Hybrid pricing
Also known as: base plus usage, subscription plus consumption, tiered hybrid model
Pure usage-based pricing is flexible but makes buyers anxious about runaway bills. Pure subscription pricing is calm but may leave money on the table as customers scale. Hybrid pricing threads the needle: a base fee establishes the relationship and guarantees some revenue floor, then usage or outcome tiers capture value as the customer grows.
This has become the most common structure for AI-native products in 2025, rising to over 40% of B2B AI deals in some surveys, up from 27% the year prior. The base keeps the customer anchored; the variable layer aligns with the actual economics of inference. A common pattern: seat-based access includes a generous token or call allowance, with overage charges once consumption crosses a threshold that corresponds to meaningful heavy usage.
Hybrid pricing also buys time. When a product is new and usage patterns are unpredictable, it avoids locking in a metric that turns out to be wrong. Founders can watch how customers actually consume the product, then tighten or adjust the variable component as data accumulates.