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

# Pricing and Zones

> What a call costs: the AI price, the line price by destination zone, the browser dialer seat, billing per second, and how a negotiated price works.

An AI call costs $0.15 a minute for the AI plus the phone line to the country you call: $0.10 a minute in Zone 1 and $0.20 in Zone 2. That makes $0.25 and \$0.35 a minute, billed by the second from prepaid credit that never expires, with no seat fees for AI calling. All prices are in US dollars. Zone 3 countries are turned on when you ask, Zone 4 countries are not available, and the country lookup at [topcalls.ai/pricing](https://topcalls.ai/pricing) shows where yours sits.

An inbound call pays the Zone 1 line. A test call in the browser and a call on your own carrier pay no line of ours. Calls draw on your one [credit balance](https://docs.topcalls.ai/concepts/credit.md). A call placed by hand in the [browser dialer](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/browser-dialer.md) pays the line alone, and each person who uses the dialer pays a \$29 monthly seat.

## What an AI Call Costs

These are standard prices. A [negotiated price](#negotiated-prices) replaces them.

| Call | Line | AI | Per minute |
| - | - | - | - |
| Outbound to a Zone 1 country | \$0.10 | \$0.15 | \$0.25 |
| Outbound to a Zone 2 country | \$0.20 | \$0.15 | \$0.35 |
| Outbound to a Zone 3 country | On request | \$0.15 | On request |
| Inbound, whoever calls | \$0.10 (the Zone 1 line) | \$0.15 | \$0.25 |
| Test call in the browser | None | \$0.15 | \$0.15 |
| Call on your own carrier, inbound or outbound | None | \$0.15 | \$0.15 |

Each price is the line plus the AI. A test call in the browser has no phone line, so it pays the AI part alone. A test call to a real phone is an ordinary outbound call.

## Line Prices by Zone

A zone groups countries by what the phone line to them costs, from Zone 1 (the cheapest) to Zone 4.

| Zone | Line per minute |
| - | - |
| 1 | \$0.10 |
| 2 | \$0.20 |
| 3 | On request |
| 4 | Not available |

To see which zone a country is in, use the country lookup at [topcalls.ai/pricing](https://topcalls.ai/pricing). Zone 3 countries are off until you ask us to enable the country on your account. To enable one, email [hello@topcalls.ai](mailto:hello@topcalls.ai) with the country and your account email. We reply with the price before we turn it on.

A call to a Zone 3 country your account hasn't enabled, to a Zone 4 country, or to a number that can't be called returns `422` with `code: destination_not_allowed`. Its `reason` says which: `country_not_enabled` for Zone 3 (email us, as above), `not_available` for Zone 4 (nothing to enable), and the others for a mistyped number, a toll-free or premium-rate number, or a dear range. [Making Calls](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/making-calls.md#destination-not-allowed) lists each `reason` with its next step. A refused call places no call and holds no credit.

A country's zone can change when we change our routes, so the country lookup is the current list. A few number ranges cost more than their country. A call to such a range is priced at the zone of the range itself, and a range dearer than TopCalls dials is refused with `reason: range_above_cap`.

## Browser Dialer

The [browser dialer](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/browser-dialer.md) lets a person on your team place a call by hand from the dashboard. It has two prices: a seat for each person, and the phone line for each minute.

| What | Price |
| - | - |
| Dialer seat | \$29 per person per month |
| Call to a Zone 1 country | \$0.10 a minute |
| Call to a Zone 2 country | \$0.20 a minute |
| Call to a Zone 3 country | On request |
| Call to a Zone 4 country | Not available |

A seat includes no minutes. Someone who manages billing switches a seat on for each person on the **Members** page, for people whose role can place calls. A seat turned on mid-month pays for the days left in that month, taken at once, then \$29 on the 1st of each month. Seats are paid from purchased credit, never from the starter credit. If your purchased credit can't cover a seat on the 1st, that seat switches off, and about three days before, the people who manage billing get an email.

A dialer call has no AI part, so it pays the line of the number's zone and nothing more. It's billed by the second, rounded up, with a limit of 60 minutes and never longer than your credit allows. Zone 3 countries are turned on when you ask, and Zone 4 countries are never available. The guide covers [how seats work](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/browser-dialer.md#turn-on-a-seat) and [where you can call](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/browser-dialer.md#where-you-can-call).

## Price a Number Before You Call

`GET /v1/pricing/quote?to=%2B14155551234` returns (write the `+` as `%2B` in a URL) the zone and the price per minute in US dollars for that number on your account, or the `reason` it can't be called. It places no call and holds no credit. Add `from=` with one of your own numbers to price a call that presents it. [Making Calls](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/making-calls.md#price-a-number-before-you-dial) shows the answer.

After a call, `price_per_minute_usd` and `cost_usd` on the call report the price it was placed at and what it cost. To cap what a call can cost, use `max_duration` times the price you were quoted.

## Your Own Carrier

On standard pricing, when a call's line runs on a number you brought (your own carrier), you pay only the AI part: \$0.15 a minute, inbound and outbound, in any zone. We charge the line only when a call goes through our carriers. The rules above on which countries you can call still apply.

An outbound call uses your own carrier when its `from_number` is a number on one of your own carriers: add the carrier with `POST /v1/phone-numbers/carriers`, then the number with `POST /v1/phone-numbers`. An inbound call does when the number called is on your carrier. A `from_number` on the TopCalls carrier, or the default number, pays the line. A call to a +1 number (the US, Canada and the rest of North America) from a number verified for US calling goes out through our US carrier and pays the line, even when that number is on your own carrier; without that verification, a number on your own carrier calls +1 through your carrier and pays the AI part alone.

## Negotiated Prices

A negotiated price is one price per minute for every AI call, whatever the destination or the carrier. It has no zones and no separate line. `GET /v1/balance` reports it as `rate.pricing_model: "contract"`. It covers AI calls only: a call in the browser dialer pays the line prices above, and each dialer seat is \$29.

## Billing

Calls are billed per second, rounded up to the whole second, from your [credit balance](https://docs.topcalls.ai/concepts/credit.md). Credit never expires. A new account gets \$10 of starter credit, which is the trial, and you [add credit](https://docs.topcalls.ai/concepts/credit.md#adding-credit) in **Settings > Billing**. What isn't charged is covered in [How Calls Are Charged](https://docs.topcalls.ai/concepts/credit.md#how-calls-are-charged).

> [card] [Credit and Billing](https://docs.topcalls.ai/concepts/credit.md)
>
> How a call holds credit, what happens when it runs out, and how to read your balance.

> [card] [Inbound Calls](https://docs.topcalls.ai/guides/inbound-calls.md)
>
> Answer calls on your numbers, or bring your own trunk.


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