Subscription-Based Pricing
Definition
Charge a fixed fee on a recurring billing cycle (such as monthly or annually), independent of actual usage, making it suitable for products where access to features is the primary value.Sample
- Basic Plan: $10/per month or $100/per year
- Premium Plan: $30/per month or $300/per year
Key Features
- Stable revenue with highly predictable cash flow.
- Clear billing structure that is easy for customers to understand and accept.
- Suitable for standardized products and long-term contract models.
Typical Use Cases
- Platform-based products that require continuous access to core features.
- Usage intensity is relatively stable, and businesses prefer predictable budgeting.
- Enterprise software and core SaaS feature subscriptions.
Target Customer Types
Medium and large enterprises that prefer a fixed cost structure and seek long-term, stable partnerships.Complexities in Actual Billing
Although subscription billing may seem straightforward, there are still various complex rules in real-world business scenarios that require system support.- Plan Upgrades and Downgrades: Pricing and settlement rules for plan changes mid-cycle.
- Proration for Incomplete Billing Cycles: Pro-rated billing for customers upgrading or changing plans mid-cycle.
- Cancellation and Refunds: Refund policies and financial reconciliation for early subscription terminations.
- Discounts and Promotions: Different discount rates applied based on customer or billing cycle.
- Contract Pricing and Custom Quotes: Exclusive pricing and contract terms management for key customers.
Hybrid Pricing
Definition
A certain amount of usage (such as credits, tokens, or API calls) is included in the base subscription fee. Once the included quota is exceeded, additional usage can be charged on a pay-as-you-go basis or covered by prepaid packages. This model ensures stable recurring subscription revenue while also capturing incremental revenue from business growth.Sample
- Basic Plan: $100/month (includes 1,000 credits)
- Premium Plan: $300/month (includes 5,000 credits)
- Top-up: $100 for 1,000 credits; $200 for 2,500 credits
Key Features
- Provides stable subscription revenue with potential for usage-based growth.
- Supports a combination of tiered plans, minimum spend, overage billing, and top-up packages.
- Aligns with the real business models of enterprise AI and API services.
Typical Use Cases
- Basic platform features billed via subscription, while advanced capabilities are billed based on usage.
- AI platform services with a combined model of token/API usage.
- Products and platforms with a wide range of customer scales and highly varied usage patterns.
Target Customer Types
B2B product teams and platform-based companies that need both stable long-term customers and the ability to support high-usage, fast-growing clients.Complexities in Actual Billing
While hybrid billing increases business flexibility, it also raises higher demands on the billing system:- Plan Upgrades and Downgrades: When upgrading or downgrading, both the consumption of included usage and remaining balance must be considered.
- Usage Expiry Management: Different expiry rules for subscription and top-up credits.
- Cancellation and Refund Logic: How to handle remaining credits when canceling a subscription and whether pro-rated refunds are supported.
- Complex Usage Pricing Models: Does the system support tiered pricing, volume discounts, or multi-dimensional metrics?
Currency-Based Prepayment
Definition
Customers prepay to their accounts to obtain a balance equivalent to the deposit amount. The system deducts the account balance in real-time or near-real-time based on actual usage, according to the unit price. Common measurement dimensions include token quantity, API calls, compute time, task count, bandwidth usage, etc., and are suitable for high-frequency, quantifiable resource consumption services.Sample
- Deposit Amount:Deposit $100 to get a $100 balance; deposit $200 to get a $200 balance.
- Usage Charges:**$0.5 per 1M tokens,**automatically deducted from the balance based on actual consumption.
Key Features
- Prepaid system reduces bad debt and collection risks.
- Scalable costs that align with business growth, offering flexible usage-based expansion.
- Supports high-frequency, real-time billing, naturally fitting AI and API services.
Typical Use Cases
- Token consumption billing for large model ToB clients
- Compute resource consumption for AI infrastructure and compute platforms
- Resource-based services such as data processing, video transcoding, and bulk task execution
Target Customer Types
Enterprise-level service providers who convert service usage into direct cash consumption and prefer to collect payment upfront, thus reducing financial and credit risks.Complexities in Actual Billing
While prepaid models offer clear advantages in cash flow and risk control, there are still several key challenges in system implementation:- Balance Expiry Management: Should the deposit be permanently valid, or should expiration and reset rules be applied?
