Yes! Similar to other email marketing and VoIP phone systems, there are usage costs. Sometimes companies will have tiers of usage, but Bumblebee charges just for the calls, texts, and emails that you actually send rather than the tier you fall into. And, you get $10 free each month to spend on your calls, texts, and emails! For most of our users in most months, that will be plenty to cover your use!

At the start of each billing period, $10 will be deposited into your Wallet Account. Each email, text, phone use will be deducted from your Wallet Account.

$10 will give you about

-- 10000 emails OR

-- 680 outbound calls OR

-- 1125 inbound calls OR

-- 1205 segments (160 characters of a text = 1 segment)

Or some combination of the above

Here are the nitty gritty details about the fees.👇

One Time A2P Fees

All phone numbers that businesses use to send texts must be verified as actual businesses to cut down on spam (in the US starting Aug 2023.)

-- One time business registration fee of around $4.20.

-- One time campaign registration fee $17.33 (campaigns are use cases. Most BB users only have 1 "campaign" - sending texts to remind clients of their appointments.)

Monthly Telephone Fees

-- Each phone number has a monthly fee of around $1. 04

-- Each monthly campaign registration fee $1.58

Per Use Phone Line Charges

Pricing based on the most used Product Categories

1. Phone Numbers

All the phone numbers are charged monthly based on the number types.

Below is the list of pricing for different number types available in the US/Canada:

Local Numbers: $1.15 / month

Toll-Free Numbers: $2.15 / month

For all the other countries, the pricing will also be based on Twilio's pricing.

2. Messaging Service -

SMS The SMS pricing is based on the number of segments a message is compromised of, the pricing in US/Canada is as follows:

Outbound SMS: $0.0079 / segment

Inbound SMS: $0.0079 / segment

This pricing is both for the local and toll-free numbers.

For all the other countries, the pricing will also be based on Twilio's pricing.

3. Messaging Service -

MMS The MMS pricing is based on the number of segments a message comprising of, the pricing for US/Canada is as follows:

Outbound SMS: $ 0.0200 / segment (From local and toll-free numbers)

Inbound SMS: $ 0.0100 / segment (To local numbers, $0.0200 to toll-free numbers)

For all the other countries, the pricing will also be based on Twilio's pricing.

What is a segment? Calculating the Cost of Each Text Message: A Step-by-Step Guide

4. Voice Calls

The Voice calls pricing is based on the duration of the call in minutes, the pricing for the US/Canada is as follows:

Outbound Call: $0.0140 / minute (From local and toll-free numbers)

Inbound Call: $0.0085 / minute (To local numbers, $0.0220 to toll-free numbers)

The voice calls to Alaska and Yukon Territory will not be charged based on the above prices.

For all the other countries, the pricing will also be based on Twilio's pricing.

Note: The outbound calls have 2 legs so the actual cost of an outbound call will be $0.0170(Outbound call + Client Minutes)

5. Number validation -

Carrier Lookup All the number validations irrespective of the country are charged at $0.005 / validation.

6. Number Format Lookups

All the number formats look up to support calls are free of cost.

7. Other Charges

Below are some additional categories that are also charged at the same price as Twilio:

Client Minutes for Calling

Call Recording

Answering Machine Detection

Voicemail drops Conference Calls

This is for the call flow, we have both outbound and inbound in a conference so those are for the global conference charges.

Carrier Charges SMS carrier fees are charges that are applied by the recipients carrier to the sender, These charges + SMS charge is the total cost to send an SMS. Some carriers charge fees on long code SMS (messages sent from a 10-digit US/Canada number).

Other carriers only charge fees for SMS sent from a Short code number

So despite there being many tiny charges, in most months (except the month in which you register your business to be able to send texts), the complimentary $10 we add to your Wallet Account each month will cover the needs of most companies.