Billing

OpenAI and Twilio usage costs

What OpenAI and Twilio bill you for when you use AIVA, where to see usage and cost per call in the dashboard, and how to keep costs predictable.

AIVA doesn't charge per minute or per message. You pay AIVA for your plan. The AI and phone usage behind your assistant goes on your own OpenAI and Twilio accounts, at each provider's published rates. AIVA adds no markup. This guide explains what each provider bills for, where to see the numbers in AIVA, and how to keep spending predictable.

What OpenAI bills you for

Every AI feature in AIVA runs on your own OpenAI API key, so OpenAI bills you for:

  • Voice calls: the real-time voice model that talks to callers, on phone calls and in the voice widget.
  • Chat: replies in the website chat widget.
  • Call summaries: the summary, outcome and scoring AIVA writes after each call.
  • Texting: AI-drafted text replies, plus reading images and transcribing voice notes that customers send.
  • Knowledge: storing and searching the files and pages you've taught your assistant.

OpenAI's prices change over time and differ by model. Check OpenAI's own pricing page for current rates.

What Twilio bills you for

Your numbers and calls run on your own Twilio account, so Twilio bills you for:

  • Phone numbers: a monthly rental for each number. Buying a number in AIVA charges your Twilio account straight away.
  • Call minutes: inbound and outbound calls, including transferred calls.
  • Texts: SMS and MMS you send and receive.
  • Call recordings, and any other Twilio services your account uses.
  • US business texting registration: carrier and registration fees for A2P 10DLC.

Twilio's own pricing pages list the current rates for your country.

See OpenAI usage in AIVA

  1. In the sidebar, open Usage & Billing → OpenAI.
  2. Look at the Estimated usage card.

It shows:

  • your estimated spend This month, and for the period you choose: 7 days, 30 days or 90 days,
  • By type: Voice calls, Widget chat, Call summaries and Other, each with a count and a cost,
  • By assistant: calls or chats and cost for each assistant,
  • Daily trend: a chart of estimated cost per day.

These are estimates based on OpenAI's list prices. Knowledge storage isn't included. Your exact bill is on OpenAI's usage page.

The Billing page also shows your Estimated OpenAI usage this month, with a Details link back to this card.

If the card warns that some voice calls couldn't be priced, the totals are lower than your real spend. Check OpenAI's usage page for the true figure.

See the cost of each call

  1. Open Communication → Calls and select the Logs tab.
  2. Click Columns and turn on Cost.

The Cost column shows each call's total. It's split into the Twilio part and the AI part. Twilio prices a call a short while after it ends, so a new call may show no cost at first. Older calls logged before per-call pricing may also show no cost.

To see what each number costs to rent, check the Monthly column on Communication → My Numbers.

Keep costs predictable

AIVA can't cap what OpenAI or Twilio charge, but you control both accounts. A few habits help:

  • Set limits with the providers. OpenAI and Twilio both let you manage billing, spending and usage alerts in your account with them. Their help pages explain how.
  • Watch the trend. Check Estimated usage weekly at first. Use By assistant to spot an assistant that costs more than you expect.
  • Release numbers you don't use. Each number has a monthly rental. Open the number's panel on My Numbers and click Release number….
  • Keep calls focused. Clear instructions and good knowledge help the assistant resolve calls without going in circles, which keeps calls shorter.
  • Plan campaigns. Outbound campaigns place many calls. Check the list size before you start one.
  • Mind the widget's voice mode. Voice conversations use OpenAI's real-time voice model, which is priced separately from text chat. If you only need text chat, you can turn off Let visitors talk to the assistant by voice in the Widget Builder.

Common questions

Does AIVA add a fee on top of OpenAI or Twilio? No. AIVA charges only your plan price.

Why doesn't AIVA's estimate match my OpenAI bill? AIVA estimates from OpenAI's list prices and leaves out knowledge storage. Your OpenAI bill is the true figure.

What happens if my OpenAI account runs out of credit? OpenAI refuses requests until you add credit or fix billing in your OpenAI account, so the AI can't answer. Keep an eye on your OpenAI balance, and see Connect your OpenAI key for key problems.

Next steps

Something here doesn’t match what you see in the dashboard? Email support@aivachat.io and we’ll fix the guide.