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Usage-based billing engine

Orb

A managed billing engine for raw usage events, billable metrics, plans, contracts, invoicing, and revenue operations.

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Editorial verdict

Choose Orb when raw-event billing, flexible metrics, contract changes, and invoice auditability justify a dedicated managed billing engine.12

Best for

  • Usage and hybrid pricing
  • Complex plans and negotiated contracts
  • Teams needing raw-event corrections and auditable invoice lineage
12

Not ideal for

  • Simple seat subscriptions covered by a processor-native system
  • Teams unwilling to send sensitive billable events to a managed provider
  • Businesses that have not defined event identity, corrections, and invoice ownership
12
Main trade-off

Billing flexibility and auditability improve while event governance, a new source of truth, integration, quote-based economics, and migration become central.12

Product boundary

Whether Orb should become the source of truth for usage events, rating, plans, contracts, and invoices.

Orb is a billing and invoicing engine, not a payment processor, Merchant of Record, tax authority, accounting ledger, or product analytics system.12

For: Software and AI businesses with meaningful usage or hybrid billing complexity

  • Basic processor-native meters are sufficient.
  • Self-hosted billing is required.
  • Event volume, correction, retention, or commercial terms do not fit.

Why teams consider Orb

  • Raw-event foundationBillable metrics can derive from ingested usage events.12
  • Flexible catalogFixed, usage, hybrid, and negotiated pricing can share one model.12
  • Invoice operationsBilling output and invoice workflows connect usage to collection.12

Pricing

Pricing is based on billings and events, with platform fees for advanced tiers; public plans require sales confirmation.2

Managed usage billing

Core, Advanced, or Enterprise

Quote-based at verification; model invoice billings, raw events, platform fee, support, integrations, and contract terms.2

Primary meters
Billings and events2
Commercial boundary
Advanced and Enterprise can add a platform fee2
Pricing checked View official pricing

Orb vs alternatives

Metronome

Choose when
Choose a Stripe-owned advanced usage and contract platform.
Avoid when
Stripe packaging or Metronome's commercial model is unacceptable.
Compared with Orb
A different event, contract, and payment integration model applies.456

Lago

Choose when
Choose open-source or self-hostable billing control.
Avoid when
The team cannot operate or govern Lago.
Compared with Orb
Deployment control increases operational ownership.78

Stripe Billing

Choose when
Choose basic Stripe-native meters and subscription lifecycle.
Avoid when
Advanced raw-event contracts and corrections are required.
Compared with Orb
Simplicity replaces usage-billing depth.910

Resources and sources

Official product, policy, and pricing

  • Orb product catalog
    Open
  • Orb pricing
    Open
  • Orb event ingestion
    Open
  1. 1
    Orb product catalog

    Orb · Accessed Official

  2. 2
    Orb pricing

    Orb · Accessed Official

  3. 3
    Orb event ingestion

    Orb · Accessed Official

  4. 4
    Metronome usage-based billing

    Stripe · Accessed Official

  5. 5
    Metronome pricing

    Stripe / Metronome · Accessed Official

  6. 6
    Stripe completes Metronome acquisition

    Stripe · Accessed Official

  7. 7
    Lago billing documentation

    Lago · Accessed Official

  8. 8
    Lago pricing

    Lago · Accessed Official

  9. 9
    Stripe Billing meters

    Stripe · Accessed Official

  10. 10
    Stripe Billing pricing

    Stripe · Accessed Official