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Overview

TalkifAI uses a credit-based billing system. You purchase credits, and credits are consumed as your agents handle conversations. This gives you predictable costs and full control over spending. Key points:
  • Credits are pre-purchased (no surprise monthly bills)
  • Credits never expire
  • Usage tracked per minute for voice, per token for text
  • All billing is per-organization

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How Credits Work

Buy Credits → Deploy Agents → Agents Handle Calls → Credits Consumed
Credits are consumed based on:
Usage TypeCredit Rate
Voice CallPer minute of active conversation
Text ChatPer 1,000 tokens (input + output)
Post-Call AnalysisPer analysis run
Knowledge Base QueriesPer similarity search
Exact credit rates are shown in your Dashboard → Billing page. Rates vary based on your plan and selected AI providers.

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Billing Modes

The cost of running an agent depends on your Key Mode (set in Settings → API Keys):

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TalkifAI Keys Mode (Default)

TalkifAI covers all provider costs (OpenAI, Deepgram, Cartesia, Google). You pay a single per-minute rate that includes everything. Best for: Simplicity. One rate, one invoice. 
You pay TalkifAI Credits
    └── TalkifAI pays: OpenAI + Deepgram + Cartesia

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My Keys (BYOK) Mode

You provide your own provider API keys. You pay TalkifAI a reduced platform fee only. Provider costs are billed directly to your provider accounts. Best for: High-volume deployments where you want direct provider relationships and potentially lower costs. 
You pay TalkifAI Credits (platform fee only)
    +
You pay OpenAI directly (LLM costs)
You pay Deepgram directly (STT costs)
You pay Cartesia directly (TTS costs)

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Purchasing Credits

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Via Dashboard

  1. Go to Settings → Billing
  2. Click Add Credits
  3. Select a credit package or enter a custom amount
  4. Complete payment via credit card
  5. Credits are added instantly to your account

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Credit Packages

PackageCreditsPrice
Starter1,000$10
Growth5,000$45 (10% off)
Scale20,000$160 (20% off)
EnterpriseCustomContact us

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Auto Top-Up

Prevent service interruptions by enabling automatic credit top-up:
  1. Go to Settings → Billing
  2. Enable Auto Top-Up
  3. Set a Low Balance Threshold (e.g., 500 credits)
  4. Set a Top-Up Amount (e.g., 2,000 credits)
  5. Save your payment method
When your balance drops below the threshold, TalkifAI automatically purchases the configured amount and charges your saved payment method.
Auto top-up uses your saved payment method. Update it in Settings → Billing → Payment Methods.

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Monitoring Usage

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Credit Balance

Your current balance is shown in the top navigation bar of Studio. Click it to go to the Billing page.

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Usage Breakdown

Go to Settings → Billing → Usage to see:
  • Credits consumed per day / week / month
  • Breakdown by agent
  • Breakdown by call type (voice, text, analysis)
  • Export usage as CSV

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Usage Alerts

Set up alerts to notify you before credits run out:
  1. Go to Settings → Billing → Alerts
  2. Enable Low Balance Alert
  3. Set threshold (e.g., “Alert me when below 1,000 credits”)
  4. Enter notification email
  5. Save

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Developer Quotas

For developer accounts within your organization, you can set monthly minute limits to control individual usage:
  • Default quota: 3,000 minutes/month per developer
  • Check current usage: Analytics → Usage by Member
  • Adjust quota: Settings → Team → [Member] → Edit Quota
When a developer reaches their quota, their calls are blocked until the next month or until their quota is increased by an admin.

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Cost Optimization

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Choose the Right Architecture

ArchitectureRelative CostBest For
Realtime (OpenAI/Gemini)HigherLow-latency priority
PipelineModerateBalance of cost + flexibility
Text ChatLowestNon-voice use cases

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Choose Cost-Effective Providers

When using Pipeline architecture, mixing providers affects cost: 
Most Expensive: OpenAI GPT-4o + ElevenLabs + Deepgram
Most Balanced:  GPT-4o-mini + Cartesia + Deepgram
Most Affordable: Gemini Flash + Cartesia + Deepgram

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Optimize Post-Call Analysis

Post-call analysis adds to cost. Optimize by:
  • Use GPT-4o-mini or Gemini Flash (cheaper than GPT-4o)
  • Limit analysis to 5-7 fields (fewer = cheaper)
  • Analyze 100% for compliance, sample 10-20% for general QA

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Reduce Call Duration

Shorter calls = fewer credits. Improve agent efficiency:
  • Write concise system prompts (agents that talk less)
  • Enable inactivity timeout to end abandoned calls
  • Use effective triage to route calls faster

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Invoices & Billing History

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Download Invoices

  1. Go to Settings → Billing → History
  2. Click Download Invoice next to any purchase
  3. Invoices are in PDF format for accounting

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Billing Email

By default, receipts go to the organization owner’s email. Update:
  1. Go to Settings → Billing
  2. Under Billing Email, enter the desired address
  3. Save

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Enterprise & Custom Plans

For high-volume deployments or custom requirements:
  • Volume discounts on large credit purchases
  • Monthly invoicing instead of pre-purchase
  • Dedicated support SLA
  • Custom rate limits for batch calling
  • SLA guarantees for uptime
Contact support@talkifai.dev or your account manager for enterprise pricing.

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Troubleshooting

Problem: Agents stop working due to low balance.Solutions:
  1. Purchase additional credits in Settings → Billing
  2. Enable Auto Top-Up to prevent future outages
  3. Set a Low Balance Alert to be notified early
Check:
  1. Go to Settings → Billing → Usage to see which agents/call types are consuming most
  2. Look for unusually long calls (inactivity timeout may be off)
  3. Check if Post-Call Analysis is running on all calls unnecessarily
  4. Verify no test agent is running in an infinite loop
Quick wins: Enable inactivity timeout, switch to cheaper LLM model for low-stakes agents.
Common causes:
  • Card declined by bank (3D Secure / international transaction)
  • Card expired
  • Insufficient funds
Fix:
  1. Update payment method in Settings → Billing → Payment Methods
  2. Try a different card
  3. Contact your bank if card is being declined
Contact support: Email support@talkifai.dev with your invoice number. Include the dates in question and your usage CSV export from the billing dashboard.

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Next Steps

Add Credits

Purchase credits to start deploying agents.

Enable Auto Top-Up

Never run out of credits with automatic balance management.

Optimize Costs

Review Analytics to find cost reduction opportunities.

API Key Mode

Switch to BYOK mode to reduce per-minute costs at scale.