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Usage-based API pricing, practically
Usage-based pricing means your customers pay for what they use, usually per request or per event. It's fair and scales with value. It also needs one thing to be reliable: an accurate count per customer and plan.
1. Pick the unit
Per request is the simplest to explain and to verify. Some products price per "event" or per unit of work instead. Whatever you choose, customers should be able to reproduce the number.
2. Count at the edge, attribute to a customer
Count where every request passes: a gateway, a proxy or middleware. Attribute each request to a customer ID and plan. Endpoint normalization (/orders/:id) keeps reports readable.
3. Design the free tier so it never breaks anything
Hard-blocking customers at a quota causes outages and support tickets. A softer pattern: warn at 80%, offer an upgrade at 100%, and only then decide on enforcement. API Meter does this for its own customers: past 125% of the free tier it pauses recording, never your traffic.
4. Price per million with a low floor
For reference, here's how API analytics vendors price (public list prices, checked Oct 11, 2026):
| Vendor | Pricing model |
|---|---|
| Moesif Growth | Per event tier: US$165/mo for 1M, US$790/mo for 5M, +US$75/seat |
| Treblle Core | Flat US$233/mo billed yearly, up to 5M requests and 5 APIs |
| Kong Konnect Plus | Gateway: 1M requests included, then US$200 per extra 1M; analytics US$20 per extra 1M |
| Apigee (pay-as-you-go) | Analytics add-on US$20 per 1M calls, only on the US$1,460/mo Intermediate environment or higher |
| API Meter | Free to 250K/mo; CA$19/mo with 2M included, then CA$3 per extra million |
5. Export usage for billing
At month end, export per-customer counts and feed them to your billing system. API Meter's dashboard has a per-customer CSV export. Direct Stripe metered-billing sync is on the roadmap.
Try it
Competitor prices are public list prices in USD, checked Oct 11, 2026. They change, so check the vendor's pricing page. API Meter prices are in CAD and are early-access pricing that may change before launch.