diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/projects/Project.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/projects/Project.tsx
index b656bda19985bd..a96b521feeb214 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/projects/Project.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/projects/Project.tsx
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@ import { getGitpodService, gitpodHostUrl } from "../service/service";
 import { TeamsContext, getCurrentTeam } from "../teams/teams-context";
 import { prebuildStatusIcon, prebuildStatusLabel } from "./Prebuilds";
 import { shortCommitMessage, toRemoteURL } from "./render-utils";
-import Spinner from "../icons/Spinner.svg";
+import { ReactComponent as Spinner } from "../icons/Spinner.svg";
 import NoAccess from "../icons/NoAccess.svg";
 import { ErrorCodes } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/messaging/error";
 import { openAuthorizeWindow } from "../provider-utils";
+import Alert from "../components/Alert";
 
 export default function () {
     const location = useLocation();
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ export default function () {
     const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState<boolean>(false);
     const [isLoadingBranches, setIsLoadingBranches] = useState<boolean>(false);
     const [branches, setBranches] = useState<Project.BranchDetails[]>([]);
+    const [isConsideredInactive, setIsConsideredInactive] = useState<boolean>(false);
+    const [isResuming, setIsResuming] = useState<boolean>(false);
     const [prebuilds, setPrebuilds] = useState<Map<string, PrebuildWithStatus | undefined>>(new Map());
     const [prebuildLoaders] = useState<Set<string>>(new Set());
 
@@ -91,6 +94,7 @@ export default function () {
                 // default branch on top of the rest
                 const branches = details.branches.sort((a, b) => (b.isDefault as any) - (a.isDefault as any)) || [];
                 setBranches(branches);
+                setIsConsideredInactive(!!details.isConsideredInactive);
             }
         } finally {
             setIsLoadingBranches(false);
@@ -184,6 +188,22 @@ export default function () {
         return date ? dayjs(date).fromNow() : "";
     };
 
+    const resumePrebuilds = async () => {
+        if (!project) {
+            return;
+        }
+        try {
+            setIsResuming(true);
+            const response = await getGitpodService().server.triggerPrebuild(project.id, null);
+            setIsConsideredInactive(false);
+            history.push(`/${!!team ? "t/" + team.slug : "projects"}/${projectSlug}/${response.prebuildId}`);
+        } catch (error) {
+            console.error(error);
+        } finally {
+            setIsResuming(false);
+        }
+    };
+
     return (
         <>
             <Header
@@ -243,7 +263,7 @@ export default function () {
                             <div className="flex-1" />
                             {isLoading && (
                                 <div className="flex justify-center w-1/12">
-                                    <img alt="" className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" src={Spinner} />
+                                    <Spinner className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
                                 </div>
                             )}
                         </div>
@@ -259,9 +279,34 @@ export default function () {
                                     <span>Prebuild</span>
                                 </ItemField>
                             </Item>
+                            {isConsideredInactive && (
+                                <Alert
+                                    type={"warning"}
+                                    onClose={() => {}}
+                                    showIcon={true}
+                                    className="flex rounded mb-2 w-full"
+                                >
+                                    To reduce resource usage, prebuilds are automatically paused when not used for a
+                                    workspace after 7 days.{" "}
+                                    {isResuming && (
+                                        <>
+                                            Resuming <Spinner className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+                                        </>
+                                    )}
+                                    {!isResuming && (
+                                        <a
+                                            href="javascript:void(0)"
+                                            className="gp-link hover:text-gray-600"
+                                            onClick={() => resumePrebuilds()}
+                                        >
+                                            Resume prebuilds
+                                        </a>
+                                    )}
+                                </Alert>
+                            )}
                             {isLoadingBranches && (
                                 <div className="flex items-center justify-center space-x-2 text-gray-400 text-sm pt-16 pb-40">
-                                    <img className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" src={Spinner} />
+                                    <Spinner className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
                                     <span>Fetching repository branches...</span>
                                 </div>
                             )}
diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
index a3b4a6db3b877f..eeb772bbad9e37 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ export namespace Project {
 
     export interface Overview {
         branches: BranchDetails[];
+        isConsideredInactive?: boolean;
     }
 
     export namespace Overview {
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts b/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
index 8d161ea8546b8d..e734f4b473a022 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
@@ -394,14 +394,7 @@ export class PrebuildManager {
     }
 
     private async shouldSkipInactiveProject(project: Project): Promise<boolean> {
-        const usage = await this.projectService.getProjectUsage(project.id);
-        if (!usage?.lastWorkspaceStart) {
-            return false;
-        }
-        const now = Date.now();
-        const lastUse = new Date(usage.lastWorkspaceStart).getTime();
-        const inactiveProjectTime = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7 * 1; // 1 week
-        return now - lastUse > inactiveProjectTime;
+        return await this.projectService.isProjectConsideredInactive(project.id);
     }
 
     private async shouldSkipInactiveRepository(ctx: TraceContext, cloneURL: string): Promise<boolean> {
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index 196646fa175a82..c42629f8f1d3f1 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -2620,6 +2620,11 @@ export class GitpodServerEEImpl extends GitpodServerImpl {
 
         const context = (await this.contextParser.handle(ctx, user, contextURL)) as CommitContext;
 
+        // HACK: treat manual triggered prebuild as a reset for the inactivity state
+        await this.projectDB.updateProjectUsage(project.id, {
+            lastWorkspaceStart: new Date().toISOString(),
+        });
+
         const prebuild = await this.prebuildManager.startPrebuild(ctx, {
             context,
             user,
diff --git a/components/server/src/projects/projects-service.ts b/components/server/src/projects/projects-service.ts
index b8c946f336feae..067608cafe57c8 100644
--- a/components/server/src/projects/projects-service.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/projects/projects-service.ts
@@ -279,6 +279,17 @@ export class ProjectsService {
         return this.projectDB.getProjectUsage(projectId);
     }
 
+    async isProjectConsideredInactive(projectId: string): Promise<boolean> {
+        const usage = await this.getProjectUsage(projectId);
+        if (!usage?.lastWorkspaceStart) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        const now = Date.now();
+        const lastUse = new Date(usage.lastWorkspaceStart).getTime();
+        const inactiveProjectTime = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7 * 1; // 1 week
+        return now - lastUse > inactiveProjectTime;
+    }
+
     async getPrebuildEvents(cloneUrl: string): Promise<PrebuildEvent[]> {
         const events = await this.webhookEventDB.findByCloneUrl(cloneUrl, 100);
         return events.map((we) => ({
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index 9d34e1092fbef5..b2797cbf4c0f78 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -2345,7 +2345,11 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
         }
         await this.guardProjectOperation(user, projectId, "get");
         try {
-            return await this.projectsService.getProjectOverviewCached(user, project);
+            const result = await this.projectsService.getProjectOverviewCached(user, project);
+            if (result) {
+                result.isConsideredInactive = await this.projectsService.isProjectConsideredInactive(project.id);
+            }
+            return result;
         } catch (error) {
             if (UnauthorizedError.is(error)) {
                 throw new ResponseError(ErrorCodes.NOT_AUTHENTICATED, "Unauthorized", error.data);