Article · 9 min read

The Great Middling: Hybrid Pricing Model and its Growing SaaS Relevance

Harikrishna · Chargebee Free Intermediate India

Explains the platform fee plus included usage plus overage structure that most AI-era companies are converging on, with Twilio and Intercom as worked examples. From the Chennai-built billing company that has to make these models actually invoice correctly.

• Hybrid pricing blends a fixed base with a variable component so you get predictability and upside.
• APIs and AI let customers do more without adding licenses, which is what breaks pure seat pricing.
• Pure pay-as-you-go is easy to scale down and quietly drop, so a base fee keeps dormant accounts covered.
• Longer contracts raise TCV, which invites more resistance, more discount requests, and slower deals.