General rates reviewed October 17, 2026 (UTC) · A2P fees checked October 16, 2026
Published rates. Explicit formulas. No pretend precision.
The calculator combines a HighLevel subscription, fixed direct-usage rates, optional monthly products, and one-time A2P registration. Variable charges stay outside the arithmetic until there is an authoritative universal rate.
Direct-cost model
The monthly direct-cost estimate is:
subscription + measured usage + selected add-ons
One-time A2P registration is shown separately. The base fee is $22.50 for sole-proprietor or low-volume campaigns and $64.00 for high-volume campaigns, including Fast Track. These A2P fees were checked October 16, 2026 against the official phone pricing guide. Monthly campaign estimates use the published upper end where a range applies. Zero-cost rows are hidden from the expanded breakdown, but their inputs remain available.
SMS registration warning
When SMS segments are greater than zero and no A2P tier is selected, the calculator shows a registration warning. Standard 10-digit local numbers sending application-to-person messages to US recipients require an approved A2P brand and campaign. Toll-free numbers do not use A2P 10DLC, but they require separate toll-free verification. Some Canada-only and international routes follow different registration or identity-verification rules, so the calculator warns instead of automatically adding a potentially incorrect A2P tier.
AI usage model
The AI estimate uses the selected per-location plan before applying usage charges:
| Plan | Monthly cost | Modeled allowances |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-Per-Use | $0 | All modeled Conversation AI, Voice AI, Content AI, and Reviews AI usage is billable. |
| AI Employee Growth | $50/location | 1,000 Conversation AI responses and 100 Voice AI minutes; Content AI and Reviews AI included, subject to fair use. |
| AI Employee Unlimited | $97/location | Conversation AI, Voice AI, Content AI, and Reviews AI included, subject to fair use. |
Conversation AI multiplies billable responses by the entered average input and output tokens per response and the selected model rates. For Growth, the average token assumptions are applied only to responses above the 1,000-response allowance.
Traditional Voice AI multiplies billable minutes by the sum of the $0.045 Voice Engine rate, the selected TTS rate, and the entered token cost per minute. For Growth, this formula applies only above the 100-minute allowance. Phone System charges remain separate on every AI plan.
Reseller model
The original published calculator used a fixed 20% uplift. Reseller mode restores an adjustable layer and labels the two common formulas correctly:
| Method | Formula | $100 cost at 20% |
|---|---|---|
| Markup on cost | price = cost × (1 + rate) | $120 price; 16.7% gross margin |
| Target gross margin | price = cost ÷ (1 − rate) | $125 price; 20% gross margin |
By default, the reseller layer applies to usage and add-ons. The full Agency Pro subscription is agency overhead in many SaaS-mode models, so assigning the entire $497 plan to one client would distort that client’s economics. The calculator lets the reseller deliberately include all monthly costs when that better matches the deal.
Rates and official sources
| Cost family | Rates represented | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions | Starter $97; Unlimited $297; Agency Pro $497 | HighLevel pricing |
| LC Phone | Local number $1.15; outbound voice $0.0166/min; inbound voice $0.01165/min; SMS $0.00747/segment before carrier fees | LC Phone pricing structure |
| SMS registration | A2P 10DLC required for local-number messaging to US recipients; toll-free messaging uses separate verification | US phone number registrations |
| LC Email | $0.675/1,000 emails; $2.50/1,000 validations | LC Email pricing |
| Workflows and add-ons | $0.01 premium execution; $59 dedicated IP; $30 Listings; $79 SEO; $10 WhatsApp base; $49 branded portal | HighLevel pricing guide |
| AI products | Growth $50/location; Unlimited $97/location; Conversation AI model tokens; Voice Engine $0.045/min plus TTS and model tokens; Content AI $0.063/image and $0.0945/1,000 words; Reviews AI $0.01/review | AI product pricing |
Billing scope
Phone inputs use billed minutes: round each call up to a whole minute before totaling. The inbound rate applies only to web, mobile, or deskphone calls; calls forwarded to another phone number are excluded. LC Email includes sent, received, and forwarded email activity, including billed To, CC, and BCC recipients.
Dedicated email IP is $59 per domain on Unlimited or Agency Pro. This checkbox models one domain. Selecting it with Starter displays a warning and excludes the unavailable add-on, without changing your plan.
Speech-to-speech Voice AI is outside this estimate. HighLevel publishes separate bundled rates; its interaction with plan allowances needs explicit billing verification before it is modeled here.
Premium workflow inputs are billable executions at the standard pay-per-use rate, after any free lifetime allowance. Workflow Pro bundles and discounted overages are not modeled.
Deliberate exclusions
- SMS and MMS carrier pass-through fees, which vary by carrier, direction, and message type.
- HighLevel's 5% location-level pass-through markup when rebilling is enabled, including on A2P registration and monthly campaign fees. The calculator shows base costs; its optional reseller layer is a planning scenario, not a reproduction of account billing settings.
- International phone and messaging rates.
- Taxes, exchange rates, and jurisdiction-specific fees.
- WhatsApp conversation charges beyond the base integration fee.
- Speech-to-speech Voice AI, Ask AI, AI Studio, Agent Studio, prompt optimizers, specialized media generation, external workflow models, and other task-specific AI charges not represented by the calculator inputs.
- Phone System charges beyond the separately entered inbound and outbound minutes, including Voice AI telephony.
- Third-party apps, domains, integrations, payment processing, and external data providers.
- Implementation, migration, strategy, copy, workflow construction, training, and ongoing operations.
How to use the result
Use the number to compare scenarios and expose cost drivers. Then verify the final configuration in HighLevel before making a purchasing or client-pricing decision. A shareable calculator URL contains only the choices visible in the form; it does not save an account, contact, or private record.