--- title: "How to keep your AI agent's phone calls on a budget" description: "Your agent never holds your card. A prepaid balance, a per-call cap, hard limits and batch spend caps keep CallForMe calls at what you meant to spend." url: https://callforme.tel/guides/ai-phone-calls-on-a-budget published: 2026-10-03 updated: 2026-10-03 author: CallForMe team, Great Work LLC --- # How to keep your AI agent's phone calls on a budget > CallForMe runs on a prepaid balance, so your agent never has your card and can't spend more than you've added. Each answered call is $1 for the first 5 minutes, then $0.25 a minute, capped at 30 minutes ($7.25). You can turn auto-reload off, set a spend limit on a batch, and give the assistant hard limits on what it agrees to. **Say to your agent:** "Call the movers near 75024 for a quote on a 2 bedroom move, but stop after $5 of calls." ## Your agent spends credit, not your card You add money once, on a Stripe checkout page, and your agent places calls against that balance. What the agent holds is an account key. It can dial and read results; it can't see your card number, raise your balance on its own, or move money anywhere. The first top-up is $10, about 10 calls. Credit never expires, and you can get unused credit refunded within 90 days of buying it. ## Decide how the balance refills Auto-reload adds $10 when your balance drops below a trigger you pick: $2, $5 (the default), $10 or $20. It's there so a long [call around](/guides/call-around) doesn't stall halfway through. If you'd rather approve every top-up, turn it off on the [account page](/account) or on the setup page before you pay. Then when credit runs low, your agent shows you a link and waits; nothing is charged until you open it. ## Every call has a ceiling | Call length | Cost | |---|---| | Nobody answers, busy, or voicemail with no message | Free | | Answered, up to 5 minutes | $1.00 | | 10 minutes | $2.25 | | 20 minutes | $4.75 | | 30 minutes (the cap, including hold) | $7.25 | A call ends at 30 minutes no matter what, so the worst case for one call is $7.25. Your agent can end any call sooner with `hang_up`, and `get_call` shows how long it has been running. Long hold queues are where calls get expensive. If you only need a person, use `transfer_to`: the assistant waits through the hold and connects you when someone picks up. See [have an AI wait on hold and patch you in](/guides/ai-agent-hold-and-patch-in). ## Limits on batches When your agent calls many places at once with `call_around`: - **`max_spend_usd`** stops dialing new places once the batch has cost that much. Calls already on the line finish, so set it a dollar or two under your real limit. - **`stop_after`** stops once that many calls succeed. `1` means "the first place that can do it". - **A preview first.** For more than 10 places, your agent shows you the list and the estimated cost and dials only after you say yes. - **`stop_batch`** ends a batch the moment you have what you need. ## Limits on what the assistant agrees to Money on a call isn't only what the call costs. A business can quote a fee, ask for a deposit, or offer an upgrade. Two fields keep that in check: - **`constraints`** are hard limits: "Don't agree to anything over $200", "Quotes only, don't book". The assistant won't cross them. - **`if_asked`** pre-approves the small stuff so the call doesn't stall: "A deposit up to $25 is fine." The assistant never reads out card numbers, security codes or passwords, whatever is in the request. If paying is part of the errand, it tells the business you'll handle it directly. ## Free ways to check before you spend - **`plan_call`** previews a call without dialing: the opening line, what the business will probably ask, whether it's open now, and the cost. - **`find_business`** looks up numbers and hours. - **Demo lines** let your agent rehearse on fictional businesses for free: a pizza place, three auto shops and a gym. See the [demo lines](/demo). The full price list is on the [pricing page](/docs/pricing), and the rules the assistant follows on every call are in [safety and disclosure](/docs/safety-and-disclosure). ## FAQ ### Can my agent run up a big bill? Not past your balance. Calls are paid from prepaid credit, a single call can't cost more than $7.25, and with auto-reload off nothing is added without you opening a link. ### Does my agent see my card? No. You add credit on a Stripe checkout page. Your agent gets an account key, which can place calls from your balance but can't see or change your card. ### Can the assistant agree to pay for something on the call? It won't give card numbers, and it won't agree to charges beyond the constraints you set. If a business needs payment, it says you'll pay directly. ### What happens when my balance runs out? With auto-reload on, $10 is added when you drop below your trigger. With it off, your agent shows you a link to add credit before the next call, and a batch in progress pauses until you do. ## Related - [Pricing](https://callforme.tel/docs/pricing.md) - [Safety and disclosure](https://callforme.tel/docs/safety-and-disclosure.md) - [Can AI call around to every business near me?](https://callforme.tel/guides/call-around.md) - [Can ChatGPT make phone calls? How to let it call a business](https://callforme.tel/guides/let-chatgpt-call-a-business.md) - [Can AI make phone calls for me?](https://callforme.tel/guides/can-ai-make-phone-calls-for-me.md)