How Retell billing works: prepaid credits and auto recharge on credit-based accounts, end-of-month billing on legacy accounts, plus usage tracking and invoices.
The Billing tab in your dashboard is where you manage payments, buy credits, track usage, and download invoices. Retell has two billing versions, and this page covers both.
Check the Billing tab to see which version applies to your workspace:
Credit-based billing — your Billing page shows a Credits Balance with Buy credits and Auto recharge buttons. You pay for usage upfront with prepaid credits. This applies to newer accounts.
Monthly billing (legacy) — your Billing page shows only monthly invoices, with no credit balance. Usage is billed at the end of each period. This applies to accounts created before credit-based billing was introduced.
Billing is scoped per workspace, not per account. Every workspace, including new ones you create later, has its own payment method, credit balance, invoices, and usage totals. Adding a card in one workspace does not carry it over to another workspace under the same login: switch into each new workspace and add a payment method there before running calls. See Create and manage Retell workspaces for how to switch workspaces.
Billing page on a credit-based account, showing the Credits Balance with the Buy credits and Auto recharge buttons
Credit-based accounts pay for usage with a prepaid credit balance:
Usage costs — everything metered, such as per-minute call costs (voice, LLM, telephony) — are deducted from your credit balance in real time.
Subscription items — phone numbers, knowledge bases beyond the free tier, calls per second (CPS), and purchased concurrency — are not paid with credits. They are billed to your payment method on file at the end of each billing cycle.
The billing cycle runs from the 1st of the month to the end of the month. Subscription items purchased mid-month are prorated for the portion of the month they were active.New accounts start with $10 in free trial credits so you can test Retell before adding a payment method.
When your credit balance reaches zero, new calls are blocked until you buy credits or auto recharge tops up your balance. Set up auto recharge to avoid interruptions.
These are charged to your payment method on file and prorated if purchased mid-cycle. Download invoices from the Billing page by clicking the “Invoice” button next to the respective period.
To stop accruing charges on a credit-based account:
Turn off auto recharge so your balance is not topped up automatically.
Release any phone numbers you own. Numbers are billed monthly until released. Remove the number from the Phone Numbers page, or call the Delete Phone Number API.
Delete knowledge bases beyond the free tier and remove any CPS or concurrency upgrades. These are billed monthly until removed.
Settle any outstanding invoices on the Billing page.
Remaining credits are non-refundable, so spend down your balance before closing your account. To close your account entirely, follow Delete your account after completing the steps above.
The Billing tab allows you to manage payments, track expenses, and download invoices:
Payment management: We use Stripe for secure and reliable payment processing. Update your payment methods by clicking the “Change payment methods” button.
Billing history: Review your monthly expenses, including cost breakdowns by category (e.g., Voice Infra, LLM).
Invoices: Download invoices by clicking the “Invoice” button next to the respective period.
Current charges: View ongoing costs for the current billing period, including itemized amounts and usage details.
Legacy accounts use post-usage billing, not a prepaid credit balance. You are charged at the end of each billing period based on actual usage on the payment method you have on file. There is no manual top-up or auto recharge to configure. Make sure a valid payment method is added (see Add payment methods) to avoid service interruptions. If a charge fails, follow Handle failed payments.
Billing page on a legacy account, with the Change payment methods button and per-period Invoice download buttons
Because legacy accounts use post-usage billing, there is no recurring subscription to cancel and no fixed monthly fee on the pay-as-you-go plan. You are only charged for usage you actually incur (call minutes, phone numbers, knowledge bases, and other line items shown on the Billing page).To stop accruing charges:
Stop running calls. Once no calls are made, no usage charges accrue for the next billing period.
Release any phone numbers you own. Numbers purchased through Retell are billed monthly until released. Remove the number from the Phone Numbers page in the dashboard, or call the Delete Phone Number API.
Delete knowledge bases beyond the free tier. Additional knowledge bases are billed monthly until deleted.
Settle any outstanding invoices on the Billing page.
If you also want to close your account entirely, follow Delete your account after completing the steps above. If you are on a custom/enterprise plan or need help confirming there are no remaining recurring charges, contact Retell support.
