# Why does my visitor only see the recording and not a live demo?

> A visitor gets the recording when your live demos are used up, every live seat is busy, or your settings hold their request for your approval. They can still ask questions in chat, and you still get their details. The message they see tells you which, and each cause has its own fix.

Reviewed 2026-10-27.

## What the visitor sees, and why

- Today's live demos are fully booked: your link reached its daily limit, 5 live demos in any 24 hours on the trial and the Free plan, or at least 40 on a paid plan. [The daily limit](https://demopage.io/help/daily-live-demo-limit.md)
- Live demos are fully booked for now: your live demos for the month are used up. On the trial and the Free plan, that's 10 in your first 30 days and 3 in any 30 days after that. On a paid plan, it's your monthly live demos plus top-ups. [When live demos run out](https://demopage.io/help/out-of-live-demos.md)
- You've started a few live demos in the last hour: the same visitor started 3 live demos in the last hour, the most one visitor gets.
- Every live seat is in use right now: the visitor waits in line on the recording, sees You're number 2 in line for the live demo, and switches over when a seat frees, unless they press Stay on the recording. [The waiting line](https://demopage.io/help/waiting-line.md)
- A note that your team confirms live demos first, such as The Northwind team confirms live demos first: your Who gets a live demo setting held this visitor. Approve them from the alert's Approve or decline link, or under Live demo requests on the Leads tab. They switch to live, or get a start link by email if they left. [Approve a request](https://demopage.io/help/approve-a-request.md)
- That live demo link has expired or was already used: the visitor opened an approved start link a second time, or more than 48 hours after you approved it.
- This link plays the recording: live demos are switched off for your link on our side. [Talk to us](https://demopage.io/help/contact-us.md)
- Your own tests count toward the daily limit, even though they don't use your monthly live demos. [Try your demo](https://demopage.io/help/test-your-demo.md)

![Live demo requests on the Leads tab: a request waiting for your approval, with Approve and Decline.](https://storage.googleapis.com/demopage-media/docs/live-requests.82d5ce2fcd94.webp)

## Your settings

Who gets a live demo, under Where alerts go on the Leads tab, decides who waits for you. Everyone, right away lets every visitor in, Work emails right away; personal emails wait for us holds personal addresses, and We approve each request holds everyone. Always let in and Always hold for us override it for the domains you list. [How each option works](https://demopage.io/help/who-gets-a-live-demo.md)

[Clip: Opening the Who gets a live demo menu in Where alerts go on the Northwind Leads tab and choosing We approve each request.](https://storage.googleapis.com/demopage-media/docs/access-choose.f729b6c8d7bb.mp4)

## Get live demos back

- Limits count back from now, over the last 24 hours and the last 30 days, so live demos come back as older ones age out. [Do live demos roll over?](https://demopage.io/help/do-live-demos-roll-over.md)
- On a paid plan, add live demos under Need more live demos this month? on the Plan tab, or move to a bigger pack with Change plan. [Add a top-up](https://demopage.io/help/top-up.md)
- On the trial or the Free plan, pick a plan on the Plan tab. [Plans compared](https://demopage.io/help/plans-compared.md)
- Plan and usage, on the Plan tab, shows how many live demos counted. [What counts as a live demo](https://demopage.io/help/live-demo-count.md)

![The Plan tab on a Starter plan: live demos used, Need more live demos this month? with a top-up, Change plan, and Cancel plan.](https://storage.googleapis.com/demopage-media/docs/plan-paid.beaec08a9adb.webp)

## Related questions

- [What happens when I run out of live demos?](https://demopage.io/help/out-of-live-demos.md)
- [Is there a daily limit on live demos?](https://demopage.io/help/daily-live-demo-limit.md)
- [Who gets a live demo, and how do I control it?](https://demopage.io/help/who-gets-a-live-demo.md)
- [What happens when every live demo seat is busy?](https://demopage.io/help/waiting-line.md)
- [How do I approve or decline a live demo request?](https://demopage.io/help/approve-a-request.md)
- [Can I add a few more live demos without changing plans?](https://demopage.io/help/top-up.md)

Still stuck? Email hello@demopage.io. All questions: [Help center](https://demopage.io/help.md).