Usage and limits

Exploring Estel through MCP is free within daily quotas. Enriching a lead uses a credit from your plan. Limits apply per Estel user and are shared by all of that user's API keys and connected apps.

Daily quotas

Quota	Default per day	Used by
Lead explores	2,000	search_leads (1 per lead returned), get_lead (1)
Company explores	1,000	search_companies (1 per company returned), get_company (1)
Market insight queries	500	get_market_insights (1 per call)
Enrichments	300	enrich_lead, for leads it newly unlocks. Each one also needs a credit
Signals, account usage, filter options	Unmetered	search_signals, get_account_usage, get_filter_options

Quotas reset at 00:00 UTC. Some plans, such as Enterprise agreements, set different limits. get_account_usage always shows the ones that apply to you.

How explores are counted

• Quotas count records, not calls. A search page of 10 leads uses 10 lead explores. A page of 25 uses 25.
• You're only charged for what comes back. A search with 3 matches uses 3. An id that doesn't exist uses nothing.
• When fewer explores remain than the page_size you asked for, the page is shortened to fit, and notes says so.
• When none remain, the tool fails with quota_exceeded. The error details include the quota and when it resets.

Every metered result includes a quota object, so your assistant always knows how much is left:

{ "used": 120, "limit": 2000, "remaining": 1880, "resets_at": "2026-10-15T00:00:00+00:00" }

Getting more out of your quota

• For "how many" questions, use get_market_insights. One query replaces counting through hundreds of search results.
• Narrow searches with filters, and use a smaller page_size when you only need the top results.
• search_signals is free. Use it to find companies worth a closer look.

Enrichment credits

• enrich_lead costs 1 credit for each lead it newly unlocks.
• Credits come from your Estel plan's monthly lead credits, the same pool the Estel app uses.
• A lead that's already unlocked is free, whether you unlocked it through MCP or engaged with it in the app.
• When you run out, enrich_lead fails with insufficient_credits, and everything else keeps working.
• get_account_usage shows enrichment_credits: used, limit, remaining and resets_at. A null limit means your plan has unlimited credits.

Rate limits

• Per user: 60 tool calls per minute across all tools and credentials. Going over returns rate_limited, with retry_after_seconds in the error details.
• Per IP address: limits on overall request volume, failed authentication attempts and OAuth client registrations protect the service. Going over returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header.
• Query time: very broad queries can take too long and fail with query_timeout. Add filters such as location, title or posted_within_days, and retry.

Checking your usage

Ask your assistant to "show my Estel usage", or call get_account_usage. It returns:

• your plan
• your remaining credits
• each daily quota, with used, limit, remaining and resets_at
• the per-minute call limit
• the scopes of the credential you're using