- Low Balance and Service Interruption: Should services automatically stop, be throttled, or prompt users to top up when the balance is insufficient?
- Overage Handling: Should overdrawing be allowed, or should the system switch to a postpaid billing model?
- Real-time Charging and Delayed Reconciliation: How to ensure accurate charges and billing consistency under high-concurrency usage?
- Financial Entry Rules for Deposits and Consumption: Revenue recognition and deferred revenue processing logic.
Unit-Based Prepayment Pricing
Definition
Customers prepay to receive a certain number of usage credits (Credits / Units). The system converts service consumption into credits according to usage rules and automatically deducts the balance based on actual consumption. This model maps various types of services into a unified credit system, abstracting complex metering logic and creating a simple, intuitive pricing structure.Common measurement dimensions include token count, API calls, compute time, task count, and content generation volume.Sample
- Top-up Packages:$100 for 1,000 credits; $200 for 2,500 credits
- Usage Charges:3 Credits/Per Video,，按实际使用自动扣减积分余额
Key Features
- Prepay credits before usage, providing more control over cash flow
- Scalable costs that grow with business size, supporting high-frequency use cases
- Abstracts complex usage models into a unified credit system, making pricing clearer
Typical Use Cases
- AI application products billed based on functions or tasks (e.g., generation, analysis, transcription, etc.)
- AI Agents billed based on task execution, tool usage, or workflow completion
- Products that bundle multiple capabilities but wish to maintain a unified pricing unit for external communication
Target Customer Types
AI product and platform companies that wish to convert different service capabilities into a credit system for sale, while using a prepaid model to reduce bad debt risks and enhance cash flow stability.Complexities in Actual Billing
Although the credit system may seem simple, there are various key rules that need system support for scaled operations:- Credit Expiry Management: Should credits be permanently valid, or should expiration dates be set for each batch?
- Multi-batch Credit Consumption Order: Strategies such as “first to expire, first to consume” or “first credited, first consumed.”
- Bonus Credits and Promotional Activities: Rules for distinguishing and redeeming marketing credits versus paid credits.
- Refunds and Cancellations: How to handle returning used and unused credits upon refunds or cancellations.
- Complex Usage Conversion Rules: Different services may have different credit consumption rates.
- Multi-currency Recharge and Credit Pricing Linkage: Credit conversion systems under various regional pricing strategies.
Usage-Based Pricing / Pay-As-You-Go
Definition
Charges are based on the customer’s actual usage, with costs directly tied to resource consumption. Common measurement dimensions include token count, API calls, compute time, task volume, bandwidth usage, etc. Billing is typically aggregated and settled at the end of each billing period.Sample
- 单价：$0.5 per 1M tokens,
- 结算方式：按月汇总实际用量，月末出账单、后付费结算
Key Features
- True pay-as-you-go pricing with strong alignment between value and cost
- No upfront commitment required, lowering the barrier to adoption
- Naturally scales with business growth, supporting high-growth workloads
Typical Use Cases
- AI inference and model invocation services with highly variable usage
- Data and compute platforms billed by compute, bandwidth, or task volume
- Low-friction API products targeting startups and SMB customers
Target Customer Types
Growth-stage customers who are highly cost-sensitive, prefer on-demand scaling, and seek flexible usage with predictable budgets.Complexities in Actual Billing
At scale, usage-based billing places higher demands on metering, pricing, and settlement systems:- Multi-Currency Pricing and Settlement: Different regions use different currencies and pricing models, requiring unified conversion and reconciliation
- Price Change Effective Rules: How to correctly rate usage across different time periods when prices change mid-cycle
- Advanced Pricing Model Support:
- Tiered pricing (lower unit price at higher volumes)
- Volume pricing (single unit price per usage tier)
- Price caps, minimum spend, and hybrid rule combinations
- Real-Time Metering with Delayed Posting: Ensuring billing accuracy and financial consistency under high concurrency
- Invoice Transparency: Clearly presenting usage details and cost breakdowns to reduce billing disputes
How does EasyBilling support these models?
EasyBilling natively supports subscription billing, usage-based billing, and hybrid models, all of which can be flexibly combined.- Supports multi-dimensional metering metrics such as tokens, API calls, usage duration, number of devices, and more
- Supports tiered pricing, minimum spend, prepaid balances, and credit limits
- Deeply integrated with billing, payments, and tax systems to enable end-to-end automated monetization