Skip to main content
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. Workspaces still on monthly billing can switch by clicking Switch now and adding credits. If you don’t, Retell moves the workspace on September 30, 2026, and the credit balance starts at $0. Enterprise workspaces stay on monthly invoicing. How to switch is in the legacy billing notice.

​
Which billing version am I on?

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 workspaces created before credit-based billing. On September 30, 2026, Retell moves these workspaces to credit-based billing. If you don’t click Switch now and add credits first, the credit balance starts at $0. Enterprise workspaces stay on monthly invoicing.
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.
Choose your billing version below.

​
How credit-based billing works

Billing page on a credit-based account showing a Credits Balance of $100 with Buy credits and Auto recharge buttons in the top right

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 — calls, chat, and other metered usage — 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. The trial credit is granted once per email address. If you previously had a Retell account with the same email (including a deleted one), signing up again won’t grant the credit a second time.
When your credit balance reaches zero, calls, chat, and other usage stop until you buy credits or auto recharge tops up your balance. Calls that end this way show the credit_exhausted disconnection reason. Set up auto recharge to avoid interruptions.

​
Buy credits

1

Open the Billing tab

Go to the Billing tab in your dashboard and click Buy credits.
2

Enter an amount and purchase

Enter the amount and click Purchase. The charge goes to your payment method on file, processed securely through Stripe (see Add payment methods).
Buy Credits dialog with a dollar amount field set to 100 and Cancel and Purchase buttons

Buy Credits dialog: enter an amount and click Purchase

Credits never expire, but they are non-refundable once purchased.

​
Set up auto recharge

Auto recharge buys credits automatically when your balance runs low, so calls are never blocked:
1

Open auto recharge settings

Go to the Billing tab, click Auto recharge, and toggle Auto Recharge on.
2

Set the threshold and target

Set When credits drop below (the balance that triggers a recharge) and Bring credits back to (the balance restored on each recharge), then click Save. As of September 2026, the trigger can be $10 to $1,000 and the restored balance $20 to $2,000. The restored balance has to be higher than the trigger. Raise both if your usage can spend the balance down quickly.
Auto Recharge Setting dialog with the toggle on, When credits drop below set to $10, and Bring credits back to set to $100

Auto Recharge Setting dialog: set the trigger threshold and target balance, then save

Each recharge is charged to your payment method on file. If a recharge payment fails, follow Handle failed payments.

​
Set a monthly budget

If you see Budget Setting next to Auto recharge, you can cap how much the workspace spends in a month. Workspaces without that button have no monthly cap.
1

Open Budget Setting

On the Billing page, click Budget Setting and turn Budget on. Leave it off for no cap and no spending emails.
2

Set the monthly amount

Under Set Monthly Budget, choose an amount from $10 to $100,000, in steps of $10 (as of September 2026), then click Save.
3

Choose the alerts

Retell always emails you at 80% and 100% of the budget. Add up to 5 more alerts. Each one is a whole percent from 1 to 100, and it can’t be 80 or 100. Under Alert recipients, add the email addresses that should get every alert. Leave that empty to email people on the workspace who can manage billing.
At 100%, calls and API requests pause. Credits still on the balance do not keep usage running. Calls that end this way show the budget_reached disconnection reason. Raise the budget or turn it off to resume, or wait until the next calendar month starts (UTC). Auto recharge only buys credits when the balance is low. It does not raise this cap.

​
Subscription items and invoices

At the end of each calendar month, you receive an invoice for subscription items: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.

​
Stop charges or close your account

To stop accruing charges on a credit-based account:
  1. Turn off auto recharge so your balance is not topped up automatically.
  2. 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.
  3. Delete knowledge bases beyond the free tier and remove any CPS or concurrency upgrades. These are billed monthly until removed.
  4. 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.

