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

# Credits & Billing

> How AI Receptionist credits work and how to manage your balance.

## How Credits Are Used

AI Receptionist deducts **one credit per answered call**, regardless of how long the call lasts. A 10-second call and a 10-minute call both cost the same — one credit.

| Outcome                                                           | Credits Used |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ |
| Caller answered, full conversation                                | 1            |
| Caller answered, hung up immediately                              | 1            |
| Call dropped because balance was empty + auto top-off unavailable | 0            |

## Viewing Your Balance

Your account balance and usage breakdown live on the **Billing** tab in your account (open the avatar menu in the top-right and choose **Settings → Billing**).

## Monthly Allotment

Your subscription includes a monthly call allotment. This resets on your billing cycle date. Unused credits do not carry over.

## Auto Top-Off

AI Receptionist supports automatic top-off so you never miss a call due to an empty balance:

1. Go to **AI Receptionist → Settings**
2. Enable **Auto Top-Off**
3. Set your low-balance threshold (e.g. 50 credits remaining)
4. Set the top-up amount (e.g. add 200 credits)

When your balance drops below the threshold, the portal automatically charges your payment method and adds credits. You receive an email confirmation each time a top-off occurs.

## Purchasing Additional Credits

To buy credits manually, click the **Buy Credits** button in the top navigation bar (visible while you're inside an AI Receptionist or AI Calling page).

## Failed Payments

If an auto top-off charge fails, the portal displays a warning banner alerting you that future calls may be dropped until the issue is resolved. When your balance reaches zero and auto top-off is either disabled or its last charge failed, incoming calls are killed mid-call with an error message instead of being answered.

The banner shows a specific failure reason so you can take the right action:

| Reason                                           | What it means                                                                | What to do                                                                                                           |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **No payment method set for automatic top-offs** | Auto top-off is enabled but no card is attached as the payment method for it | Click **Set Up Auto Top-Off** in the banner to attach a card                                                         |
| **Your card was declined**                       | The most recent charge attempt was rejected by the issuer                    | Click **Update Payment Method** in the banner to swap in a working card, then retry the charge from the billing page |
| **An internal error occurred**                   | The charge attempt hit a transient system error                              | Retry the charge from the billing page; if it keeps failing, contact support                                         |

Each failure has its own dismiss state — once you fix the underlying issue, the banner stays gone for that incident. A fresh failure (a new declined charge a week later, for example) shows the banner again so you don't miss it.