Every WebRTC vendor has a free tier. Almost none of them tell you clearly what happens the minute it hits zero. On most platforms, your service either stops abruptly, forces an upgrade, or quietly switches to pay-as-you-go and bills you at full rate without warning. This guide walks through what actually happens on LiveKit, Agora, Daily.co, 100ms, Zoom Build Platform, and TRTC when your free minutes run out — and the three-layer safety net (free + Top-Up + PAYG) that keeps a demo running while you sleep.
The moment everyone dreads
It's day 27 of the month. You're showing your product to a customer over a live video call inside the app. You've been on the free tier for two months because traffic has been low and your free-minute counter sits comfortably above zero in the dashboard.
Then mid-call the audio drops. Reconnects. Drops again. The customer asks "is something wrong with the demo?" and you stall while you tab over to the dashboard to find out you've used 10,008 of 10,000 minutes this month because of an integration test you forgot to disable.
You have between 30 seconds and 30 minutes to fix this depending on the vendor. The fix is sometimes a click, sometimes a credit card field, sometimes a sales call.
The right thing to know is what each platform actually does when this happens — and how to set up your account so it never gets to "the customer asks if something's wrong" again.
What each vendor does when the free tier hits zero
| Vendor | Free tier | What happens at the moment of exhaustion | What you have to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveKit Build | 5,000 WebRTC min + 1,000 AI Agent min | Hard stop. Sessions disconnect. Cannot exceed Build limits. | Upgrade to Ship ($50/mo) or Scale ($500/mo). No PAYG override on Build. |
| Agora | 10,000 shared RTC min/mo | Soft transition: rolls into PAYG if a billing method is on file. Otherwise services suspend. Conv AI is separate (300-min one-time trial). | Add a payment method in advance, or buy a prepaid pack to backstop. |
| Daily.co | 10,000 participant-min/mo | Rolls automatically into PAYG at $0.004/pm video. Graduated discount kicks in at 100k pm/mo. | Pre-add a billing method. Daily emails you at usage milestones. |
| 100ms | 10,000 conferencing min/mo | Pay-As-You-Grow takes over: $4.00/1k pm video, $1.00/1k audio. | Add a billing method or service can suspend at threshold. |
| Zoom Build Platform | 20 free trial credits (one-time) | Hard stop. No PAYG. Must subscribe to a credit pack ($100/100 credits or $450/500 credits per month) before service resumes. | Buy the subscription. Credit packs do not auto-renew across months without cancellation. |
| TRTC | 10,000 unified min/mo (RTC + AI convertible) | Auto post-paid kicks in if PAYG is enabled — service continues at $0.99/1k audio uninterrupted. If PAYG is off, the system uses your Top-Up balance next, then suspends only if everything is depleted. | Enable PAYG once at signup; optionally add a Top-Up pack as the middle buffer. |
The two vendors that never stop service mid-call as long as the account is configured: TRTC and Daily.co. The two that always stop without an upgrade: LiveKit Build and Zoom Build Platform.
Why "auto post-paid" matters more than the headline rate
When pricing pages list "$0.99/1k audio minutes" or "$0.004/participant-minute" they're advertising the rate.
What they should be advertising is the transition behavior. The behavior is what determines whether your service stays online during the worst possible moment.
Here's the framing that helps: the free tier is your demo budget; PAYG is your insurance policy. Insurance only works if it's on before the accident.
Most teams spend their free 10,000 minutes assuming they'll add billing "later" because the dashboard isn't pressing them. Then "later" arrives mid-demo and the upgrade flow has 4 screens (or, on Zoom Build Platform, requires a credit-pack subscription decision under pressure).
Set up PAYG on day one, even if you never expect to use it. It costs nothing to enable. It costs a lot to add later.
The Top-Up safety net (the part most devs miss)
PAYG protects against service interruption. It doesn't protect against bill shock.
A botched integration test that loops a video call for 8 hours could cost you ~$240 on TRTC PAYG, ~$150 on Daily.co PAYG, ~$1,920 on 100ms video PAYG. The bill shows up next month. By then, the damage is done.
