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

# FAQ

> Frequently asked questions about Smelt

## General

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is Smelt?">
    Smelt is an AI-powered copy generation platform for creating personalized cold email content at scale. Upload your lead CSV, choose templates, and generate unique personalized copy for every prospect.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is Smelt different from ChatGPT?">
    Smelt is designed for **batch processing**. ChatGPT can write one email at a time—you'd copy/paste each lead's info manually. Smelt reads your entire CSV and generates unique copy for every lead automatically, with quality scoring and export features.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is Smelt different from Clay?">
    Different stages of the workflow:

    * **Clay** = Data enrichment (finding information about leads)
    * **Smelt** = Copy generation (writing personalized messages using your data)

    Many users use both: Clay to enrich, then Smelt to write.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What AI model does Smelt use?">
    GPT-4o-mini by default. This provides excellent quality at low cost. Model selection may expand in future updates.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What sending tools work with Smelt?">
    Any tool that accepts CSV import:

    * Instantly
    * Lemlist
    * Smartlead
    * Apollo sequences
    * Any custom sending infrastructure
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Pricing & Billing

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How much does Smelt cost?">
    * **Free tier:** \$0 for 250 rows/month
    * **Starter:** $29/mo (BYOK) or $49/mo (Managed) for 5,000 rows
    * **Growth:** $79/mo (BYOK) or $129/mo (Managed) for 25,000 rows
    * **Scale:** $199/mo (BYOK) or $299/mo (Managed) for 100,000 rows
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's the difference between BYOK and Managed?">
    * **BYOK (Bring Your Own Key):** You provide your OpenAI API key and pay OpenAI directly for AI costs. Lower monthly fee.
    * **Managed:** Smelt handles all AI costs. No API key needed. Simpler billing, slightly higher monthly fee.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do template tests count toward usage?">
    **Yes!** Each test counts as 1 row of usage. Test strategically to conserve your allowance.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do unused rows roll over?">
    **No.** Usage resets at the start of each billing cycle. Unused rows do not roll over.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if I hit my limit?">
    Jobs are blocked from starting. You'll see a clear error message with your usage details and an option to upgrade.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I upgrade mid-cycle?">
    Yes! Your new limit takes effect immediately. You're prorated for the billing change.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Technical

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What file formats are supported?">
    **CSV only.** Maximum 50MB file size, up to 50,000 rows per file.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What encoding should I use?">
    **UTF-8 recommended.** Also supports UTF-16, Latin-1, and Windows-1252.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I use my own AI prompts?">
    Yes! Create fully custom templates with your own prompts. Use `{{Column}}` variables to reference your CSV data.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I edit outputs after generation?">
    Yes! Inline editing is available in the results view. Quality flags are automatically rechecked after edits.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What are quality flags?">
    Automated warnings about potential issues in generated output. Smelt checks for 11 different issues including length problems, forbidden words, AI-speak, placeholders, and more.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is template chaining?">
    Using the output from one template as input to another. For example: Template 1 generates a hook → Template 2 uses that hook to write the email body.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How long do jobs take?">
    Depends on row count. Smelt processes 5 rows in parallel. Rough estimates:

    * 100 rows: \~1-2 minutes
    * 1,000 rows: \~10-15 minutes
    * 10,000 rows: \~1-2 hours
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Security

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is my data secure?">
    Yes. Files are stored in encrypted cloud storage (AWS S3). Your data is isolated—other users cannot see it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How are API keys stored?">
    API keys are encrypted with **AES-256-GCM** encryption. They are never stored in plain text and never visible after saving.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who can see my data?">
    Only you. All data is isolated per account. Smelt staff do not access customer data except for support requests with explicit permission.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I delete my data?">
    Yes. You can delete individual files from the Files page. Deleting a file removes it from cloud storage.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Smelt train on my data?">
    No. Your data is used only to generate your outputs. It is not used to train any AI models.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Still Have Questions?

<Card title="Contact Support" icon="envelope" href="mailto:support@getsmelt.io">
  Email us at [support@getsmelt.io](mailto:support@getsmelt.io)
</Card>