Billing & Credits

AI Interview uses a credit-based system combined with subscription plans. Understand how credits work, pricing, and how to manage your account.

How Credits Work

What Are Credits?

Credits are the currency used to pay for interview sessions. Each completed interview consumes credits based on:

Duration: Charged per minute of interview time
Features: Additional features may cost extra credits
Plan: Different plans have different credit rates

Credit Consumption

Standard Interview:

Base cost: 10 credits per minute
Minimum charge: 5 credits (even for sessions under 30 seconds)
Rounded up to nearest minute

Example:

8-minute interview = 8 × 10 = 80 credits
8.5-minute interview = 9 × 10 = 90 credits (rounded up)

Additional Features:

Audio Recording: +2 credits per minute
Advanced AI Analysis: +5 credits per session
Real-time Transcription: +3 credits per minute
Video Recording: +8 credits per minute (coming soon)

Abandoned interviews (participant quits early) are still charged for the time used, but at a reduced rate of 50%.

Checking Your Balance

View credit balance:

Navigate to Billing → Credits
See current balance and usage history
View projected usage for active campaigns
Set low-balance alerts

Subscription Plans

Free Plan

Perfect for trying out the platform:

Monthly Credits: 100 credits (~10 minutes of interviews)
Features: All core features included
Sessions: Unlimited
Support: Community support
Price: $0/month

Starter Plan

For individuals and small teams:

Monthly Credits: 1,000 credits (~100 minutes)
Overage Rate: $0.15 per credit
Features: All features + priority support
Team Members: Up to 3
Price: $49/month

Professional Plan

For growing businesses:

Monthly Credits: 5,000 credits (~500 minutes)
Overage Rate: $0.12 per credit
Features: All + advanced analytics, white-label email
Team Members: Up to 10
Price: $199/month

Enterprise Plan

For large organizations:

Monthly Credits: Custom
Overage Rate: Negotiated
Features: All + SSO, SLA, dedicated support
Team Members: Unlimited
Price: Custom

Pay-As-You-Go

No monthly commitment:

Credits: Purchase in bundles
Rate: $0.20 per credit (no subscription)
Expiry: Credits expire after 12 months
Bundles: 500, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 credits

Managing Your Subscription

Upgrading

Switch to a higher-tier plan:

Go to Billing → Plans
Click Upgrade on desired plan
Confirm change
Prorated charges applied immediately

What happens to credits:

Existing credits carry over
New plan credits added immediately
No credit loss during upgrade

Downgrading

Switch to a lower-tier plan:

Go to Billing → Plans
Click Change Plan
Select lower tier
Confirm (takes effect at next billing cycle)

What happens to credits:

Can use remaining credits until cycle ends
New plan takes effect on renewal date
Unused credits on old plan do not carry over

Downgrade Timing

Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle, not immediately. You'll keep access to current plan features until then.

Cancelling Your Subscription

Cancel your subscription anytime through the Stripe Customer Portal:

Go to Billing page
Find the Subscription Management card
Click Manage Subscription
Review the information in the confirmation modal
Click Continue to Portal
In the Stripe portal, select Cancel plan
Choose cancellation date and confirm

What happens when you cancel:

Your subscription remains active until the end of the current billing period
You keep full access to all plan features until then
Credits can be used until the period ends
Account automatically downgrades to Pay-As-You-Go plan after cancellation
All data is preserved (campaigns, transcripts, settings)
Can reactivate your subscription anytime before the period ends

Reactivating a canceled subscription:

If you change your mind before the billing period ends:

Return to Billing → Manage Subscription
Access the Stripe portal again
Click Renew subscription
Your subscription will continue without interruption

Stripe Customer Portal

The Manage Subscription button redirects you to Stripe's secure Customer Portal where you can also update payment methods, view invoices, and manage billing details.

