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

# Billing overview

> How Brudcast charges: plans for Email, Push and Mailbox, prepaid wallet credits for SMS and WhatsApp, and where cards, currencies, usage and invoices live.

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Brudcast bills each product separately. Email, Push and Mailbox run on plans you subscribe to. SMS
and WhatsApp have no plans: every message draws credits from your organization's wallet.

You manage all of it from **Billing & Plans** in the sidebar. The page itself is titled
**Subscriptions & Billing**.

<Screenshot id="ss-billing-overview-hero" alt="The Subscriptions tab with tiles for active plans, credits available, credits spent this month and the next renewal date" />

## Products and how each is paid

| Product  | Paid by      | What to know                                                                                                |
| -------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Email    | Plan         | Every new organization starts on the free Email plan. Sends beyond the plan's allowance are paid in credits |
| Push     | Plan         | Sends beyond the plan's allowance are paid in credits                                                       |
| Mailbox  | Plan         | Every new organization starts on the free Mailbox plan                                                      |
| SMS      | Credits only | Listed under **Pay as you go**. There's no plan to buy                                                      |
| WhatsApp | Credits only | [Early access](/channels/whatsapp/overview). Listed under **Pay as you go**                                 |

SMS works on credits rather than a plan because its cost isn't flat. A message is priced per segment
at the destination country's rate, so two sends to the same number of people can cost very
different amounts. A monthly allowance can't express that; a per-message charge can.

## Plans and the wallet

A plan and the wallet are separate. An active plan doesn't add credits, and credits don't pay for a
plan.

```mermaid theme={"system"}
flowchart LR
    card["Your card, through Paystack"]
    plans["Plans: Email, Push, Mailbox"]
    wallet["Wallet credits"]
    sends["Messages"]
    card -->|"renews each billing period"| plans
    card -->|"top up"| wallet
    plans -->|"within the allowance"| sends
    wallet -->|"every SMS and WhatsApp message"| sends
    wallet -->|"email and push beyond the allowance"| sends
```

* **Plans** renew at the end of each billing period and are charged to your default card. See
  [Plans and subscriptions](/billing/plans-and-subscriptions).
* **The wallet** holds credits you buy in advance. See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).

<Snippet file="credit-costs.mdx" />

SMS and WhatsApp are **wallet gated**. A send on either channel is blocked when the wallet can't
cover it, even if every other part of the campaign is ready.

## The Billing & Plans tabs

| Tab               | What you'll find                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Subscriptions** | Tiles for **Active plans**, **Credits available**, **Spent this month** and **Next renewal**. Then **Your plans**, **Pay as you go** (SMS and WhatsApp), **Add a channel** (products you haven't subscribed to), and **Retired products** when one applies |
| **Credits**       | Your balance, **Usage this month** per channel, **Auto top-up**, and **Credit expiry**                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Billing**       | Payment methods, payment currency and billing details                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| **Invoices**      | Invoice history, invoice details, PDFs and payment retries                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

A retired product is one Brudcast no longer sells. It only appears if your organization has data
on it. Your existing data stays visible, but nothing new can be created.

## Paying for it all

Cards are added through Paystack's checkout, and every plan charge produces an invoice. Both live on
the **Billing** and **Invoices** tabs. See
[Invoices and payments](/billing/invoices-and-payments) for adding a card, choosing the default, and
what to do when a renewal charge fails.

## Payment currency and regional pricing

Your organization is charged in one payment currency, and plan prices depend on your country's
pricing tier.

| Code  | Currency                |
| ----- | ----------------------- |
| `USD` | US Dollar (the default) |
| `NGN` | Nigerian Naira          |
| `GHS` | Ghanaian Cedi           |
| `KES` | Kenyan Shilling         |
| `ZAR` | South African Rand      |

| Charge                          | Currency                                                                          |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Plans and renewals              | The payment currency, converted at the exchange rate on the day of the charge     |
| Credit top-ups and credit packs | The payment currency. Credits are priced in NGN and converted at the current rate |
| The wallet                      | Held in the payment currency                                                      |
| Invoices already issued         | The currency they were issued in. Changing currency never changes an old invoice  |

To change it, go to **Billing & Plans > Billing**, select **Change** under **Payment currency**, pick
a **Currency** and select **Save changes**. Your next charge uses the new currency.

Plan prices are set per country pricing tier: `tier_1` is full price and the default, with `tier_2`
and `tier_3` priced lower. Countries fall into a tier based on purchasing power per person, and a
country with no data is priced at tier 1. The **Select Plan** tab names the country its prices are
shown for. Your tier is fixed on a subscription when you subscribe, so changing your organization's
country later doesn't re-price an existing subscription. You can only buy a price from your own tier,
or from tier 1.

## Usage and quotas

Every plan sets limits, called quotas, on things like emails sent, contacts, sending domains, webhook
endpoints, notifications sent, media storage, mailboxes and mailbox aliases.

To check them, go to **Billing & Plans > Subscriptions**, select the plan under **Your plans**, and
read the **Usage** section on its **Overview** tab. Each tile shows the amount used against the
limit, the percentage, and a note on how you're pacing: **No usage yet this cycle.**, **On track -
pacing within plan limits.**, **Pacing above expected usage for this cycle.**, **At this rate, you'll
hit your limit in \~N days.** or **You've hit your plan limit.** The bar turns amber at 70% and red at
90%. A quota shown as **Unlimited** has no cap.

* **Things you send** (emails, notifications) are counted per period, daily or monthly as the plan
  sets.
* **Things you keep** (contacts, sending domains, webhook endpoints, mailboxes, aliases) count what
  exists right now, so deleting one frees up room.
* **Storage** counts the total size of your files.

| Quota                           | At the limit                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Emails sent, notifications sent | Sending continues. Messages beyond the allowance are paid for in [credits](/billing/credits-and-wallet)           |
| Contacts                        | New contacts can't be added. An import warns you with **This import exceeds your contact limit** before it starts |
| Everything else                 | Creating another one is refused with a **Plan limit reached** message and an **Upgrade** button                   |

Counters start again from zero at renewal, and again when you change plan. SMS and WhatsApp have no
plan quotas: they're limited only by the credits in your wallet. For credit usage rather than plan
usage, **Usage this month** on the **Credits** tab lists messages sent and credits spent per channel
since the start of the calendar month.

## Your support tier

The line under **Your plans** shows the support tier your organization has and what earned it, for
example "Email support, included with your credit balance." Any credit purchase gives your
organization email support. Write to [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com), or use
**Help & Support** in the dashboard.

## Who can change billing

Owners and admins can change the payment currency and the billing details. Members see these
settings but can't edit them. See [Members and roles](/organization/members-and-roles).

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Subscribe to a plan" icon="package" href="/billing/plans-and-subscriptions">
    Choose a plan and billing cycle, check out, then change or cancel it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Credits and wallet" icon="coins" href="/billing/credits-and-wallet">
    What credits cost, how to top up, how holds work, and when credits expire.
  </Card>
</Columns>