> For the full page index, fetch https://echonova.ai/llms.txt

# FAQ: billing

The questions people ask about credits, what each service costs, monthly renewal on yearly billing, top-ups and auto top up, running out, plans, cancelling, payment methods, invoices, usage and who can see billing.

## What is a credit?

The unit everything is charged in, from one balance. EchoNova's own services cost a fixed number of credits on every plan, and AI model usage is the provider's price plus 10%, turned into credits. A charge draws on your plan credits first, then on the extra credits you bought. See
[Credits](/docs/developers/credits#what-a-credit-is).

## What does each service cost?

Text to Speech costs 1 credit per character, spaces included; Speech to Text 100 credits per minute; Sound Cleaning 1,000 credits per minute; a voice agent 2,500 credits per minute of connected time plus its AI usage; EchoReader 50 credits per page. AI usage is the provider's price plus 10%, and the credits it takes depend on the credits that pay: on Starter monthly a dollar is 31,578.95 credits. A voice clone pays its checks, transcription, cleaning, preview and build or training in credits, plus a $2.00 fee for an instant voice or $5.00 for a professional one, taken in credits at the rate of the credits that pay, with no 10%. See [Credits](/docs/developers/credits#rates) and [What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs).

## What happens when I run out of credits?

A speech job whose price is more than your **Credit balance** is refused before it runs with **Insufficient subscription balance**, and
nothing is charged. An agent conversation ends on the first turn that cannot
be charged; the turns already charged stay charged, and a session you
started from the portal sends you **Voice session ended: out of credits**.
Add credits on the Subscription page, then try again. On a trial, AI features also stop once their model cost reaches $1, with **Your trial AI allowance is used up. Upgrade to keep using AI.** See
[Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover#one-balance-one-order)
and
[What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs#when-the-balance-runs-out).

## Do plan credits renew every month on yearly billing too?

Yes. The plan grants its monthly credits every month on both
cycles; **Yearly** changes when you pay, not how often the credits arrive.
What you did not use rolls over when the same plan renews, up to three times the monthly allowance; extra credits never expire and do not count toward that limit. See
[Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover#plan-credits-roll-over).

## How do I buy extra credits, and how long do they last?

Click **Add credits** on the Subscription page, pick a pack under **Choose a pack** (100,000 credits for $3.50 up to 2,000,000 for $70) and press **Add Credits**; it works on a paid plan, on a trial and with no paid plan.
Each top-up is its own batch that never expires, spent only after the plan
credits. Extra credits survive a renewal, a plan change, a cancellation and the end of a
trial. See
[Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover#how-a-top-up-works).

## How does auto top up work?

Click the **Auto top up** row on the **Credit balance** card, switch on **Enable auto top up** and set **When credits fall below**, **Pack** and **Monthly limit**; one pack must cover the threshold. When the balance drops below the threshold, one pack is charged to the card on your subscription within a minute, as long as the month's spend plus that pack fits under **Monthly limit**. It needs an
active paid subscription paid by card: a subscription paid with **PayPal**
cannot use it, and a trial shows no row. See
[Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover#auto-top-up-rules).

## Why did auto top up not fire?

Check four things in order: the row reads **On**; the whole balance is under the threshold; this month's spend plus one pack
fits under **Monthly limit**; and the row does not read **Turned off:** with a
reason (card declined, a pack above the monthly limit, a pack no longer sold,
or a pack smaller than the threshold). After 3 failed charges in a row auto top up switches itself off
and the owner receives **Auto top-up turned off**; update the card through
**Manage your billing**, then switch it on again. See
[Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover#why-did-auto-top-up-not-fire).

## What happens when my trial ends?

The trial has no time limit. It starts with 60,000 credits and up to $1 of AI model cost, and the top
of the Subscription page reads **Free trial in progress**. It ends when you pay for a plan, and the unused trial credits end then. Any extra credits you bought never expire and keep the speech tools and the
agents working. Choose a plan with **Select Plan** and pay to move to a paid plan.
See
[Choose or change your plan](/docs/account/plans-and-subscription#step-4-subscribe-from-a-trial).

## When does an upgrade or a downgrade apply?

An upgrade to a higher monthly plan, and a switch from monthly to yearly on the same or a higher plan, apply at once after **Confirm change**: a new cycle starts today at the full new price, your unused credits stay and the new plan's credits are added. A yearly upgrade to a higher yearly plan also starts today, with the unused value of your current year taken off the price. A downgrade, a switch from yearly to monthly and a switch to a lower yearly plan apply at the end of the current period; the dialog reads **Takes effect on** the date, and unused plan credits end at the switch. See [Choose or change your plan](/docs/account/plans-and-subscription#step-5-upgrade-downgrade-or-switch-the-cycle).

