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Sending

Why was the daily limit not reached?

In short

Why did my Reply sequence not reach its daily sending limit?

A daily limit is a ceiling, not a target. The number actually sent is the smallest of several limits: the mailbox cap, the sequence cap, and how many sends fit into the schedule window at the configured delay. Ramp-up lowers the mailbox cap further while it is running.

Quick fix

  1. Work out how many sends actually fit: divide your open schedule window by the delay between emails. A 300-second delay in an 8-hour window allows about 96 emails, whatever the limit says.
  2. Check whether ramp-up is running on the sending mailboxes, while it is, it sets the day's cap, not your configured value.
  3. Compare the mailbox cap and the sequence cap. The smaller one decides the day.
  4. Check Max new daily contacts on the sequence; it controls how many contacts enter, and therefore how many emails become due.
  5. Re-check tomorrow after changing one of these, so you can tell which one bound.

Didn't work? Contact Reply support; the team can check your account directly.

Symptom

The sequence is green, has plenty of Active contacts, and its daily limit is set high, but the day ends with a fraction of that number sent. Nothing appears in the Logs tab, because nothing failed. Contacts may sit in a Throttled state.

Most likely causes

CauseHow to recognize it
The delay between emails does not fit the volume into the schedule windowThe arithmetic in Quick fix step 1 lands near the number you actually sent
Ramp-up is active on the sending mailboxesThe mailbox's ramp-up setting is on, and the daily figure climbs slightly each day
The mailbox cap is lower than the sequence capThe sequence limit is high, but a mailbox's Safety cap is low
Max new daily contacts throttles how many contacts enter the sequenceContacts show as Throttled rather than moving to step 1
Your plan's monthly active-contact allowance is exhaustedProcessing error: Max unique contacts per month in the Logs tab
Too few contacts are actually due todayContacts are mid-delay between steps, so nothing is scheduled
Several contacts share one recipient domainSending to a single domain is capped per day, independently of everything above

Diagnostic checklist

  1. Do the arithmetic first. Open schedule hours ÷ delay between emails = the practical ceiling for that mailbox. This alone explains most cases, and no error is logged because nothing went wrong.
  2. Check ramp-up. A new mailbox starts low and increases each day. While ramp-up is running, it (not your configured cap) sets the day's number.
  3. Compare the two caps. Settings → Email Accounts → the mailbox → Safety, against the sequence's Max number of emails per day.
  4. Look for Throttled contacts in the People tab. Throttled means the sequence's contact intake, not its email limit, is the constraint.
  5. Check the Logs tab for a monthly unique-contact error.
  6. Count what is actually due. Contacts waiting out a step delay are not available to send to today.

Resolution

The delay and the window do not allow it

Either widen the sending window on the schedule, or shorten the delay between emails. Both change the same arithmetic. Shorten the delay gradually; a sudden increase in pace is what providers react to. The delay can be set anywhere from 20 seconds to 24 hours, and when a maximum delay is also set, each individual send is placed at a random point between the minimum and the maximum, so the real pace sits between the two.

Ramp-up is running

This is working as intended: ramp-up protects a new mailbox by starting low and increasing by a small step each day. Let it finish. If a mailbox was already warmed elsewhere and you are confident it can take the volume, turn ramp-up off deliberately on that mailbox.

The mailbox cap is the binding one

Raise the mailbox's cap in Safety, up to what your plan allows, or add more mailboxes to the sequence (up to 100) so the sequence's capacity is the sum of theirs. See Limits.

Contacts are Throttled

Raise Max new daily contacts on the sequence. This controls how many contacts start the sequence each day, which is separate from how many emails go out. If you never set it, it does not bind.

The monthly allowance is exhausted

Nothing sends to new contacts until the allowance resets on your billing date. Contacts already in flight continue.

Verification

Change one limit at a time and compare tomorrow's total. Changing several at once makes it impossible to tell which one was binding, and one of them still will be, because the smallest always decides.

Prevention

  • Treat the daily limit as a ceiling and plan against the schedule-window arithmetic instead.
  • Give a sequence a wide enough sending window for its volume at the delay you want.
  • Let ramp-up finish on new mailboxes rather than turning it off.
  • Add mailboxes to raise capacity, rather than pushing one mailbox to its maximum.

FAQ

Does a higher sequence limit override the mailbox limit?

No. The smaller of the two decides, always. Raising the sequence limit above the sum of its mailboxes' caps changes nothing.

Which delay applies if the mailbox and the sequence both set one?

The longer of the two. For volume the smaller number wins; for pacing the longer wait wins: the more restrictive setting always applies.

Contacts show as Throttled. Is that an error?

No. Throttled means the sequence's daily contact intake is full. Those contacts start on a following day.

Still stuck? Contact Reply support

If these steps didn't solve the problem, the Reply support team can look at your account directly. Open the Reply Help Center and send the team a message.

To get an answer faster, include:

  • how many emails you expected and how many were sent
  • the sequence's daily limit, the mailbox's Safety cap, and the delay between emails
  • the sequence's schedule, and whether ramp-up is running
  • roughly when this started, and your timezone

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