🔍 Overview

If you purchased a plan that includes a set number of OTTO Sites but the count displayed in your dashboard looks lower than expected, Deep Freeze is the most likely cause. This article explains how OTTO Sites quota works, what Deep Freeze does to a slot, and what you can do right now.

📊 Understanding Your OTTO Sites Quota

Your plan includes a fixed number of OTTO Sites slots. Each slot can be assigned to one active project. You can check your current usage by navigating to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO (or visiting /seo-automation-v3) and looking at the Active Sites count.

You may notice two slightly different numbers in your account:

• Plan quota — the total number of OTTO Sites slots included in your subscription (e.g., 4 on the PRO annual plan).
• Active Sites — the number of slots currently available or in use, which may be lower if one or more slots are in a Deep Freeze state.

🧊 What Is Deep Freeze?

When you disconnect or deactivate an OTTO Site, the slot does not become available again instantly. Instead, it enters a temporary Deep Freeze period. During this period:

• The slot is held for a short cooldown window and is not available for a new project.
• Your Active Sites count will appear lower than your total plan quota.
• The frozen slot will be released automatically once the cooldown period ends.

This is expected behaviour and is not a billing error or a system discrepancy.

💡 Example: PRO Plan with 5 OTTO Sites

Here is a common scenario that explains the numbers customers see:

1. You purchase the PRO annual plan, which includes 5 OTTO Sites.
2. You previously disconnected one site, placing that slot into Deep Freeze.
3. Your dashboard shows 4 available slots in the OTTO Sites quota and only 3 Active Sites — because one slot is frozen and one is already assigned.
4. Once the Deep Freeze cooldown expires, the frozen slot is released and your available count returns to the expected number.

🛠️ What You Can Do Right Now

While we are actively improving how frozen slots are displayed — including upcoming features that will show you exactly when each frozen slot will be released — here are the steps you can take today:

1. Go to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO and open your projects table.
2. Look for any projects that are marked as disconnected, inactive, or in a frozen state.
3. If a project is no longer needed, you can delete it entirely to free its slot sooner. Deleting a Deep Frozen project is now supported and will release the slot without waiting for the full cooldown.
4. If no projects appear frozen but your count is still lower than expected, the cooldown window may still be active — allow up to 14 days for the slot to be automatically released.

🚀 Improvements Coming Soon

Our engineering team is working on several improvements to make this experience clearer:

• A per-slot countdown timer will appear in the projects table, showing the exact date and time each frozen slot will be released.
• A per-slot quota ledger will give you a transparent breakdown of all your slots and their current states.

These updates will make it much easier to understand your quota at a glance and plan accordingly.

❓ Still Seeing an Unexpected Count?

If you have waited 14 days, deleted any unused frozen projects, and your quota still does not match what your plan includes, there may be something else to investigate. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Additional Notes

The 14-day hold period: Deep Freezing does not instantly release quota; the slot is held for 14 days before returning to available quota. This is hardcoded and cannot be overridden, waived, or expedited by support under any circumstance.