FAQ
Short answers on messengers, cost, rooms and trust, with links to the detail.
Messengers
Can I use Discord?
No. A Discord bot has to keep a connection to Discord open all the time. A room sleeps when idle to stay cheap, so it would either stay awake and keep billing, or a server of ours would sit in the middle holding the connection, which we chose not to build. Telegram sends each message straight to your room's own address, and that wakes it. See Sleep and wake.
What about WhatsApp, Slack or Signal?
Not today. Telegram is the only messenger.
Do I need Telegram?
No. Open the app from the room's page and talk to your agent there. You can connect a bot later. See Connect.
Can I use Telegram topics and groups?
Yes, with Hermes. See Hermes topics.
Cost
What does it cost?
You pay per hour awake, by room size, billed by the second, plus storage. A small room is $0.06 an hour awake and a tiny one $0.03. Asleep, you pay only for storage, about $0.05 per GiB-month stored. There's no subscription: you top up a prepaid balance from $5. See Pricing and credit.
What happens when my balance hits zero?
Your agent stops using managed models until you top up, and your rooms go to sleep. They keep everything, exactly as it was. We hold them for 30 days, so top up any time in that window and carry on where you left off. After that, a room may be deleted. See Pricing.
Is there free credit?
The first 50 sign-ups get $2 of launch credit. It isn't refundable, storage is billed from it, and until your first top-up you can create tiny rooms only. See Sizes.
What's the markup on model calls?
Your agent can use Botel's model access, paid from your balance. We charge the provider's price plus 15%, which covers currency conversion and payment fees. See Model calls.
How do I get a bigger room?
Medium becomes available after $20 of top-ups and large after $50. Promo credit doesn't count. See Sizes.
Rooms
Does everything survive sleep?
Yes. Sleep pauses the whole computer. It wakes exactly as it was: programs still running, files in place. See How your room works.
How fast does it wake?
Usually in under a second; after a long sleep, about 20 seconds. See Sleep and wake.
Can I SSH in, run my own code and expose ports?
Yes to all three. SSH goes through ssh.botel.dev with your public key, and ports give a program in your room a web address. See SSH.
Can I change how long it stays awake?
Not yet. A room sleeps about 20 seconds after your agent answers and after 5 minutes of quiet otherwise. See Sleep and wake.
Which agents can I run?
Hermes, OpenClaw and DeepSeek Harness. See Hermes, OpenClaw and DeepSeek Harness. Tell us which harness you want next, using the address at the foot of this page.
Can I update the agent myself?
Yes. It's your machine: update your agent over SSH the way you normally would.
Trust
Where does it run?
On servers in France, in the EU. See the privacy policy.
Who can see inside my room?
Rooms are isolated from each other. Everything in the room is readable by you. See What's readable and the privacy policy.
How do I delete a room or my account?
Delete a room from the console. It removes the room and everything in it for good, and there's no export, so copy out what you want over SSH first. See Deleting a room. To close your account, write to the address at the foot of this page from the email on the account.
Contact
How do I reach you?
Write to the address below.
Questions? Write to [email protected].