Billing Management: #6 Usage Billing in SaaS
Imagine a customer shuffling across multiple subscriptions, a streaming service, a music app, cloud storage, and a design tool. Each one charges a flat monthly fee, regardless of how much or how little they use. Some months, the customer barely opens the subscriptions, yet the bill is the same. This is what we call subscription fatigue, meaning resistance from the customer towards fixed, recurring charges that don't match their actual usage.
For SaaS, subscription fatigue is more than a buzzword. It's a business risk as a flat rate may appear overcharging for one, but others enjoy paying less for their high usage. This imbalance leads to churn, lost revenue and customer grievances.
The solution lies in usage billing, where the customer pays based on what they consume. By aligning cost with value, businesses can increase fairness and unlock sustainable growth. While the principle is simple, it requires a reliable way to track and monetise usage properly.
Zoho Billing Makes Usage Billing Seamless
Zoho Billing provides SaaS businesses with all the tools needed to implement usage-based pricing effectively. Key capabilities that Zoho Billing offers that work effectively for SaaS businesses include:
Flexible Pricing Tiers: Businesses can create multiple plans with different prices and list them on their websites for direct signup.
Zero value Plan: For charging customers purely based on usage alone, businesses can create $0 value plan and associate usage addons to charge appropriately.
Addons: Attach both flat-rated addons and usage-based addons to the subscription.
Hybrid Model: Combine a flat subscription fee with usage-based addons to monetise additional consumption fairly.
When a usage addon is attached to a subscription, Zoho Billing ensures that usage is tracked, recorded and billed accurately.
Scenario 1:
Sam runs a small consulting firm and uses a mailing application to communicate with his clients. His plan costs $200 and includes 500 GB of storage. Sam stays within the limit most months; however, with many attachments, proposals and reports during a particular month, his mailbox usage exceeds by another 100 GB. The mailing application provides a usage addon for $0.50/GB for the additional usage instead of offering a rigid higher value plan.
Item | Value |
Base Subscription | $200 |
Included Invoices | 500 |
Actual Usage | 600 |
Extra Usage | 100 |
Unit Price for Extra Usage | $0.50/GB |
Additional Charge | $50 |
Total Invoice Value (Base Price+Added Usage) | $250 |
The billing team records the extra 100 GB usage in Zoho Billing using the manual usage entry method and nothing more. The system automatically calculates $50 overage fee and appends it to the invoice to make the renewal invoice for the period $250.
Scenario 2:
Imagine Smith Enterprise uses a cloud analytics SaaS product. The contract covers a base subscription plan and two usage add-ons: API calls and storage. The base plan costs $500/month and includes 100,000 API calls and 500 GB storage. For every API call they make, an extra $0.01 per call will be charged. Similarly, for extra storage, $0.10 will be charged per GB.
During a particular month, the company consumes 250,000 API calls and 750 GB of storage, clearly above the usage limit. A subsequent invoice is created, and the charge based on the usage data is added to the base subscription value.
Addon 1 | Addon 2 | ||
Item | Value | Item | Value |
Included API Calls | 100,000 | Includes Storage | 500 GB |
Actual Usage | 250,000 | Actual Usage | 750 GB |
Extra Usage | 150,000 | Extra Usage | 250 |
Unit Price | $0.01/call | Unit Price | $0.10/GB |
Additional Charge | 150,000x$0.01= $1500 | Additional Charge | 250x$0.10= $25 |
Item | Charges |
Base Subscription | $500 |
API Call Overage | $1500 |
Storage Overage | $25 |
Total Invoice | $2025 |
The company exports the API call logs and storage usage data into a CSV file that can be imported into Zoho Billing. Zoho Billing digests both records, applies the pricing rule separately for each add-on, and generates a consolidated invoice.
Scenario 3:
Roy runs a digital marketing agency offering various marketing campaigns across social media platforms. Roy owns a SaaS application that generates posts and charges $1.5 per post design. No fixed base price for this, but their clients are purely charged based on the number of posts made. During festive sessions, Roy's team schedules a maximum of 450 posts for a client.
Item | Value |
Base Subscription | $0 |
Rate per post | $1.5 |
Actual Usage | 450 posts |
Total Invoice Value ($1.5x450) | $675 |
Using Zoho Billing, Roy records the usage manually or by importing them into the system. With no base price, the platform automatically calculates the total invoice based on the usage. Roy receives a clear invoice for $675, reflecting the value consumed.
