Understanding audio and video minutes

SimChat measures voice and video usage in minutes:

• Text conversations are unlimited and don't use minutes
• Audio (voice) conversations use audio minutes
• Video conversations use video minutes

Audio and video minutes are tracked separately.

How minutes are used

Minutes are shared across your whole organisation from a single balance for each type. When a learner finishes an audio or video conversation, the time is rounded up to the nearest minute and deducted from your organisation's balance.

You can see your current audio and video balances on the Plan page.

Where minutes come from

• Free trial. New organisations start with a small trial allowance of audio and video minutes so you can try voice and video.
• Included minutes. The Starter and Team plans include a yearly minute allowance that you split between audio and video (see below). This is added at the start of each billing period.
• Top-ups. You can add more audio or video minutes at any time (see below).

Choosing your audio and video mix

On the Starter and Team plans you decide how much of your included allowance is audio and how much is video. Audio and video are traded at 2 audio minutes for 1 video minute. For example, the Starter allowance can be used as up to 800 audio minutes, up to 400 video minutes, or any mix in between.

• When you upgrade. The Configure your plan page lets you set your mix with a slider before payment. It defaults to a 50/50 split. The mix you choose is re-applied automatically each time your plan renews.
• Part-way through. To rebalance the minutes you currently hold, use the converters on the Plan page:
• Convert to video minutes trades audio for video (2 audio for 1 video)
• Convert to audio minutes trades video for audio (1 video for 2 audio)

Converting on the Plan page is a one-off rebalance of your current balance. It does not change the mix you receive at renewal.

Buying more minutes (Starter and Team)

1. Go to Plan
2. Find the Audio minutes or Video avatar minutes section
3. Choose a pack (for example 100, 500 or 2,000 minutes)
4. Complete payment

The minutes are added to your organisation's balance straight away. Packs are one-off top-ups - they do not change your plan's yearly allowance or your renewal mix.

Enterprise minutes

Enterprise organisations are set up by the SimChat team rather than self-serve. Your access is granted by us, and minutes are added to your balance for you - typically as packages billed by invoice or purchase order.

To add more minutes, contact us or your account manager. The Audio minutes and Video avatar minutes sections on the Plan page also include an email link to arrange payment by invoice or PO.

When minutes run low

• When your balance is low, SimChat shows a warning so you can top up in good time.
• When a balance reaches zero, learners cannot start new conversations in that mode until you add more minutes.

To control how minutes are shared between learners, you can set per-user limits. See Setting per-user minute limits.

Updated on: 24/06/2026