Autopilot for Everyone
- External users (no license)
- Design time entitlement
- Exchange consumption by user license
- Tool consumption
- Scenarios
- Scenario 1: Simple Q&A assistant
- Scenario 2: Self-service assistant with multiple tools
- Bring your own model (Preview)
- Managing consumption
- Admin controls
- Next steps