SaaS Usage Billing Simplified
Usage Billing ensures that customers pay only for what they consume, whether extra storage, extra API calls, or purely based on the number of posts made. With Zoho Billing, SaaS businesses can seamlessly manage complex and straightforward usage billing scenarios. Adding usage to Zoho Billing is simplified through different methods. It can be added manually if there are fewer subscriptions, and usage data can be imported if there are more subscriptions and usage add-ons. Usage can also be pushed using APIs into Zoho Billing.
Post your use cases in the comments and find the best way to handle them using Zoho Billing.
Next, we will dive into Usage Billing in Telecom and Internet Service Providers, showing how this model powers those sectors. Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Hari Hara Sudhan. S
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Perfomance Management - Zoho People
Hi team, I am looking for performance management data such as KRA, goals, feedback, appraisals, etc., in Zoho Analytics. However, I am unable to find these metrics while editing the setup. Could you please confirm whether these fields are available inFeature Request – Conditional Visitor Information Request in Zoho SalesIQ
We would like to request the ability to conditionally ask for visitor details based on the communication channel used in Zoho SalesIQ. Specifically: When a visitor initiates a conversation through the live chat widget on the website, we want to continueApple Messages for Business in Omnichannel communications?
Hello, Apple launched "Apple Messages for Business" but Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk don't appear in the list of possible integrators. Zoho already promotes https://www.zoho.com/crm/omnichannel.html Omni Channel integration, but Apple Messages does not yet appear.Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account
Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?Cliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly
I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",【Zoho CRM】通貨機能のアップデート：為替レートの自動更新やデータ更新オプションなど
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から通貨機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 CRMの複数通貨機能を使うと、地域ごとに通貨を管理し、顧客の現地通貨で記録したデータを自国通貨に自動換算して分析やレポートに活用できます。 従来は、為替レートを管理者が手動で定期更新する必要があり、各データには作成時点のレートが固定されるため、その後の市場変動は反映されませんでした。 本記事では、この問題を解消する「為替レートの自動更新」をはじめ、さまざまな新機能をご紹介します。AI Bot and Advanced Automation for WhatsApp
Most small businesses "live" on WhatsApp, and while Bigin’s current integration is helpful, users need more automation to keep up with volume. We are requesting features based on our customer Feedbacks AI Bot: For auto-replying to FAQs. Keyword Triggers:Can we add zoho sign to a custom module?
i understand out of the box it works with 8 modules. is it possible to add it to a custom module?This domain is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details
Selected date present employees roster
=CHOOSECOLS(FILTER(A2:E5;(INDEX(C2:E5;0;MATCH(VALUE(B8);INDEX(VALUE(C1:E1));0))<>"OFF")*(INDEX(C2:E5;0;MATCH(VALUE(B8);INDEX(VALUE(C1:E1));0))<>"EL"));1;2;2+MATCH(VALUE(B8);INDEX(VALUE(C1:E1));0)) This way sheet looks lCredit Card Terminal for Zoho Books
Hello, Instead of punching the credit card number manually for customer payment, do you have a third-party hardware credit card reader that works with Braintree? Thank YouArchiving Contacts
How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?Filtering in Help Center
Hi, our ticket system is based on a set of structured status categories. The customer must be able to filter by these status. How can we add "Status" as filter to the help center. In the same moment we do not need filters e.g. as "channel". How can weOn Edit Validation Blueprint
Hello, I have a notes field and a signature field. When the Approve button is clicked, the Signature field will appear and must be filled in. When the Reject button is clicked, the Notes field will appear and must be filled in. Question: Blueprint willGoogle Fonts Integration in Pagesense Popup Editor
Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Pagesense’s popup editor with Google Fonts support. Current Limitation: Currently, Pagesense offers a limited set of default fonts. Google FontsIncrease Round Robin Scheduler Frequency in Zoho Desk
Dear Zoho Desk Team, We hope this message finds you well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Round Robin Scheduler in Zoho Desk to better address ticket assignment efficiency. Current Behavior At present, the Round Robin Scheduler operatesCan multiple agents be assigned to one ticket on purpose?
Is it possible to assign one ticket to two or more agents at a time? I would like the option to have multiple people working on one ticket so that the same ticket is viewable for those agents on their list of pending tickets. Is something like this currentlyWhere is the settings option in zoho writer?
hi, my zoho writer on windows has menu fonts too large. where do i find the settings to change this option? my screen resolution is correct and other apps/softwares in windows have no issues. regardsZoho CRM Case Notes - Share to Customer
Hi team does anyone know the Api to set a note, against a case, to shared with customer? i cant seem to find it cheersWhen Does WorkDrive integrate with Books?
