The Free plan 5-packet cap

The number that actually stops a send on Inkpacket is the monthly packet cap, not a seat ceiling and not a published price. Free allows 5 packets a month. Free at 5 packets is the live send cap. Desk send, each bulk-send row, each Web Form fill, and POST /api/v1/packets/:id/send share it. Hitting it returns HTTP 402 and code ENVELOPE_LIMIT. Send opens again at the start of the next UTC month.

The lane comparison is choosing a plan: Free vs paid lanes. Desk help is Docs. Pricing lists the same 5. This guide is the cap itself: what counts, what does not, and why Starter lists more packets than Free.

What counts as a packet

• A desk send from an uploaded PDF or a template.
• Each unique email that a bulk job actually sends. Duplicate rows in that job go out once. Retries skip rows that already sent.
• Each Web Form fill. The slug is not a packet; the created-and-sent packet is.
• An API send from a template. Create without send does not spend the cap.

One packet with several signers is still one packet. Sequential or parallel routing does not multiply the count. Send one envelope to multiple signers is that path. A reminder, a resend, a correct, or a void does not mint a second packet. A second create-and-send does. If you only needed another copy of the link, stay on the same packet id.

API create-from-template can sit as a draft. The cap fires on send. Retries that send an Idempotency-Key do not invent a twin when the first send already succeeded. A failed send that never left draft does not spend the month. Read the 402 body before you POST again.

What does not count

• Saving a template.
• Publishing or closing a Web Form without a fill.
• Minting an API token.
• A webhook delivery.
• An SMS or email that soft-fails after the packet already exists.

Starter lists more packets

Starter is 20 packets — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms versus Free’s 1. You pick Starter when a second and third public form matter, not because you outgrew Free’s 5. Growth is 100 packets. Agency is 500. Each paid lane lists more packets than Free. The FAQ says that in the same words.

Seat counts on Pricing are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full. There is no seat-cap HTTP status. Planning team seats is that ceiling. Monthly packets and published Web Forms remain the live gates.

When you hit it

The desk shows that the free plan has reached its monthly packet limit (5). The public API returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT. A bulk row that would exceed the cap fails that row the same way. Packets already sent stay sent. You do not lose in-flight work. Wait for the next UTC month, or stay on the packets you already have — void, correct, and resend still run on those ids. Access-code 429 is a PIN lockout, not this cap. Each API token allows 120 requests per minute per token. Over that limit, /api/v1 returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Inkpacket does not send X-RateLimit headers. The monthly send cap is a separate guard.

Do not clone a packet to “retry” a cap error. That is a second send you still cannot complete this month. Copy the signing link on an existing SENT packet if the signer never saw the mail. When to void, correct, or resend keeps you on the same id.

Lists burn the cap faster

A 40-row bulk job is 40 packets if every address is unique and new. Preview the count before you start. Free at 5 packets leaves little room after a large list. Split cohorts across the month if you must. Bulk send for HR and sales envelopes and bulk-send help match the job screen.

The desk does not shrink on Free

The 5 is a count, not a feature lock. Templates, bulk send, sequential or parallel routing, access codes, embed, reminders, expiry, void, correct, resend, API, and webhooks all run on Free. You are not waiting on Starter to place a field. You are waiting on the next UTC month when the 5 is gone. That is the honest ladder — Features lists the same set without the essay.

Billing stays closed

Billing is published, not charging. Checkout is not open. Workspaces start on Free. Listed prices are proposals. You can run the full desk without a payment method. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live. Those flags do not raise or lower the 5. Access-code 429 is a PIN lockout, not a send throttle. Each API token allows 120 requests per minute per token. Over that limit, /api/v1 returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Inkpacket does not send X-RateLimit headers.

Plan the month around 5 real sends, not around a paid lane you cannot check out yet. Web Form fills from a public slug count the same as a desk send — preview traffic is not a packet; submit is. Web Form intake is when strangers start the packet. Open a workspace on Free. Read published pricing for the proposed ladder. Keep billing help open if you want the HTTP 402 sentence next to the closed checkout.