The fix is a middle layer — a small prepaid pack between the free tier and the PAYG fallback.
On TRTC specifically:
| Layer | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Layer 1: Free tier (10,000 min/mo) | Absorbs your normal traffic. | $0 |
| Layer 2: Top-Up pack (25,000 min) | Catches the spike. Caps your damage at 25k overage minutes per pack. | $23 once, valid 1 year |
| Layer 3: PAYG (post-paid toggle) | Final backstop. If both above are exhausted, service stays online at $0.99/1k. | $0 to enable, charged per-minute when used |
A 25k Top-Up pack at $23 buys you ~10 hours of looped audio call before exhaustion. By that point, your monitoring should be screaming and you can investigate. It's the cheapest possible insurance against catastrophic billing surprises.
Note: Top-Up packs cover RTC minutes, cloud recording, and mix transcoding — they do not cover Conversational AI, TTS, STT, or real-time translation. AI services have their own metering and their own free pool conversion (the 10,000 monthly free min converts at 10.10× for Conv AI = ~990 free Conv AI minutes per month, 20.2× for STT = ~495 STT min, 16.16× for translation = ~619 min, and 606 free min per 10k TTS chars = ~165k chars). So if you're running a voice agent that burns Conv AI minutes, the Top-Up doesn't directly absorb that — it's a separate billing line.
The three-step setup that prevents 99% of disaster scenarios
Sign up for the free tier. No credit card required. You get 10,000 minutes/month immediately. Use them for development, demos, tests.
Enable post-paid (PAYG) the same day, before you need it. Add a billing method. Toggle PAYG on in the console. The default rates apply only when something draws from PAYG, so this step costs $0 unless you actually exceed the free tier. The benefit: the moment something does exceed the free tier, service continues seamlessly at $0.99/1k audio / $3.99/1k HD video — no manual intervention, no demo dropping.
Buy one 25k Top-Up pack ($23) as a buffer between free and PAYG. Optional but cheap. The Top-Up gets consumed before PAYG, so it acts as a $23 cap on your overage exposure for the next 25,000 spike-minutes (≈ 10 looped hours). The 12-month validity means you can buy it once and forget about it.
Total spend: $23, valid for one year. Total uptime risk: minimized. Total bill-shock risk: bounded by the $23 pack until you choose to refill.
If you skip step 3 and rely only on PAYG, you have unlimited service but unlimited bill exposure. If you skip step 2 and rely only on Top-Up, the moment you exhaust the pack, service suspends. All three layers together is the actual safety net, and on TRTC the entire setup costs $23 and 5 minutes of console clicks.
What to do if the free tier just ran out and you don't have this set up
If you're reading this article right now because your free tier just exhausted and a customer is on the line:
On TRTC: Open the console, go to Billing, enable post-paid (one toggle, requires a billing method), and service should resume within seconds. Your existing call may need to reconnect once.
On Agora: Add a payment method through the console. PAYG should auto-trigger; in some account configurations you may need to manually re-enable RTC services after suspension.
On LiveKit (Build tier): You'll need to upgrade to Ship ($50/mo) before the connection can re-establish. There is no PAYG-only path on Build. Plan for at least 5–15 minutes of downtime during the upgrade.
On Zoom Build Platform: You'll need to buy a credit subscription ($100 minimum). Service won't resume until the purchase clears. Allow up to 30 minutes.
On Daily.co or 100ms: Add a payment method and PAYG should kick in.
The best thing to do after the immediate fix: configure the safety net so the next exhaustion is invisible.
Why TRTC's setup is structurally different
The deduction order on TRTC, by design, is:
- Free tier (10,000 unified min/mo) → consumed first
- Subscription minutes (if you have a Lite/Standard/Pro plan) → consumed next, in order of expiration
- Top-Up packs (any active 25k/250k/1M packs) → consumed next, oldest-expiring first
- PAYG ($0.99/1k audio, $3.99/1k HD video, etc.) → final fallback when everything above is exhausted
That ordering is what makes the three-layer safety net work without manual intervention. You don't pick which pool to spend; the system spends them in cheapest-first / soonest-to-expire order. You just configure the pools.
