PayAPIKey

API Pricing Tier Calculator

Design a sustainable monthly API plan price from included usage, utilization, fixed costs, fees, and target margin.

API pricing tier calculatorSaaS plan pricing calculatorAPI overage price calculator

API Pricing Tier Calculator

Turn included usage and expected utilization into a minimum monthly plan and overage price.

Plan price
$21.08/month
Minimum at expected usage
Overage price
$5.41/1M
At target margin
Required revenue
$2,108
100 customers
Expected usage
140M
70% utilization
Expected variable cost$280
Total delivery cost$780
Profit if everyone uses full allowance$1,145
The plan remains profitable if every customer uses the full allowance, with $1,145 left after payment fees and delivery cost.

Frequently asked questions

Practical answers for applying this calculator to a production API billing or usage plan.

Should plan price use included or expected usage?

Use expected utilization for the base plan forecast, but stress-test against full included usage so heavy customers do not create unacceptable losses.

How should overage be priced?

Overage should cover incremental delivery cost, payment effects, support, risk, and the desired contribution margin while remaining easy to explain.

What fixed costs belong in a pricing tier?

Include infrastructure, observability, support, billing systems, security, and product operations that are not already captured in per-token cost.