Pay-as-you-go billing — the $5 threshold

Pay-as-you-go usage on Turtini (Wally chats, Data Stream, Cloud Storage, voice transcription, voice synthesis, data retention) doesn't get invoiced every month. Instead, those small charges accumulate into a single running balance for your org, and we only run a charge once that balance crosses $5.00.

Why we do it this way:
A 30¢ Wally month and a $1.10 storage month aren't worth a separate invoice — Stripe processing fees would eat a meaningful share of the charge. Bundling avoids junk-tier invoices and is more honest about the real cost of what you actually used.

Where to see your balance:
Settings → Usage → Accrued Usage. The card shows:
• How much you've accumulated toward the $5 threshold
• A breakdown by source (Wally, Data Stream, Cloud Storage, Voice, Data retention)
• When (and for how much) you were last invoiced

What if I never cross $5?
That's fine. Months can pass for small orgs before a charge fires. Your balance simply rolls forward. There's no expiry; if you cross the threshold in November or in March, you'll be charged then.

Failed payments:
If your card fails when we attempt to charge, the balance stays accrued and we retry on the next billing run. After three consecutive failed attempts, a 10% late fee is added to the next attempt. Update your payment method in Settings → Usage to clear the balance and stop late-fee accrual.

Negotiated yearly plans:
Orgs on a custom annual plan don't get separately invoiced for accrued usage — it's baked into the contract. When you transition to a negotiated plan, any pending accrued balance is written off automatically.

Note: this is separate from the platform fee on payment volume (1% of payments processed through Turtini, billed monthly on the 1st). The two flows are independent.