## What happens when I cancel?

Click **Cancel subscription** on the Subscription page and confirm with
**Cancel Subscription**. Your plan and its credits stay until the **Next
billing date**; on that date the plan credits end, the workspace moves to the basic limits with no new trial, the cards offer **Select Plan** again and any extra
credits stay usable. Until the period ends, **Reactivate Plan** puts a
subscription paid by card back as it was. See
[Choose or change your plan](/docs/account/plans-and-subscription#step-6-cancel).

## Which payment methods can I use, and can I switch later?

The checkout page shows a tab for each provider that can sell the plan on
that cycle: **Stripe** (**Pay by card with Stripe**) and **Paymob** (**Pay by
card with Paymob**), paid by card inside the page, and **PayPal**, approved
on PayPal and back; the method you pick is used for every later charge on the
subscription and is fixed for its life. A subscription paid with **PayPal**
is sent to PayPal to approve every plan change, cannot be reactivated after
a cancellation and cannot use auto top up. To move between card and PayPal,
cancel and, once the period has ended, subscribe again with the other one.
See
[Pay and manage your payment method](/docs/account/payment-methods#step-1-choose-a-method-on-the-checkout-page).

## How do I update my card?

On **Subscription & billing**, click **Billing Information**, then **Update**
in **Manage your billing**; on a subscription paid by card it opens your billing page with
the payment provider in the same tab and returns you when you are done. On
a subscription paid with **PayPal** it opens your PayPal automatic payments
page instead, and on a trial nothing opens because a trial has no payment
method. The card auto top up charges follows the change; the **Auto top
up** dialog shows it as **Card on file:** with the brand and the last four
digits. See
[Pay and manage your payment method](/docs/account/payment-methods#step-5-update-the-card).

## What happens if a renewal payment fails?

The owner receives a **Payment failed** notification. For 7 days after the
**Next billing date** the portal keeps working with the plan credits and any
extra credits, while every request made with an API key is refused with
`403 Subscription expired or inactive`; after the 7 days the subscription is
expired, the plan credits end, basic limits apply and extra credits still work. Update the
card through **Manage your billing** within those 7 days; the retried
payment then activates the subscription again and the owner receives
**Subscription renewed**. See
[Pay and manage your payment method](/docs/account/payment-methods#step-6-act-on-a-failed-renewal).

## Where do I find my invoices?

Click **Download Latest Invoice** on the Subscription page: on a
subscription paid by card the newest invoice opens in a new tab, as a PDF
when one is available, and your payments and invoices live on the billing
page behind **Manage your billing**. On a subscription paid with **PayPal**
your PayPal automatic payments page opens instead, and a trial has no
invoice. A credit top-up produces no invoice; the purchase is labelled
**EchoNova credits (N)** with the payment provider. See
[Download an invoice](/docs/account/invoices#step-2-download-the-latest-invoice).

## Where do I see what I have used?

The plan card at the bottom of the sidebar reads `used/total` **Used** and
counts plan credits only; the Subscription page shows the **Credit balance**: the total you can still spend, with **Plan credits** and **Extra credits** under it. **Credits History**, at `/payment-history`, lists every speech charge and refund with the balance after each, and **Details** on a row shows how that charge was priced; agent conversations draw on the same balance but are read in
the conversation itself, as **Total credits**. See
[Track your credit usage](/docs/account/usage) and
[What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs#where-to-see-it).

## Is a failed job charged?

No. A speech job is charged when it is accepted and the whole charge is
refunded when it fails, including a timeout; the refund row in **Credits
History** carries the same number as the charge, and a file refused before
it starts is never charged. An agent conversation is different: the turns
already charged stay charged, and a conversation that fails before its
first turn is recorded with no charge. See
[Credits](/docs/developers/credits#when-credits-are-charged).

## Who can see and change billing?

The workspace **Owner** subscribes, changes, cancels and reactivates the
plan, buys top-ups, changes auto top up and opens invoices and the billing
page. Billing notifications go to the workspace owner.

## Related

- [Credits, top-ups and rollover](/docs/account/credits-top-ups-rollover): the one balance, rollover, top-ups and the auto top up rules
- [Choose or change your plan](/docs/account/plans-and-subscription): the plan cards, checkout, upgrades, downgrades, cancelling and reactivating
- [Pay and manage your payment method](/docs/account/payment-methods): card and PayPal, updating the card, and a failed renewal
- [Download an invoice](/docs/account/invoices): the invoice for each charge and what the Payment History page holds
- [Track your credit usage](/docs/account/usage): the meter, the Subscription page and the Credits History list
- [Credits](/docs/developers/credits): what one credit buys in each service and how a charge is counted
- [What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs): how a conversation is metered and where to read the number
- [Text to Speech limits and credits](/docs/playground/tts-limits-and-credits): where the playground shows a generation's cost
- [Speech to Text limits and credits](/docs/playground/stt-limits-and-credits): when a transcription is charged and refunded
- [FAQ: account](/docs/help/faq-account): workspaces, sign-in and your profile
- [FAQ: API](/docs/help/faq-api): a key's credit limit and how API usage is charged
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/help/troubleshooting): every billing message in one table