Credit Purchases

One-Time Purchases

Buy credits without subscription:

Available Bundles:

Starter: 500 credits for $100 ($0.20 per credit)
Growth: 2,000 credits for $360 ($0.18 per credit)
Business: 5,000 credits for $800 ($0.16 per credit)
Enterprise: 10,000+ credits (contact sales)

Purchase process:

Go to Billing → Buy Credits
Select bundle
Enter payment information
Credits added instantly

Auto-Reload

Never run out of credits:

Go to Billing → Auto-Reload
Enable auto-reload
Set threshold (e.g., when balance < 100 credits)
Choose bundle size to purchase
Save

How it works:

Monitors your balance daily
Automatically purchases when threshold reached
Email notification sent
Can disable anytime

Usage Tracking

Dashboard

Monitor credit usage:

Daily Usage: Credits consumed per day
By Campaign: Which campaigns use most credits
By Team Member: Usage per user
Projections: Estimated usage for active campaigns

Detailed Reports

Download usage data:

date,session_id,campaign,duration_minutes,credits_used,features
2024-10-20,ses_123,Q4 Feedback,8,80,standard
2024-10-20,ses_124,HR Screening,12,144,standard+analysis

Usage Alerts

Set up notifications:

Low Balance: Alert when credits drop below threshold
High Usage: Warn when daily usage exceeds limit
Overage: Notify when using overage credits
Expiry: Reminder before credits expire

Billing History

Invoices

Access and download all invoices through the Stripe Customer Portal:

Go to Billing page
Click Manage Subscription
Click Continue to Portal
Navigate to Invoices section
View, download, or email any invoice

Invoice contents:

Subscription charges
Additional seat charges (if applicable)
Credit purchases
Overage charges
Automatic tax calculations
Payment method used
PDF receipts for accounting

Payment Methods

Manage payment methods:

Credit Card: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover
PayPal: Link PayPal account (Enterprise only)
Wire Transfer: For annual Enterprise plans
Invoice: Net-30 terms (Enterprise only)

Updating Payment Methods

Change or add payment methods through the Stripe Customer Portal:

Go to Billing page
Click Manage Subscription
Click Continue to Portal in the modal
In the Stripe portal, navigate to Payment methods
Click Add payment method to add a new card
Set as default or remove old methods as needed

Payment method features:

Add multiple payment methods
Set default payment method for subscriptions
Update billing address and tax information
View payment history

Failed payments pause campaigns automatically. Update payment method to resume. You'll receive email notifications before and after payment failures.

Organization Billing

Shared Billing

For teams and organizations:

Pooled Credits: All team members share credit pool
Centralized Billing: One account pays for everyone
Usage Attribution: Track which team member used credits
Budget Controls: Set per-user limits

Team Management

Administrators can:

Add/remove team members
Set role-based permissions
View per-member usage
Set spending limits
Require approval for purchases

Pricing FAQ

How are partial minutes charged?

Partial minutes round up to the next full minute. An 8.2-minute interview costs 9 × rate.

Do credits expire?

Subscription credits: Roll over for 3 months, then expire Purchased credits: Expire after 12 months Free plan credits: Don't roll over (use it or lose it monthly)

What happens if I run out of credits?

Active campaigns pause automatically. You can:

Purchase more credits
Wait for monthly renewal
Upgrade to a higher plan

Participants trying to start interviews will see a "temporarily unavailable" message.

Can I get a refund?

Subscription: Refundable within 14 days of purchase
Credit Purchase: No refunds, but credits don't expire for 12 months
Overage Charges: Not refundable

Shorter Scripts: Every minute counts. Aim for 5-8 minute interviews.
Quality Filtering: Pre-screen participants to reduce abandonments.
Off-Peak Usage: Use scheduled campaigns during lower-demand times (if applicable).
Annual Plans: Save 20% with annual commitment (Enterprise only).
Bundle Purchases: Larger credit bundles have better per-credit rates.

Monitoring Costs

Track spending:

Set budget alerts
Review usage weekly
Identify inefficient campaigns
Optimize script length
Remove unnecessary features

Pro Tip

Enable audio recording only for important campaigns. This feature adds 20% to costs but may not always be necessary.

Support

Billing Questions

Contact our support team:

Email: support@interviewrelay.com
Status Page: Visit status page for system status

Disputes

If you believe you were charged incorrectly:

Review your usage in Billing → Usage
Verify session details match charges
Contact support with session IDs in question
We'll investigate within 2 business days

Most disputes are resolved within 48 hours.