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

# Understanding Call Minutes & Billing

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

famulor.de 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**: Some plans may 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

* **Minimum Charge**: Every call has a minimum AI charge of **30 seconds (0.5 min)**. A call shorter than 30 seconds is still billed as 30 seconds.
* **Per-Second Billing**: Beyond 30 seconds, Famulor 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**: Additional minutes are **NOT automatically charged**. To add credit, go to **"Guthaben hinzufügen"** (Add Credit) in the right sidebar of your dashboard. You can either:
  * **Purchase credit manually**: Buy additional minutes at your plan's rate whenever needed.
  * **Enable Auto Top-up**: Activate automatic credit replenishment to ensure continuous service.

## 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](/en/pricing/overview) section for more details.

## 5. Monitoring Usage

* **Dashboard**: The platform displays your current usage, how many minutes are left, and your estimated cost so far.
* **Notifications**: You can set up alerts (e.g., "Email me when I hit 80% of monthly minutes") using the no-code automation platform.

## 6. Finding the right Famulor plan

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To choose the right plan, start with your actual use case and expected call volume.

* **Four plan options**: Famulor currently offers **Flex**, **Starter**, **Business**, and **Scale**.
* **Starter as a baseline**: For many SMBs (around 5-10 calls per day) and agencies with a first client, Starter is often a practical starting point.
* **Upgrade without rebuilding**: If your included minutes are no longer enough, you can upgrade via **Change Plan** without re-setup or data loss.
* **Business advantage**: At higher volume, you get more included monthly minutes and typically a lower per-minute rate.
* **Scale & white labeling**: The Scale plan unlocks additional features like **white labeling** (for example your own logo and branded layout for clients).

**Next Steps**

* Check out our [Costs & Pricing](/en/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](/en/ai-assistants/what-is-ai-assistant) to build your first agent.