# Usage-Based Billing for SaaS and AI Products

> Meter, rate, and bill customers based on actual usage like API calls, compute hours, or seats with real-time tracking and transparent invoicing.

- **URL**: https://dodopayments.com/billing/usage-based-billing
- **Product area**: Billing
- **Documentation**: https://docs.dodopayments.com/billing/usage-based-billing

## The Problem

### **Usage-Based Pricing**   Is a Nightmare to Build

Tracking usage events, aggregating metrics, calculating charges, and generating accurate invoices in real time requires complex infrastructure that most teams don't have time to build or maintain.


## The Solution

### Meter Anything, Bill Accurately, Scale Effortlessly

Dodo Payments ingests your usage events in real time, applies flexible rating rules, and generates transparent invoices -- so you can offer consumption-based pricing without building a billing engine from scratch.


## Features

### Custom Metering

Track tokens, credits, API calls, or storage with ease.

### Hybrid Models

Combine base subscriptions with usage-based overages.

### Automated invoicing

Usage is instantly reflected in customer invoices.

### Real-Time Reporting

Monitor usage and revenue trends in your dashboard.

### Compliance Covered

Taxes, refunds, and disputes managed under our MoR.


## Who This Is For

- AI and ML platforms billing per inference or token
- API-first companies charging per request or call
- Infrastructure providers metering compute, storage, or bandwidth
- DevTool companies tracking seats or active users

## Use Cases

- Meter API calls in real time and bill customers at the end of each billing cycle
- Combine a base subscription fee with pay-as-you-go usage overages
- Track storage or compute consumption per customer and generate transparent invoices
- Offer free tiers with automatic billing when usage exceeds thresholds

## FAQ

### What usage metrics can I track?

You can meter any quantifiable event -- tokens, API calls, compute hours, storage bytes, active seats, or custom events -- using our metering API.

### Can I combine usage-based billing with a subscription?

Yes. Hybrid models let you charge a recurring base fee plus variable usage-based overages, all on a single invoice.

### How quickly do usage events appear in reporting?

Usage events are processed in near real-time. Customers and merchants can see updated consumption data within minutes.

### Who handles tax compliance on usage-based charges?

Dodo Payments acts as Merchant of Record, so taxes, refunds, and disputes on usage-based invoices are fully managed for you.

### What problem does usage-based pricing is a nightmare to build solve?

Tracking usage events, aggregating metrics, calculating charges, and generating accurate invoices in real time requires complex infrastructure that most teams don't have time to build or maintain.

### How does Dodo Payments solve this?

Dodo Payments ingests your usage events in real time, applies flexible rating rules, and generates transparent invoices -- so you can offer consumption-based pricing without building a billing engine from scratch.


## Related Pages

**Related features:** [Credit-Based Billing](https://dodopayments.com/billing/credit-based-billing) | [Subscriptions](https://dodopayments.com/billing/subscriptions) | [One-Time Payments](https://dodopayments.com/billing/one-time-payments)
**Section:** [Billing](https://dodopayments.com/billing)
**Documentation:** [API Documentation](https://docs.dodopayments.com/billing/usage-based-billing)
**See also:** [Credit-Based Billing](https://dodopayments.com/billing/credit-based-billing) | [Merchant of Record](https://dodopayments.com/payments/merchant-of-record) | [Reporting & Analytics](https://dodopayments.com/payments/reporting-and-analytics) | [Subscription Billing](https://dodopayments.com/billing/subscriptions)

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## About Dodo Payments

Dodo Payments is the billing & payments platform for AI-first and SaaS companies, operating as a Merchant of Record in 220+ countries.

**Other Billing features:** [Credit-Based Billing](https://dodopayments.com/billing/credit-based-billing) | [Subscriptions](https://dodopayments.com/billing/subscriptions) | [One-Time Payments](https://dodopayments.com/billing/one-time-payments)

- [All Products](https://dodopayments.com) | [Documentation](https://docs.dodopayments.com) | [Pricing](https://dodopayments.com/pricing) | [Dashboard](https://app.dodopayments.com)