Picovoice AI Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to frequently asked questions on the Picovoice on-device Voice AI and local LLM platforms, Console, and Pricing. For software-specific questions, please refer to the dedicated FAQs at the bottom of each product page:

Local LLM:

On-device Voice AI:

Picovoice Business Model & Pricing

1. What's Picovoice's business model?

Picovoice sells its proprietary voice AI and LLM technology to enable enterprises to build AI-powered products without sacrificing privacy or accuracy in a few lines of code. Picovoice's subscription model:

Offers access to support, updates, and upgrades during the engagement. Enterprises apply iterative and agile development principles and enjoy the advances in voice recognition and other software, such as operating systems, without worrying about the support and being stuck with old technology
Helps enterprises manage their working capital effectively
Automizes usage tracking, resulting in efficiency gains and cost savings

2. What are the subscription packages Picovoice offers?

You can find more information about Picovoice's introductory packages on the pricing page.

3. Can I create custom wake words and voice commands or fine-tune speech-to-text models even with the Free plan?

Yes. You can use pre-trained AI models or customize and fine-tune them on the Picovoice Console. Picovoice Console is a no-code platform that enables developers to train and fine-tune voice AI models instantly.

See how to fine-tune models on the Picovoice Console:

4. We have a custom LLM; can we get it compressed?

Yes. Picovoice Consulting works with Enterprise Plan customers to compress their custom or fine-tuned LLMs using picoLLM Compression.

5. Do you train custom LLM models? Can I fine-tune picoLLM models?

Yes, at the moment custom training is available through picoLLM GYM for selected enterprise customers. You can reach out to your Picovoice contact when you become a Picovoice customer.

6. How do Picovoice on-device AI models achieve cloud-level accuracy with minimal resources?

Picovoice offers highly accurate and lightweight on-device AI engines using deep neural networks trained in real-world environments.

Picovoice's proprietary algorithms are developed by Picovoice researchers using transfer learning and hardware-aware training principles. Transfer learning enables zero-shot learning and removes extensive data collection and training per model, resulting in dramatically simplified product development, reduced time-to-market, and more accurate voice models compared to the traditional methods relying on data gathering. Hardware-aware training optimizes on-device engines and models for the target platform, resulting in resource and power-efficient models even for stringent power consumption requirements.

7. What type of support does Picovoice offer?

Picovoice offers several types of support options:

Enterprise Plan Customers: Enterprise Plan customers can customize the level of support they get to fit the unique needs of their organization.
Foundation Plan Customers: Foundation Plan customers get six (6) hours of email support with a 3-day SLA.
Enterprise Prospects: Enterprises, yet to become Picovoice customers, can get dedicated support by directly booking a meeting with the Picovoice Product and Engineering team.
Free Plan Account Owners: Developers working on personal projects by leveraging Picovoice's free resources can create GitHub Issues to report bugs.

8. Can I use Free Plan to build a PoC to present to my management team, fundraise, or any project that may not generate revenue?

Free Plan is for personal and non-commercial projects only. Any commercial project regardless of its current status requires a paid plan, i.e., a commercial license. Hence, you cannot use the Free Plan while working on any internal or external project. Other examples of commercial projects include but are not limited to client projects, MVPs, software testing, evaluation, and benchmarking within enterprises. These activities generally involve a founder, paid employee, contractor, or consultant writing the code.

9. How can we evaluate Picovoice before committing to a paid plan?

Picovoice offers Free Trial for enterprise developers working on testing and evaluating Picovoice technology to integrate into products and services that may be used by their employers, clients, or customers. Signing up for the Free Trial does not require a credit card. You can sign up for the Free Trial by following this link.

10. How can I check my plan limit and usage?

Go to the Picovoice Console dashboard or profile page to check your limits and usage.

11. How does Picovoice track engine usage?

Picovoice tracks the usage either using the amount of data processed or the number of users activated depending on the engines. You can check your plan limits and usage on the Picovoice Console dashboard or profile page.

Engines below report usage based on the amount of audio processed, measured in increments of one second:

Engines below report usage based on the amount of text data processed, measured in increments of one character:

Orca Streaming Text-to-Speech

Engines below report usage based on the number of tokens processed, measured in increments of one token:

picoLLM Inference

Engines below report usage based on the number of monthly users that activate the engines:

Please note that a user refers to "things" that activate its engines. A user is not a Picovoice Console Account owner, developer, end-user, or their credentials. Since developers have endless options and creative ways of solving problems, a user can be a device for one application and a session for another one.

12. When does my usage reset?

Your usage automatically resets every 30 days.

Picovoice tracks the usage accumulated in the last 30 days. You can see the real-time consumption on your Picovoice Console Profile.

13. How does Picovoice track model training and download usage?

Downloaded models are counted toward your monthly model allowance. Once you hit download, your training usage will increase.

14. When do my model allowances reset?

Picovoice tracks the training usage accumulated in the last 30 days. You can see the total number of models you trained in the last 30 days on your Picovoice Console Profile.

15. Can I reset my AccessKey on Picovoice Console?

No, neither you nor Picovoice can reset your AccessKey. Please do not share it with 3rd parties.

16. Can I reset my allowances without waiting for 30 days?

No, neither you nor Picovoice can reset your allowances. You need to wait until they reset.

17. Can I create another account until my allowances reset?

No, creating multiple accounts for the same project violates the Terms of Use. If you need more allowances, upgrade your account to the Foundation Plan. In case of violation, you may be asked to pay additional fees, and Picovoice may terminate your access and refuse to serve you. For more information, please refer to the Terms of Use.

18. Can I get my Free Trial period extended?

No, the Free Trial is a one-time-only offer for the given period.

No credit card information is required to start your trial. So, once your trial ends, your subscription will not auto-renew. Don’t forget to upgrade your account before your trial ends.

19. Can my colleague send another trial request?

No, the Free Trial is a one-time-only offer for the given period.

If your organization is interested in using Picovoice for longer, you need to upgrade your account.

20. Where can I ask more questions?

The Picovoice website covers 99% of questions as Picovoice updates its website frequently with all publicly available information. If you are not able to find answers to your questions, you can reach out to our Enterprise sales team for sales inquiries, purchase technical support to talk to product & engineering teams, or create a GitHub issue under the relevant repository to report bugs and errors. For other inquiries or feedback, you can email us at [email protected].

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