Notification Credits

Notification credits pay for SMS (text), WhatsApp, and voice call notifications sent through Twilio. Testable passes through the message or call cost reported by Twilio as notification credit usage. Credits are a dollar balance, not a count of messages: $1 of notification credits covers $1 of reported Twilio charges.

Email, HTTP, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and SNS notifications do not consume Testable notification credits. Any separate charges from those services are outside this credit balance.

How credits are used

When Testable sends an SMS, WhatsApp message, or voice call, Twilio reports a price for that message or call. Testable deducts that amount from the notification credits available through your plan or a purchased add-on. Some plans also offer pay-as-you-go notification usage; availability and billing terms depend on your plan.

For example, if Twilio reports a cost of $0.02 for a notification, it consumes $0.02 of credits. A $5 balance would then have $4.98 remaining. These amounts are illustrative, not quoted Twilio rates.

Each recipient is billed separately. If the same notification goes to three recipients and each costs $0.02, the total usage is $0.06. Repeated incident notifications and subsequent notifications, such as incident resolution messages, can also consume credits each time they are sent.

Why the cost varies

A credit purchase does not guarantee a fixed number of notifications. The cost depends on the channel and Twilio’s applicable pricing:

  • SMS: Destination, carrier, and message length can affect the price. SMS messages are billed in segments, so a longer message can cost more than a short one. See Twilio SMS pricing and select the relevant destination country.
  • WhatsApp: Pricing depends on the applicable Twilio and WhatsApp message fees, including the destination and message category. See Twilio WhatsApp pricing.
  • Voice: Call destination and duration affect the price. See Twilio Voice pricing and select the relevant destination country.

Twilio rates can change. Use these pricing pages for estimates; Testable’s credit usage is based on the price Twilio reports for the individual message or call.

Estimated capacity before sending

Before sending, Testable checks that an eligible subscription has enough notification capacity, using an estimate of $0.10 per recipient. The check also accounts for notifications whose final charges are still pending.

This estimate is not a flat fee or a maximum price. The eventual credit deduction uses Twilio’s reported cost, which may be lower or higher. For example, a notification to three recipients requires an estimated $0.30 of available capacity before sending, even if its final reported cost is only $0.06.

As a result, a notification can be blocked even when a small positive balance remains. If there is no eligible subscription with enough capacity, Testable skips the notification. For monitor notifications, the activity history records the reason as “due to lack of subscription.”

When usage appears

Twilio may not provide a final price immediately. Testable checks for prices that are still pending and updates usage when a price becomes available. Your billing balance and usage history can therefore lag behind the notification activity. A notification being queued for sending does not confirm delivery to the recipient.

Purchasing more credits

  1. Open Org Management > Billing > Products > Purchase Add-On.
  2. Select Notification Credits as the add-on type.
  3. Enter the dollar amount of credits you want to purchase.
  4. Review the price and expiration information shown in the modal, then complete the purchase.

You can also upgrade to a plan with more included notification credits. Review your plan’s allowance and the add-on’s expiration terms when deciding which option fits your usage.

Reviewing your usage

Go to Org Management > Billing > Products to review notification credit usage. Open the product or plan to inspect usage by billing period and drill down to the associated tests or monitors. See Billing: Plan Usage for more details.

If notifications are blocked, check the available balance and active subscription or add-on in the same organization. Upgrade your plan or purchase additional credits using the steps above.