# AI tokens

> What an AI token is, how many each channel costs (voice 10 per minute, written replies 2), monthly allowances, what is not counted, alerts, and what happens when you run out.

Source: https://docs.airhug.ai/billing/ai-tokens
Last updated: 2026-09-29

AI tokens are Airhug's one billing unit for everything the AI says to a customer, on every channel. They are **credits, not language-model tokens**. Each channel spends at a fixed rate, so your usage is predictable. Roughly, **1 token is about 1 cent**.

## Rates

| Channel | What is counted | Tokens |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Voice (phone and browser calls) | Each minute the AI answers, rounded up | **10 per minute** |
| Text message (SMS) | Each reply the AI sends | **2 per reply** |
| Email | Each reply the AI sends | **2 per reply** |
| Website chat | Each reply the AI writes | **2 per reply** |

Voice time is added up across all AI-answered calls in the period, then rounded up to the next whole minute.

## Monthly allowance

| Plan | Included per month |
| --- | --- |
| Free trial | 1,000 (one time, for the 14 days) |
| Starter | 3,000 |
| Business | 15,000, plus 5,000 for every token pack you add |
| Enterprise | Custom |

What that buys:

| Tokens | Voice minutes | Or written replies |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 (trial) | 100 | 500 |
| 3,000 (Starter) | 300 | 1,500 |
| 15,000 (Business) | 1,500 | 7,500 |
| 5,000 (one token pack) | 500 | 2,500 |

Mixing channels just adds up. Example on Starter: 120 voice minutes (1,200 tokens) plus 400 texts (800 tokens) uses 2,000 of 3,000.

Your allowance resets at the start of each billing period. Unused tokens do not roll over.

## What does not cost tokens

- **Messages a person sent.** A reply typed by you or a teammate is not an AI reply.
- **STOP and HELP replies** that carrier rules require. These compliance replies are free.
- **The automatic hand-off message** in website chat when no agent name is set.
- **Calls the AI did not answer.** A call your own phone answered, or that was transferred before the AI picked up, is not counted.

## Buy more tokens (Business)

On Business, find **Add 5,000 tokens** in the plan panel of **Settings → Billing** and press its button. Each pack adds **5,000 tokens per month for $50 per month**. It is charged prorated, right away, and the allowance is added to the current period.

- Packs are Business only. On Starter, upgrade to Business instead.
- Packs cannot be bought during the free trial.

## Alerts

Airhug tells you once per billing period at each level, in your inbox under "needs you":

- **80 percent used.** A warning.
- **100 percent used.** Your allowance is exhausted.

Track usage any time in **Settings → Billing**. It shows tokens used, remaining, the period, and usage by channel.

## When tokens run out or the plan lapses

The AI keeps answering calls. What changes is what you can see afterwards.

**Standard workspaces** (HIPAA off): a call the AI answers while your allowance is exhausted, or your plan has lapsed, is **stored in full but locked**. You can see only when the call happened, how long it lasted and that it was answered. The caller's name, number, reason and summary stay hidden until you pay.

- Paying reveals exactly the calls that were locked.
- A new period starting on its own reveals none of them. Payment is what unlocks.
- What counts as paying: a paid invoice (a renewal, a token pack or an upgrade), a token pack added, upgrading Starter to Business, or a lapsed plan becoming active again. A new period with no paid invoice does not count.

**Healthcare workspaces** (HIPAA on): call details are **never hidden** for non-payment. Withholding patient records over nonpayment is a legal risk. You see an upgrade banner instead.

**Lapsed plan:** if the subscription is canceled or unpaid, the workspace reports zero phone-line capacity until it is active again. A payment that fails moves the workspace to a grace state first rather than cutting it off at once.

## Comped and unmetered workspaces

Some workspaces are provisioned as complimentary and are unmetered. Usage shows as unmetered and nothing locks.

## Checks

- **Settings → Billing** shows your included tokens, used, remaining and the period dates.
- After a test call of about one minute, used tokens rise by about 10.