From subscriptions to usage — and back to hybrid
Several vendors abandoned flat subscriptions for pure pay-as-you-go — then re-introduced tier structure on top. The stable destination isn't pure usage; it's hybrid (a seat or platform fee plus metered overage), where 20 of 43 corpus companies now sit.
What's happening — and why
What's happening: several vendors dropped flat subscriptions for pure pay-as-you-go — then quietly added tiers and base fees back on top. The common landing spot is 'hybrid': a platform or seat fee plus metered overage.
Why: pure usage aligns price with value but makes revenue (for the vendor) and spend (for the buyer) hard to predict. A base fee restores that predictability while metering still captures heavy users — so the market converges on a blend rather than either extreme.
How it works
Evidence over time
4 supporting · 3 counter — hover or tap a point for detail, click to jump to the row.
Evidence
| Company | Date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Exa | Jul 2024 | Dropped subscription tiers entirely for pure pay-as-you-go credits. |
| Tavus | Aug 2024 | Pivoted from a flat $275/mo 'Intro' plan to usage-based CVI API pricing. |
| ElevenLabs | May 2025 | Began an explicit shift toward pay-as-you-go metering. |
| Deepgram | Oct 2022 | Restructured to prepaid PAYG / Starter / Growth credit packs. |
Counterexamples
- Bland AI · Dec 2025 — Re-coupled per-minute usage to subscription plan tiers (Build $299 / Scale $499).
- Exa · Apr 2026 — Re-introduced structured per-endpoint pricing cards atop the PAYG base.
- Runway · May 2026 — Stayed subscription-first — per-seat tiers with bundled monthly credits plus a usage API.
For buyers
Pure-usage pricing is volatile to forecast, and many vendors walk it back toward hybrid for revenue predictability. Expect a base fee to reappear; negotiate the metered component and any minimums separately from the platform fee.
For vendors
Moving to usage needs metering and prepaid/credit plumbing; keeping revenue predictable then needs a platform fee or commitment on top. The stable destination is hybrid — a seat or base fee plus metered overage — so build for both from the start.
Outlook — what to watch
Hybrid will remain the centre of gravity. The interesting movement is at the edges: outcome/agent pricing (charge per resolved ticket or completed task) is the next experiment, but adoption is tiny so far. Watch whether agentic products can make a usage-only or outcome model stick where SaaS couldn't.
Bottom line
Several vendors went pure-PAYG (Exa, Tavus, ElevenLabs) then re-introduced structure. Hybrid (20/43) is the gravitational centre, not pure usage.
FAQ
Is usage-based pricing replacing subscriptions for AI?
Not wholesale. Several vendors moved from flat subscriptions to pure pay-as-you-go, but many then re-added tiers. The corpus shows hybrid — a base fee plus metered overage — as the stable endpoint, not pure usage.
Why do vendors move back from pure usage to hybrid?
Pure usage makes revenue hard to forecast for the vendor and spend hard to forecast for the buyer. A platform fee or commitment restores predictability while metering still captures heavy users.
What's the difference between usage-based and hybrid pricing?
Usage-based bills only for what you consume; hybrid combines a fixed recurring fee (often a seat) with variable usage charges. Hybrid is the most common model in the corpus (20 of 43).