HighLevel's plans are flat: $97, $297 or $497 a month (see HighLevel pricing for the full plan breakdown). But HighLevel's own pricing page says "usage based charges apply" to SMS, calling, email and several AI tools. These charges come out of your agency wallet every month, and on the $97 Starter plan you can't pass them on to clients.
Below is every usage rate we could verify on HighLevel's official pages, followed by two worked monthly bills.
1. Phone numbers, texts and calls (LC Phone)
Source: LC Phone Pricing & Billing Guide. US/Canada rates.
| Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Local number | $1.15 / month |
| Toll-free number | $2.15 / month |
| SMS, outbound or inbound | $0.00747 / segment |
| MMS outbound | $0.0220 / segment |
| MMS inbound | $0.0165 (local) / $0.0200 (toll-free) |
| Outbound call | $0.0166 / minute |
| Inbound call (web, mobile, desk phone) | $0.01165 / minute |
| Inbound call to toll-free | $0.0198 / minute |
| Inbound call forwarded to a US number | $0.02 / minute |
| Call recording | $0.0025 / minute |
| Recording storage | $0.0005 / minute / month |
| Call transcription | $0.024 / minute |
| Answering machine detection | $0.0075 / call |
| Voicemail drop | $0.0180 / minute |
The traps:
- Carrier fees are charged on top of every SMS segment, inbound and outbound. HighLevel lists SMS fees from $0.0025 to $0.0100 per segment depending on the carrier and direction (for example, AT&T is $0.0035 each way). An SMS over 160 characters counts as more than one segment, and each segment is billed.
- Calls round up. Calls are billed in full minutes; any partial minute rounds up.
- Transcription costs more than the call. At $0.024 a minute, it costs more than the $0.0166 outbound call itself.
- A2P 10DLC registration (required to text US numbers from a local number). Submitting a campaign starts both fees, whatever the review outcome:
| Campaign type | One-time fee | Monthly fee |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | $22.50 | up to $2.10 per campaign |
| Low volume | $22.50 | $1.50–$10.50 per campaign |
| High volume | $64.00 | $10.50 per campaign |
2. Email (LC Email)
Source: What is LC Email?
- Sending: $0.675 per 1,000 emails, on all plans. HighLevel says all incoming and outgoing emails, including To, CC and BCC, are charged.
- Forwarding: same rate as sending.
- Email verification: $2.50 per 1,000 checks, billed separately.
- Dedicated email IP (add-on): $59 / month per IP (pricing page).
3. AI usage
Sources: AI Products Pricing and AI Employee Plans.
Each sub-account is billed for AI in one of three ways:
| Pay-per-use | AI Employee Growth | AI Employee Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | none | $50 / sub-account | $97 / sub-account |
| Conversation AI | token cost | 1,000 agent responses / month | Unlimited |
| Voice AI | per-minute + tokens | 100 AI agent minutes / month | Unlimited (fair use) |
| Reviews AI | $0.01 / review | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Content AI | $0.063 / image, $0.0945 / 1,000 words | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pay-per-use Voice AI is billed as call minutes × (Voice Engine $0.045/min + text-to-speech rate) + LLM tokens. Text-to-speech runs from $0.015/min (OpenAI or Cartesia) to $0.170/min (ElevenLabs V3). HighLevel's own example puts a 10-minute call with OpenAI text-to-speech at $0.60 before tokens.
Phone charges still apply to Voice AI calls, even on AI Employee Unlimited. Rebilling AI Employee usage to clients requires the $497 plan.
4. Paid add-ons
Source: gohighlevel.com/pricing
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Branded client portal app | $49 / month per sub-account |
| SEO (Search Atlas) | $79 / month per sub-account |
| HIPAA compliance | $297 / month |
| White-label mobile app | $497 / month |
| WordPress hosting | from $10 / month per site |
| HighLevel Certification Program | $97 / month |
| Dedicated email IP | $59 / month per IP |
| Online listings management | $30 / month per sub-account |
| Premium prospecting tool | $29 / month per sub-account |
| Premium support | $500 / month |
| WhatsApp integration | $10 / month per sub-account |
5. Who can pass usage costs to clients?
Source: HighLevel Pricing & Billing guide.
- Starter ($97): no rebilling. Every client's texts and calls come out of your margin.
- Unlimited ($297): phone and email rebilled at cost, with no markup.
- Pro ($497): rebilling with markup, plus AI Employee rebilling.
When rebilling is on, HighLevel adds a fixed 5% markup to pass-through items (A2P fees and carrier fees).
Worked examples: a month of usage
Our assumptions (not HighLevel data). Each client has:
- 1 local number
- 1,000 outbound and 500 inbound SMS segments
- 300 outbound and 300 inbound call minutes
- 5,000 emails
- 1 low-volume A2P campaign, priced at the $10.50 top of its range
Carrier fees use HighLevel's "all other carriers" SMS rates ($0.0042 out, $0.0100 in). There's no AI, no add-ons and no one-time fees.
Usage per client per month:
| Line | Math | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Local number | 1 × $1.15 | $1.15 |
| SMS segments | 1,500 × $0.00747 | $11.21 |
| Carrier fees | 1,000 × $0.0042 + 500 × $0.0100 | $9.20 |
| Outbound minutes | 300 × $0.0166 | $4.98 |
| Inbound minutes | 300 × $0.01165 | $3.50 |
| 5,000 ÷ 1,000 × $0.675 | $3.38 | |
| A2P campaign | 1 × $10.50 | $10.50 |
| Total per client | $43.91 |
Agency with 5 clients. Starter covers only 3 sub-accounts, so 5 clients means Unlimited.
| Monthly | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited plan | $297.00 |
| Usage (5 × $43.91) | $219.53 |
| Total | $516.53 (about $103 per client) |
| Optional: AI Employee Growth on every client | +$250.00 |
Agency with 20 clients, also on Unlimited:
| Monthly | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited plan | $297.00 |
| Usage (20 × $43.91) | $878.10 |
| Total | $1,175.10 (about $59 per client) |
| Optional: AI Employee Growth on every client | +$1,000.00 |
On Unlimited you can rebill the phone and email lines at cost, which turns most of the usage into a pass-through. The flat $297 is the only fixed cost, which is why the cost per client falls as you add clients. To earn a margin on usage, you need Pro: $200 more a month than Unlimited.
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FAQ
Does HighLevel charge for text messages?
Yes. $0.00747 per SMS segment in or out (US/Canada), plus the recipient carrier's fee per segment.
How much do HighLevel phone calls cost?
$0.0166 a minute outbound and $0.01165 a minute inbound (US/Canada), billed in full minutes. Recording and transcription are extra.
How much does LC Email cost?
$0.675 per 1,000 emails on every plan. Verification is $2.50 per 1,000 checks.
Is AI included in HighLevel plans?
Some AI tools are free (Funnel AI, Workflow AI, Email AI). Conversation AI and Voice AI are pay-per-use unless you add AI Employee Growth ($50) or Unlimited ($97) per sub-account.
Can I charge clients for usage?
Not on Starter. Unlimited rebills phone and email at cost. Pro lets you add a markup and rebill AI Employee.
Do usage fees apply during the free trial?
HighLevel says usage-based fees for telecom or third-party services may apply during the trial.