Volume-Based Tiers

Volume-based pricing uses tiers to determine a single flat charge based on the total usage volume. Unlike graduated pricing, where each tier has its own rate, volume-based pricing charges a single flat amount based on which tier the total usage falls into.

Example
A data platform charges:

0–1,000 records: $100 flat

1,001–10,000 records: $500 flat

10,001+: $1,000 flat

A customer who processes 15,000 records falls into the 10,001+ tier and pays a flat $1,000 Compare this to graduated pricing, where each tier is charged separately and summed together

Setting up

CLI
Dashboard

Use the tiers array with tierBehavior: 'volume' on a plan item price:

autumn.config.ts

import { atmn, feature, plan } from "atmn";

export const records = feature({
  featureId: "records",
  name: "Records Processed",
  type: "metered",
  consumable: true,
});

export const pro = plan({
  planId: "pro",
  versionSlug: "v1",
  active: true,
  name: "Pro",
  price: { amount: 50, interval: "month" },
  items: [
    {
      featureId: records.featureId,
      reset: { interval: "month" },
      price: {
        tiers: [
          { to: 1000, flatAmount: 100 },
          { to: 10000, flatAmount: 500 },
          { to: "inf", flatAmount: 1000 },
        ],
        tierBehavior: "volume",
        billingMethod: "prepaid",
        interval: "month",
      },
    },
  ],
});

export default atmn({ features: [records], plans: [pro] });

Preview with atmn push, then apply with atmn push --yes.

Navigate to Plans and create or edit a plan
Add a consumable feature
Under Price, select Tiered
Switch the tier behavior to Volume
Add tiers with the upper limit (to) and flat amount for each range
Set the billing method (Prepaid or Usage-based) and the billing interval
Save the plan

How volume-based pricing works

Autumn:

Looks at the total volume for the feature
Finds the tier the total falls into
Charges the flat amount for that tier

Volume tiers work on prepaid and usage-based (pay-per-use or allocated) items. On usage-based items, volume bills only usage past the included amount, at the rate of the tier total usage reaches, plus its flat fee; at or below the included amount nothing is charged. On prepaid items, every unit (the included ones too) is charged at the rate of the tier the total lands in, plus its flat amount. Allocated items can’t have a flat amount on the first tier. A plan with volume-priced allocated seats can’t yet be attached to more than one entity on the same customer, because their seats would share one Stripe price. Volume tiers can’t be combined with threshold billing.

Total volume	Matching tier	Charge
500	0–1,000	$100
5,000	1,001–10,000	$500
15,000	10,001+	$1,000

Tier configuration

Each tier has the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
`to`	number or `"inf"`	The upper boundary of this tier
`flatAmount`	number	Flat fee charged when the total volume falls in this tier (`flat_amount` over the API)
`amount`	number	Optional per-unit price applied to the total volume when this tier is the matching tier

Tiers must be in ascending order by to. The final tier should use "inf".

Combining flat and per-unit amounts

Each tier can include both flatAmount and amount: a fixed fee plus a per-unit charge when that tier is the matching tier. This is useful for combining a base fee with per-unit volume pricing.

price: {
  tiers: [
    { to: 1000, amount: 0.10, flatAmount: 0 },
    { to: 10000, amount: 0.08, flatAmount: 50 },
    { to: "inf", amount: 0.05, flatAmount: 100 },
  ],
  tierBehavior: "volume",
  billingMethod: "prepaid",
  interval: "month",
}

A customer with 5,000 records would pay: (5,000 × $0.08) + $50 = $450

Graduated vs volume-based

	Graduated	Volume-based
Rate applied	Each tier at its own rate	Single flat amount for the matching tier
Total charge	Sum of each tier’s charge	Flat amount of the matching tier
Best for	Rewarding growth with lower marginal rates	Simpler pricing with volume discounts

See Graduated Pricing for the alternative model.

Getting Started

Configure Pricing

Billing & Subscriptions

Customers

Additional Resources

Volume-Based Tiers

Setting up

How volume-based pricing works

Tier configuration

Combining flat and per-unit amounts

Graduated vs volume-based

​Setting up

​How volume-based pricing works

​Tier configuration

​Combining flat and per-unit amounts

​Graduated vs volume-based

Setting up

How volume-based pricing works

Tier configuration

Combining flat and per-unit amounts

Graduated vs volume-based