To use Notion AI, first check the workspace you are in and its plan. Current Business and Enterprise plans include Notion AI; Free and Plus workspaces have limited complimentary AI responses. Buying Plus alone is not the same as unlocking the full Business AI offering. The old instruction to turn on a universal $10-per-member AI add-on does not describe the current standard setup.
Official documentation checked October 14, 2026. Existing contracts and the offer shown in your workspace may differ; review the actual billing confirmation before purchasing.
Check the Workspace and Access You Already Have
Open the workspace switcher and confirm that you are in the intended workspace. Access in your personal workspace does not establish access in a client’s or employer’s workspace. Also confirm whether you are a member or a guest; do not change someone’s role simply to work around a billing screen.
Notion’s AI overview lists the included plans and available features. A missing model, a paused allowance and an inaccessible page are different problems. Record the exact message you see before changing your subscription.
- Free or Plus: use the available complimentary responses for a small test. An upgrade prompt after the trial is not a cache error.
- Business or Enterprise: check usage and workspace controls before assuming another purchase is required.
- Managed workspace: ask the owner or administrator to verify the plan and allowed features. An ordinary member should not be given billing privileges merely to troubleshoot AI.
Open Notion AI and Run a Small Test
- Open Notion AI in the sidebar, or use the circular face icon at the bottom right, as described in Notion’s getting-started guide.
- Choose a short page that you can already open. Start with a read-only request such as: “Summarize this page in three bullets. Do not edit it.” Provide the page as context rather than expecting a similarly named page to be selected automatically.
- Check the response against the page. A successful reply confirms that this request worked; it does not prove access to every page, connected app or AI feature.
- If the workspace has exhausted complimentary responses, ask the workspace owner to review the upgrade offer on desktop. Notion’s trial guidance identifies Business or Enterprise as the upgrade path for continued AI use.
Before approving an upgrade, confirm the workspace name, billable member count, billing interval, currency, taxes and any trial terms. Keep the invoice or confirmation. Do not accept an unexplained charge while troubleshooting a missing button.
Enable a Premium Model Only If Needed
Premium-model access is a separate control, not the master activation switch for all Notion AI. According to Notion’s model and credit controls, an owner or admin can open Settings → Notion AI → Usage, find the relevant model and enable it. The workspace needs credits, and individual spending limits can also apply. Business trials may lack the model picker.
Start with the models already included in the plan if they meet the task. Enabling a premium model can spend credits; get the workspace’s budget approval first. Model settings for a personal Notion Agent and those for Custom Agents are separate. Do not assume that changing one unlocks the other.
Troubleshoot the Specific Failure
- AI pauses after working earlier: inspect Settings → Notion AI → Usage. The usage guide explains refresh windows and optional, administrator-enabled credit usage. Reloading cannot reset a usage allowance.
- A specific model is missing: ask the admin to check model enablement, available credits and your spending limit. Do not buy a second personal subscription blindly.
- One page cannot be used: open that exact page yourself and confirm its sharing permissions. AI access does not override the page’s permissions.
- The panel fails everywhere: save your work, update the app, then compare with Notion in a supported browser. Record the app version, time and error for support. Avoid deleting local data as a first step.
Activation is complete when the intended account can use the intended AI feature on an authorized test page. Keep plan changes, model permissions and content permissions separate so you can correct the actual problem without unnecessary spending or broader access.