What it does
Orb separates raw usage events, billable metrics and prices so software teams can change how a product is charged. It supports usage and hybrid plans, prepaid credits, spend alerts and invoices. Shared catalog prices and plan versions help teams apply pricing changes while retaining the history behind earlier bills. Introductory credits are followed by paid platform-credit consumption.
Orb keeps the measurement separate from the price. A stream of software requests can support a simple event count today and a more selective billing rule later. Metrics query the recorded events, so changing the model does not necessarily require collecting that history again.
To build a metric, open Billable Metrics > + New metric, select the event filters and use Preview to inspect matching usage. Choose the calculation, such as Count, then name and publish the metric. The price model determines how that quantity becomes money; the billing cadence determines the period being measured.
Plans use prices from the shared catalog. Under Pricing & Packaging > Plans, choose + New plan, then Add price > Select an existing price from Pricebook. Add the recurring or usage prices the offer needs and publish the plan. The same catalog price can be reused across several plans.
Orb supports pricing simulations and versioned changes. Its subscription editor can make customer-specific changes without changing the overall catalog, with a timeline and invoice preview before saving. That web editor is currently marked early access and requires subscription-editor permission. It blocks edits affecting trial prices.
What Orb itself charges
Business costs $6 per Orb credit, with volume discounts offered. These platform credits are separate from any prepaid credits your own customers buy. Several kinds of platform activity consume the same balance:
| Activity | Orb credits consumed |
|---|---|
| $1,000 of billings processed | 1 |
| 200,000 events ingested, including live and test events | 1 |
| 500,000 rows exported | 2 |
Billings include invoice taxes and other monetary amounts. New Business accounts receive 100 introductory credits; ongoing use is paid. Enterprise has custom pricing and adds features such as customer hierarchies, customized collections and NetSuite or Salesforce connections.
Business includes Orb invoices, receivables aging and Stripe or Adyen payment integrations. The pricing model means both invoice value and event volume matter to your cost. A high-volume application with small invoices should estimate event ingestion as well as the amount it bills.
For a historical correction, keep the relevant pricing version and effective date in view. The subscription preview helps assess the invoice impact before applying a change.
Strengths
- Query-based metrics can reuse historical events when billing definitions change.
- Shared catalog prices can be included in several plans.
- Subscription changes provide a timeline and invoice preview before saving.
Watch out for
- Live and test events both consume the platform's usage credits.
- The web subscription editor is early access and requires specific permissions.
- Some entity, collection and accounting connections require Enterprise.
Best for
- Software teams iterating on usage-based pricing
- Applications combining recurring fees and consumption
- Finance and engineering teams checking pricing changes against real usage
Sources
- Orb Business and Enterprise pricing (Oct 27, 2026)
- Orb credit-consumption schedule (Oct 27, 2026)
- Create and preview an Orb billable metric (Oct 27, 2026)
- Build Orb plans from shared catalog prices (Oct 27, 2026)
- Orb subscription edits and early-access restrictions (Oct 27, 2026)