Top-ups & AI time

How AI time works

AI time is Cariara's unit for AI work. Everything that uses AI — live transcription, Sona answers, prep documents, system design answers, the coding helper — uses seconds of it.

How much you have depends on your plan:

• 3-day free trial: no Cariara Live AI minutes; top-ups work, and ending the trial early starts your plan minutes
• The Engine (BYOK): AI runs on your own model keys and draws no minutes; none are included, so top-ups are your only Cariara minutes (Model keys)
• The CoPilot: 180 Live AI minutes each paid month, reset each cycle, no rollover
• Team: 3 hours per seat each cycle, pooled across the team (10 seats → 30 hours)
• Top-ups (60 minutes each): stack on any plan and never expire

What counts as AI time

Only what the AI works on counts, never idle time: 2 AI seconds per 1K input tokens, 20 per 1K output tokens, 6 per minute of audio, and 45 per grounded web search. Roughly:

• 30-minute live session ≈ 3–10 minutes of AI time (audio plus the answers)
• Coding helper solve ≈ 30 seconds
• System design (detailed) ≈ 90 seconds
• Full company prep doc ≈ 2 minutes

When to buy a top-up

The AI time chip in the top bar shows what is left: green while there is plenty, yellow under 20%, red once it is used up. You also get an email at 80% and at 95% used. Top up when it turns yellow in a week of interviews, or let auto top-up do it.

Pricing & expiry

Each top-up is 60 Live AI minutes, priced by your plan's region (or, without a plan, the country you buy from): $15 (Tier 1), $9 (Tier 2: Poland, Brazil, China, Mexico, Romania), $4 (Tier 3: the Philippines, Pakistan) or ₹299 (India). Buy 1 to 50 in one checkout. A regional price needs a card issued in that region. Top-ups never expire and survive renewals — they sit on your account until used. Prep and practice can use them any time; live interviews also need an active plan.

Top-ups add to your plan's minutes, and no plan is needed to buy one. Buy from thepricing page or when Cariara asks as your time runs out.

Auto top-up

Auto top-up buys Live AI before you run out, so a live interview never stops mid-answer. Off by default. Turn it on inSubscription & usage and pick:

• When below: 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes left. It buys in the background as soon as your Live AI time drops under it, and right away if you turn it on below it.
• Buy: 1, 2 or 5 top-ups of 60 minutes each, at your plan region's price.
• Monthly cap: 1 to 20 automatic top-ups per billing cycle. Required, never unlimited; a purchase that would pass it buys only what is left. Top-ups you buy yourself don't count.

It charges the card saved with your plan (or the one you add from the Auto top-up card) and emails a receipt for every charge. Auto top-up works on the Engine, the CoPilot, during the free trial, and for team owners on the team pool.

Paused charges

If your bank asks to confirm a charge (3DS), auto top-up pauses and emails you; confirm the payment on the Billing page and it resumes. Indian cards usually ask for this on every automatic charge. A declined card or a missing card also pauses it: update the card from the Auto top-up card and it resumes. A temporary payment error does not pause it.