**When are minutes charged — SozAI Help**
Source: https://sozai.app/help/billing/minutes-charged/

# When are minutes charged

 Updated 6 October 2026 · 1 min read

**In short** Minutes are charged only after a transcription finishes successfully. If a transcription fails, the minutes stay in your balance. The recording's length is counted, rounded up to a whole minute.

## What uses minutes

Only transcription. Notes, flashcards, quizzes and chat about a recording do not use minutes.

## If a transcription fails

No minutes are charged. What to do: [transcription is slow or failed](https://sozai.app/help/transcription/failed/).

## If a recording stopped by itself

If a recording stopped after silence (the Stop on silence setting), a silent tail of up to 10 minutes is not counted.

## If you do not have enough minutes for a file

Before transcribing, the service checks that your minutes cover the whole file. If they do not, transcription does not start and nothing is charged. While your other recordings are processing, their expected length is temporarily counted in that check, but not charged.

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## Related articles

- [How many free minutes do I get](https://sozai.app/help/billing/free-minutes/)
- [Transcription is slow or failed](https://sozai.app/help/transcription/failed/)
- [What Premium includes](https://sozai.app/help/billing/what-premium-includes/)

## In this article

- What uses minutes
- If a transcription fails
- If a recording stopped by itself
- If you do not have enough minutes for a file

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