Glossaire
Usage-Based Pricing
A pricing model where customers pay in proportion to how much of the product they actually use.
Usage-based pricing (UBP) charges by a value metric tied to consumption: API calls, events processed, data stored, messages sent, workflows run. It aligns cost with value, removes seat-counting politics, and lets small customers start cheap and scale spend as they succeed. Snowflake, Twilio, and AWS are canonical examples.
The trade-off is revenue predictability: usage dips when customer business dips. Most modern UBP companies mix a platform fee or committed minimum with usage overages to smooth the revenue line. Switching from seat-based to usage-based is hard — it requires a new billing stack, new sales compensation, and a new customer conversation — but the long-term expansion dynamics often justify it.
Pourquoi c'est important
Usage-based pricing is the dominant model for infrastructure and AI-native SaaS. Understanding it is now table stakes for competitive pricing analysis.
Termes connexes
Pricing Strategy
The deliberate set of choices about how a product is priced, packaged, and positioned on value relative to alternatives.
Freemium Model
A pricing model that offers a free tier with limits, designed to convert users to paid plans as they get value.
Value Proposition
A clear statement of the specific value a product delivers to a specific customer, and why that value is better than the alternatives.
Product-Market Fit
The point at which a product clearly serves a real market need, demonstrated by strong demand, retention, and organic growth.
Customer Segmentation
Dividing the customer base into groups that share meaningful behaviors, needs, or economics.