> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.voicery.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understanding Call Minutes & Billing

> Learn how Voicery.ai billing works, including call minutes calculation, phone number rentals, and usage monitoring

Voicery.ai operates on a **usage-based** model. You pay primarily for two things:

1. The **minutes** your AI spends in calls.
2. Any **dedicated phone number** rentals.

## 1. Included Minutes vs. Pay-as-You-Go

* **Included Minutes**: Plans come with a set of monthly minutes. These are consumed first.
* **Pay-as-You-Go**: If you exceed included minutes (or if you're on a usage-based plan), you pay for each additional minute used.

## 2. How We Calculate Minutes

* **Per-Second Billing**: Typically, Voicery.ai bills by the second (converted to minutes). For example, a 90-second call is 1.5 minutes.

## 3. Monthly Usage & Purchasing Extra

* **Monthly Reset**: If your plan includes minutes, those reset monthly on your billing date.
* **Buying Add-Ons**: You can purchase extra minute bundles if you expect a spike in call volume.
* **Minutes Depot:** You can optionally subscribe to a minutes depot that protects unused minutes from expiring, which is useful if you have variable or fluctuating call volumes.

## 4. Additional Costs

* **Phone Number Rental**: A monthly fee for each dedicated inbound/outbound number you rent (varies by region).
* **Possible Carrier Surcharges**: Some countries may have unique taxes or surcharges—check the [Costs & Pricing](/pricing/overview) section for more details.

## 5. Monitoring Usage

* **Dashboard**: The platform shows your current usage, remaining minutes, and estimated costs to date. Only full minutes are displayed in the dashboard, and all values are always rounded up, meaning the current minute total is shown as a rounded-up figure at all times.
* **Notifications**: You can set up alerts (e.g., "Email me when I hit 80% of monthly minutes") using the no-code automation platform.

**Next Steps**

* Check out our [Costs & Pricing](/pricing/overview) section for a deeper breakdown of number rentals, international rates, inbound vs. outbound cost differences, and more.
* Or proceed to [AI Assistants Overview](/ai-assistants/what-is-ai-assistant) to build your first agent.