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Wall-clock vs participant time: the nuance
Wall-clock is elapsed time. Participant time is wall-clock × participants — what video providers bill.
Two different measures
Wall-clock
Real time, independent of headcount. 1 session of 60 min = 60 min wall-clock.
Participant time
Sum of presences. 60 min with 8 people = 480 participant minutes (what Daily.co/Whereby bills).
Formula
participant time = wall-clock × participants
Concrete examples
| Situation | Wall-clock | Participant time |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 — 60 min | 60 min | 120 min (2 people) |
| Group 8 — 60 min (1 host + 7) | 60 min | 480 min (8 people) |
| 4×/month group 8 — 60 min | 240 min (4 h) | 1,920 min |
| Median active: 4 h/month group 8 | 240 min | 1,920 min |
| Same budget 1,920 min in 1:1 | 960 min (16 h) | 1,920 min (2 people) |
At 10,000 clients, 25% active at 1,920 min = 1.2M participant minutes, ~2.5% of MRR with Daily.co pooled.
Why it matters for billing
Live cost depends on headcount, not just duration. A recorded session costs wall-clock × (participants × $0.004 + $0.01).
- Slonto median: 4 h wall-clock/month in group 8 among active creators.
- In 1:1 the same budget gives 4× more hours (16 h for 1,920 min).
- Global median (active + inactive): 0 min — 75% of paying creators don’t use live.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median at Slonto? +
4 h wall-clock/month among active live creators (1,920 participant minutes in group 8). Across all paying creators the median is 0 min because 75% don’t use live.
Why bill in participant-minutes? +
It’s the Daily.co/Whereby standard: each video stream costs. Wall-clock alone would undercount a group of 8.
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