When Does WorkDrive integrate with Books?CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more
Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),Synching changes to Stripe when changes are made in Zoho Billing
We have a situation where we have merged customers in Zoho BIlling and then found out later that the payment in Stripe was not updated and still associated with the old customer record. The card gets updated and billed, but that payment is still associatedZoho Sign Not Delivering
I have sent several contracts out via Zoho Sign. They do not seem to be getting delivered. I had one person receive it, but the others have not. I had one person tell me they sent it back to me and never got it and doesn't show as signed. I've sentUpdate latitude & longitude address field API
How do I update the coordinates of an address field from a widget? I can't modify the latitude and longitude of the address field. I think the problem is how I'm writing formdata variable. zoho_init.then(function (data) { var queryParams = ZOHO.CREATOR.UTIL.getQueryParams();Bank Feeds Breaking Constantly
Hey Everyone, I have already reached out to support about this issue but I am wondering if anyone else is having the same issue. My bank feeds keep breaking within days of me fixing them by updating the credentials. Its been happening for a while andAutomatic Matching from Bank Statements / Feeds
Is it possible to have transactions from a feed or bank statement automatically match when certain criteria are met? My use case, which is pretty broadly applicable, is e-commerce transactions for merchant services accounts (clearing accounts). In theseZoho Payroll's USA and KSA editions are available in Zoho One!
Greetings! We’re excited to share that Zoho Payroll, currently available only in India and the UAE, is now introducing the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) edition and the USA (United States of America) edition, and these editions are now available in ZohoOutlook/Hotmail Blocking Zoho SMTP IPs (S3150)
We are currently facing a serious deliverability issue with Zoho SMTP while sending transactional OTP emails for our production application. Emails sent to Outlook / Hotmail addresses are being rejected with the following error: 550 - 5.7.1 Unfortunately,Tip #63- Exploring Technician Console: Elevate to Admin Mode (Windows & Mac)- 'Insider Insights'
Hello Zoho Assist Community! Ever been in a remote support session where you couldn’t complete a task because you didn’t have admin privileges? Maybe installing software, accessing secure system areas, or rebooting into Safe Mode just didn’t work becausePrevent accidental duplicate entry of Customer Ordersome
Zoho Support has confirmed that Zoho currently does not have any method (using Deluge, flow or any other method) to alert a user when a sales order has been entered twice using the same customer reference number (i.e. a duplicate). Most ERP platformsPermissões granulares por usuário além do modelo baseado exclusivamente em perfis
Atualmente, o modelo de segurança do Zoho CRM é fortemente baseado em perfis. Embora funcional, esse modelo apresenta limitações quando equipes possuem variações individuais de acesso dentro do mesmo grupo operacional. Em cenários reais, é comum que usuáriosEvolução do modelo de ambientes: Dev, Homologação e Produção com pacotes versionados
Hoje o Zoho CRM já oferece Sandbox, o que é um avanço importante para organizações que trabalham com customizações mais complexas. No entanto, na prática, o modelo atual ainda apresenta limitações significativas quando múltiplas equipes ou consultoriasZoho Mail - Email Reminder template (default)
Zoho Mail Users, Does anybody here use the email reminder template? I'm asking Zoho to allow and add us to select which one of our many templates will be our default. It allows us to operate more efficiently. It's a Checkbox. If you feel this can benefitWindows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options
Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menusZoho CRM Quotes – Subform and PDF/Writer Limitations
Hello, I am encountering the following limitations in Zoho CRM Quotes: Custom product images cannot be uploaded in the subform – the image upload field cannot be added; only the file upload field is available. File upload placeholders cannot be used inCanva Integration
Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,Announcement integration between Zoho People and Zoho Connect
As we're using these 2 products, there're areas of overlapping especially in the Announcement. When there's a new announcement in Zoho People, can it push to the company wall in Zoho Connect?Does Zoho Mail Have Popout windows?
I recently switched my work email over to Zoho and everything I read said that you can popout the draft email as you're writing, however, all the pictures or info I've seen show the typical popout arrow in the top right, which I can not for the life ofCan I reorder how the staff are displayed on the booking page?
As the title suggests, can I change this? Either reorder manually reoreded to my preference, or automatically (a-z, z-a etc.)Next Page