# How calls are priced

Source: https://dialmilo.com/help/understanding-call-pricing
Updated: 2026-10-21

What an outbound or inbound call costs and why: the number you dial, the number you call from, billing per started minute, and AI per talk minute.

An outbound call has two parts: the phone line and the AI. The line is priced exactly for the number you dial and the number you call from, and billed per started minute the way phone carriers bill. The AI is billed on top for each minute Milo is talking with someone.

## Outbound calls

Two things set the price of the phone line on an outbound call:

- **The number you dial.** Mobiles and landlines cost different amounts, and so do different networks within a country. Milo prices each call for the actual number dialled, not a country average.
- **The number you call from.** This is the campaign's caller ID, or your account number if the campaign doesn't have one. The same destination can cost a different amount depending on the country of your caller ID.

The line is billed in the same steps the carrier uses. For most countries that means **per started minute**: a 61-second call is billed as two minutes. A small number of destinations also add a fixed fee per call. A call that never connects has no line charge for minutes.

**AI** is added for each minute Milo spends talking on the call. If Milo transfers the call to your team, AI stops at the transfer.

## Inbound calls

Calls to your numbers are billed **per second** at your number's rate. That works out to about 12¢ a minute for a US number on the standard voice engine.

## Seeing what a call cost

Open any call from **Calls** and look at the **Cost breakdown** card. It lists the line charge, the AI conversation, any transfer or text message, and the total.

The breakdown shows the call's actual length. The line is billed per started minute, so the charge can be slightly higher than minutes × rate.

## Looking up the price of a number

Want to know what a number will cost before you call it? On the public <a href="/rates">Rates</a> page, enter a number to see its price per minute, AI included, from a UK or US caller ID.

To plan a whole campaign, use the spend calculator.