Conversation-based pricing is designed to align with your support needs by billing you based on customer interactions rather than agent seats. With this approach, you pay only for what you use, ensuring cost efficiency even as your team size fluctuates. 

In this article, we’ll cover what qualifies as a billable conversation and provide examples of common scenarios.

In this article:

• What is a billable conversation?
• Are spam messages billed?
• Pricing details
• What is an outbound message?
• Examples of billable vs. non-billable conversations
• FAQ

What is a billable conversation?

A  conversation is considered billable if:

• It includes at least one inbound message from a customer.
• An agent or automation does not mark it as spam within 24 hours of creation or meets specific actions outlined in the section below.
• It is a voice conversation. All voice conversations are billable, whether through Kustomer Voice or any third-party integration.   

Are spam messages billed?

Conversations marked as spam (either by an agent or automation) may not be billable if they meet the following conditions:

• Not billable: 
  • The message is marked as spam within 24 hours of creation; and 
  • An agent sends no more than two replies before marking the conversation as spam within 24 hours of creation.
• Billable:
  • If an agent sends three or more replies before marking the conversation as spam; or
  • If an agent marks a conversation as spam within 24 hours of creation and sends a reply after.

Pricing details

Billable conversations will be billed at the rate outlined in your order. Outbound messages are billed at $0.025 per message. 

What is an outbound message?

An outbound message is a conversation initiated by an agent. Outbound messages are charged separately from billable conversations at $0.025 per message. 

Conversations with only the initial outbound message will be charged that rate. Outbound messages will not be applied towards your committed number of billable conversations.

If a customer replies to an outbound message, you will be charged for the initial outbound message and a billable conversation.

Examples of billable vs. non-billable conversations

Below are common scenarios that help explain what a billable conversation is.  

1. Customer starts a conversation - billable conversation ✅ 
   This is a billable conversation because it includes an inbound message from the customer.
   
   
   
2. Agent starts a conversation by sending an outbound message - Not a billable conversation ❌
   This is not a billable conversation because it only has an outbound message. Outbound messages are charged separately and at a different rate.
   
   
   
3. Agent starts a conversation and the customer replies  - billable conversation ✅ 
   This is a billable conversation because the customer replied, so there is now an inbound message. You will be charged both for a billable conversation and an outbound message fee.
   
   
   
4. An incoming message is marked as spam within 24 hours - Not a billable conversation ❌
   This is not a billable conversation because it was marked as spam within 24 hours of receiving it.
   
   
   
5. You have a conversation over voice - billable conversation ✅
   All voice conversations are considered billable conversations.
   

FAQ

Q. Are imported conversations billable?

Conversations imported by Kustomer or our standard import tools are only counted as billable conversations if they receive additional messages after the import.

Q. Are voice calls considered billable conversations?

Yes, all voice calls are considered billable conversations, whether through Kustomer Voice or any third-party integration. You will be charged both the billable conversation rate and any applicable rates set by the voice integration you are using.

Q. Are merged or deleted conversations billable?

Yes. Conversations are counted on creation and will still be billable even if merged or deleted later.