How Billing Works

osmTalk uses prepaid credits. You buy ₹X of credits, you spend ₹Y per call, you see exactly what was spent on what. When you run low, you top up. There's no monthly subscription.

The simplest mental model

Think of it like prepaid mobile recharge:

You top up ₹500
Each call costs some money (typically ₹2-5 per minute)
The balance drops as you use it
When low, top up again
Unused balance never expires

What a call actually costs

Every voice call uses 3-4 AI services that osmTalk pays for. We add a small margin (30%) and pass the cost to you in INR. A typical breakdown:

A 60-second English call:

  LLM (the AI brain):           ₹0.40
  STT (speech-to-text):         ₹0.50
  TTS (text-to-speech):         ₹2.20
  SIP (phone line, if any):     ₹0.30
  ─────────────────────────────────────
  Total cost (provider):        ₹3.40
  + 30% margin:                 ₹1.02
  ─────────────────────────────────────
  Total charged to you:         ₹4.42

Every call in your dashboard shows this exact breakdown — you can audit it.

Web vs phone — the price difference

Type	Costs	Why
Phone calls	LLM + STT + TTS + SIP	You pay per minute for the phone line
Web widget voice	LLM + STT + TTS	No phone line — uses your visitor's browser
WhatsApp voice	LLM + STT + TTS	Meta provides the channel
Chat (text)	LLM only	No voice → no STT/TTS

Phone calls are typically the most expensive. Web/widget voice is ~30% cheaper. Chat is ~95% cheaper.

Credits work across osmTalk and osmAPI

osmTalk and osmAPI (our LLM API gateway) share one credit balance.

You can top up on either platform. The credits work on both:

Platform	What you spend on
osmTalk	Voice calls, chats, campaigns
osmAPI	Raw LLM API calls (GPT, Claude, etc.)

Useful if you're building a product that needs both.

What happens at zero balance

Three things in this order:

Below ₹10: Calls are refused immediately with an error. You can't accidentally bury yourself in negative balance.
Email alert: We email you when you cross the threshold, so you know to top up.
Existing calls finish: Calls already in progress are NOT cut off mid-call. We finish them, even if it goes a bit below zero.

When you sign up, you usually get a welcome bonus of free credits. We also occasionally run coupon promotions.

Promo credits are separate from your paid balance:

Promo balance: ₹50      ← spent FIRST
Paid balance:  ₹500     ← used after promo runs out

This means free credits get used up before you spend a paisa of your own money.

Redeem a coupon code

Go to Billing in the sidebar
Click Redeem Coupon
Enter the code (case-sensitive)
See the bonus amount
Click Confirm

The bonus is added instantly.

How to see your spending

The Billing page shows:


Available balance	What you can spend right now (paid + promo combined)
Promo balance	The free portion
Paid balance	What you've topped up
This month's usage	Total spend in the current calendar month
Transaction history	Every top-up and deduction

The Calls page shows the cost of each individual call — click a call row to see the full breakdown (LLM + STT + TTS + SIP).

Common questions

"Why do my test calls cost real money?" Because they use real AI providers. A 1-minute test = ~₹1. We don't charge for the call you reject mid-ring.

"Can I get a refund?" Yes, unused balance is refundable. Email support.

"How fresh is the balance shown?" It's updated after every call completes (~5 seconds after hangup). The Calls page updates live.

"Do I pay for failed calls?" No. Failed calls (bot crashes, SIP errors, never-connected) are not charged.

"Do I pay for voicemail?" Yes — but if you enable voicemail detection, the bot hangs up in ~2 seconds and the call costs almost nothing.

What's next

Top up credits — how to add money
Pricing — exact rates for each provider
Credits page — understanding the dashboard

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