> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.datalayer.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How profiles and usage work

> Understand what uses your allowance before starting a research task.

A **profile** is the detailed record you open for one company or one person.
Your allowance is the number of new profiles you can open.

## Searching versus opening a profile

Searching gives you a short list of possible matches. Opening a profile retrieves
the available details about a chosen company or person.

| What you do                                               | Profiles used |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Search for companies or people                            | 0             |
| Open a new company profile successfully                   | 1             |
| Open a new person profile successfully                    | 1             |
| Reopen the same profile within an eligible 24-hour window | 0             |
| Connect your assistant or check its connection            | 0             |

Searching still requires an active allowance. Using another connected app does
not give you a separate allowance: usage belongs to your Datalayer account.

For example, searching for five companies uses no profiles. Opening the full
profiles of two new matches uses two profiles.

## What if I open the same profile again?

An eligible repeat within 24 hours is included. The clock starts when you first
use a profile for that lookup. Reopening it does not restart the clock.

You still need an active allowance, and the allowance used for the original
lookup must not have been reversed. After the window ends, a new successful
lookup can use another profile.

## What if information is missing?

A successful profile lookup counts even when some details are missing. Work email
is included when requested, but the person lookup still counts if no email is
available or the email check is inconclusive.

No match or a failed data-provider request does not create a new profile charge.
A connection error can happen after a lookup has completed, however. Check your
dashboard usage before assuming it used nothing.

## Keep a research task small

Ask your assistant to show search matches first and wait before opening full
profiles. This lets you choose what is worth researching. See the
[example questions](/examples) for wording you can copy.

If requests happen too quickly, Datalayer may ask you to wait. Your account allows
up to 60 data requests per minute; provider limits can also apply. People searches
can sometimes take longer or time out.

## Plans during private preview

Paid checkout is not available yet. The planned offering is **USD 25/month for
1,000 profiles**, with another USD 25 for 1,000 more within the same paid period.
Unused profiles would not roll over, and extra profiles would expire at renewal.
This is the planned offering, not a plan you can purchase today.

Building an integration? See [usage metadata and safe retries](/api-reference/usage)
for the technical rules.