The flip side: the layers don't include Conversational AI / TTS / STT / Real-time Translation in the same pool as Top-Up. AI services pull from the 10,000-minute free pool via documented conversion ratios (Conv AI 1 min = 10.10 free min consumed → ~990 Conv AI min/mo free; STT 1 min = 20.2 free min → ~495 STT min; translation 16.16× → ~619 min; TTS 10k chars = 606 free min → ~165k characters), then fall to PAYG at the standalone AI rates ($0.01/min Conv AI, $0.02/min STT, $0.016/min translation, $0.6/10k chars TTS). So if you're running a voice-agent product, the AI safety net is "free pool → PAYG" and the Top-Up doesn't help directly. For details on the AI side, see our Conversational AI Pricing 2026 breakdown.
How Agora's prepaid plan compares
Agora's official prepaid plan handbook (published in their support center) describes a similar pattern: the customer pre-funds a balance, services deduct as consumed, top-ups can be added on top of the active plan. The deduction order on Agora prepaid is monthly package minutes → top-ups → monthly post-paid billing, and the prepaid plan is positioned as a way to give customers "full control over their spending, prevents unexpected charges, and ensures uninterrupted access."
The shape is comparable to TRTC's. The differences:
- Agora's prepaid is a balance, not a fixed-quantity package. Top-ups go into the same wallet.
- Agora's free 10,000 minutes are RTC only. AI features (Conv AI, STT, translation) live in separate trials and don't share the free pool.
- Agora services suspend if standard minutes are exhausted in a month, even if your account has not been suspended overall — the suspension is service-level. This is different from TRTC's behavior, which keeps services alive as long as PAYG is enabled.
Both vendors converged on the same insight in 2025–2026: developers want a middle layer between subscription and pure PAYG. The implementation differs in how stackable and how forgiving the layers are.
FAQ
Will my account be deleted if I don't pay? On TRTC, no. Account suspension is separate from service interruption. If the free tier exhausts and PAYG is off, the RTC service pauses for that account — your data, console access, app credentials, and configuration are preserved. You can resume by enabling PAYG or adding a Top-Up.
Do unused free minutes carry over to next month? On TRTC and on most major vendors (Agora, LiveKit, Daily.co), no. The free tier resets at the start of each billing period. Top-Up packs do carry their unused balance, valid for 12 months from purchase.
Can I top up a free-tier account? On TRTC, yes — you don't need a subscription to buy a Top-Up. The Top-Up sits on the account and burns down after the free tier. On Agora, yes, top-ups are available even on the free package.
What's the cheapest way to keep a demo online for the next 30 days? On TRTC: enable PAYG (free to turn on, $0.99/1k audio when used) and optionally add a 25k Top-Up at $23. For most demo workloads under 25,000 RTC minutes/month, this combination keeps your bill at zero (free tier covers everything) while protecting against any single spike.
My RTC service was suspended. How do I unsuspend it? On TRTC: enable PAYG with a valid billing method, or add a Top-Up. Service resumes within seconds. On Zoom Build Platform: buy a credit subscription. On LiveKit Build: upgrade to Ship.
Does adding a Top-Up trigger PAYG? No. Top-Up is independent. Adding a Top-Up adds a minute balance with 12-month validity. PAYG is a separate toggle. You can have either, both, or neither — though the recommended setup for production is both.
How do I know my free tier is about to exhaust? On TRTC, the console dashboard shows a real-time free-minute counter. Set up alerts at 50%, 80%, and 95% via the billing-alerts API. Check the dashboard weekly during the first few months until you have a feel for your monthly burn.
What about AI minutes — do those exhaust separately? Yes. The 10,000-minute monthly free pool covers RTC, recording, transcoding, and AI services via conversion ratios. If you've spent the entire pool on Conversational AI (~990 Conv AI minutes), the pool is depleted for all services that month. Any further AI usage falls to PAYG ($0.01/min Conv AI, $0.02/min STT, $0.016/min translation, $0.6/10k chars TTS); RTC usage falls to RTC PAYG ($0.99/1k audio).