​
View usage breakdown

The Usage tab on the Billing page provides a breakdown of your workspace’s activity and costs, regardless of billing version:
  1. Total cost: Your total expenses for the selected billing period.
  2. Call minutes: The total number of call minutes used.
  3. Average cost per minute: The average cost for each minute of calls.
  4. Daily or weekly call costs, making it easy to identify high-cost periods and track spending trends over time.
  5. Cost by provider: A breakdown of expenses across voice infra, large language models (LLMs), telephony services, and concurrency usage.
What each category covers:
  • Voice infra: Retell’s conversation voice engine. This is the flat per-minute platform cost of running the real-time call, separate from LLM and telephony costs.
  • LLM: the per-minute cost of the language model your agent uses, which varies by model.
  • Telephony: per-minute call rates and monthly phone number fees for Retell-provided numbers. Custom telephony (SIP trunking) carries no Retell telephony charge.
  • Concurrency: monthly fees for purchased concurrency beyond the 20 free concurrent calls.
See the Retell pricing page for current rates for each component. Certain call characteristics can adjust the billed duration; see Exceptions to per-minute pricing.
Usage tab on the Billing page with total cost, call minutes, average cost per minute, and a cost-by-provider chart

Usage tab showing total cost, call minutes, average cost per minute, and cost by provider for the selected period

​
FAQ

Open the Billing tab. A Credits Balance with Buy credits and Auto recharge means credit-based billing. Invoices only, with no credit balance, means monthly billing (legacy).
Workspaces still on monthly billing move to credit-based billing. Click Switch now and add credits before then. If you don’t, Retell moves the workspace and the credit balance starts at $0. Enterprise workspaces stay on monthly invoicing. See the legacy billing notice for how to switch.
Credits pay for calls, chat, and other usage as it happens. Phone numbers, knowledge bases beyond the free tier, calls per second (CPS), and purchased concurrency stay on your card and are billed at the end of the month. If you add one partway through the month, that month’s bill covers only the days you had it.
No. Purchased credits never expire, and they are non-refundable. Spend the balance down before you close the workspace.
On the Billing page, click Auto recharge and turn it on. Retell charges the card on file and buys credits when the balance drops below the amount you set ($10 to $1,000). It restores the balance to the amount you set ($20 to $2,000). The restored balance has to be higher than the trigger. As of September 2026. See Set up auto recharge.
Auto Recharge Setting with the toggle on, When credits drop below set to $10, and Bring credits back to set to $100

Auto recharge on: top up when the balance drops below $10, and restore it to $100.

Calls, chat, and other usage stop when the credit balance reaches zero. Turn on auto recharge so Retell buys credits before that happens. Phone numbers and other monthly fees are separate from the credit balance. They keep billing to your card until you remove them. If a recharge payment fails, usage can still stop. See Handle failed payments.
A monthly spending cap, on workspaces that show Budget Setting next to Auto recharge. Turn Budget on and set an amount from $10 to $100,000 (as of September 2026). Leave it off for no cap. See Set a monthly budget.
You get an email at 80% and at 100%, plus any extra percentages you added. At 100%, calls and API requests pause. Raise the budget or turn it off to resume, or wait until the next calendar month starts (UTC). A credit balance does not keep usage running while this pause is on.
No. Auto recharge only buys credits when the balance is low. Spending can still reach the monthly budget, and usage pauses at 100% of that budget.
The addresses you add under Alert recipients. If you leave that empty, the emails go to people on the workspace who can manage billing.
Yes. Billing is per workspace. A card or credit balance in one workspace does not apply to another workspace under the same login. Switch into each workspace and add a payment method there before you run calls. See Create and manage Retell workspaces.
No. The $10 trial credit is for a new signup, once per email address. Switching a workspace that is already on monthly billing does not grant it again. You choose a starting amount from $10 to $10,000, charged to the card on file.
Switch now shows on workspaces still on monthly billing. If it’s grayed out, ask an admin on your team. See Access control. Enterprise workspaces stay on monthly invoicing and don’t see this button.