Concepts & Strategy

High-level billing flow overview

1. Introduction

Paid is a platform that simplifies and automates usage-based billing for AI solutions—and much more. With Paid, you’re not limited to one billing model; instead, you can combine setup fees, platform fees, seat-based licensing, activity-based charges, and outcome-based pricing. This flexibility ensures you can accurately monetize the variety of services your AI agents deliver.

2. Key Concepts: Products & Signals

  1. Products
    • In Paid, a Product represents an AI agent or service that you want to track and bill for (e.g., a chatbot, data processor, or sales outreach bot).
    • Each Product can have its own pricing options (setup fees, usage tiers, seat-based rates, etc.) in Paid.
  2. Signals
    • Discrete events or actions performed by your AI agents.
    • Can be categorized as activity-based Signals (e.g., “send email,” “run analysis”) or outcome-based Signals (e.g., “book meeting,” “generate qualified lead”).
    • Provide granular tracking so you can attribute the correct cost to every step or result of your AI’s work.

3. Supported Billing Models

3.1 Setup Fee

  • One-Time, Fixed charge when a customer first onboards or activates your AI agent.
  • Ideal if your AI solution requires a significant initial setup or customization.

3.2 Platform Fee

  • Recurring, Fixed charge for ongoing platform access, independent of usage.
  • Great for covering infrastructure, support, or baseline operational costs.

3.3 Seat-Based

  • Recurring, Variable charge, typically billed per user or “seat.”
  • Common for AI tools that have distinct user logins or operator roles requiring individual licensing.

3.4 Activity-Based (Usage)

  • Recurring, Variable charge tied to activity Signals (e.g., “send email,” “process request”).
  • Lets you pay per task your AI agent performs, ensuring you only charge (and get charged) for what actually happens.

3.5 Outcome-Based (Usage)

  • Recurring, Variable charge tied to outcome Signals (e.g., “booked meeting,” “closed deal”).
  • Lets you monetize based on results or successful completions, providing a performance-aligned pricing model.

By toggling these options on or off, you can combine multiple billing methods for a single Product. For instance, you could charge a setup fee plus a monthly platform fee, and then layer on activity-based or outcome-based costs.

4. How the Flow Works

  1. Create a Product
    • In your Paid dashboard, navigate to Products and click Create.
    • Give it a name that represents your AI agent (e.g., “AI SDR” for sales outreach) and add a description.
  2. Configure Pricing
    • Use the Add pricing dropdown to select pricing types: one-time fee, platform fee, per seat, usage pricing, or outcome pricing.
    • For usage and outcome pricing, specify the event names (e.g., email_sent, meeting_booked) that will be matched against Signals sent via API.
    • Configure rates and billing frequencies for each pricing type.
  3. Integrate with Paid’s API
    • Whenever your AI agent performs an action (e.g., sends an email) or achieves a result (e.g., schedules a meeting), send a Signal to Paid.
    • Paid automatically aggregates these Signals, applies the correct pricing rules, and tracks total usage or outcomes per customer.
  4. Generate Invoices
    • At the end of your billing cycle—or any time you choose—Paid creates itemized invoices.
    • Each invoice details the charges from all enabled billing methods (setup fee, platform fee, seat usage, activity usage, outcome usage).
    • Customers see exactly how many tasks were executed, how many outcomes were achieved, and how any recurring charges or setup fees were applied.
  5. Collect Payment & Analyze Revenue
    • Paid integrates with payment gateways to automate invoice collection.
    • Monitor metrics and usage in real-time with Paid’s analytics and reporting tools, helping you refine pricing or forecast revenue.

5. Why Use Multiple Billing Models?

  • Flexibility: Not all AI services fit a single pricing approach. Combining models captures the full range of value your AI agents provide.
  • Fairness & Transparency: Customers see exactly what they’re paying for, whether it’s initial setup, ongoing platform access, or per-task / per-outcome charges.
  • Scalability: As your user base grows or your AI agents add new capabilities, you can toggle additional billing methods on or off without restructuring your entire system.

6. Example: AI SDR

  1. Setup Fee: A one-time cost to configure the AI SDR for the customer’s CRM.
  2. Platform Fee: A monthly recurring charge for maintaining the AI agent’s infrastructure and support.
  3. Seat-Based: Charge per user who has access to configure and manage the AI SDR.
  4. Activity-Based: A small fee each time the AI agent sends an email or LinkedIn message.
  5. Outcome-Based: An additional charge when the AI agent successfully books a meeting.

At invoice time, Paid tallies all these charges—setup, platform, seat usage, activity usage, and booked meetings—to present the customer with one clear, itemized invoice.

7. Conclusion

Paid’s high-level billing flow lets you mix and match different pricing mechanisms—setup fee, platform fee, seat-based, activity-based, or outcome-based—to create a monetization strategy that truly reflects the value your AI agents provide. By leveraging Signals, you capture every relevant action or outcome, and by configuring your preferred billing models, you ensure customers only pay for what they actually use or achieve.

Whether you’re offering a simple AI chatbot or a sophisticated sales automation platform, Paid gives you the flexibility and transparency needed to scale your business sustainably.