Usage-based billing for the software a utility runs on
The obvious reading of this term is a resident paying an electricity bill, and that is not what this is. There is no bill presentment, no autopay against a meter, no arrears handling and no account number to look up. This is for the companies selling software into that industry, billed the way metered products are billed: a plan plus what was actually consumed.
The billing shapes available
- Pay-as-you-go pricing
- Charge for consumption rather than a flat seat count, for products where the number that matters is meters read, sites monitored or kilowatt-hours processed.
- A base plan with overages
- Sell an included allowance on a subscription, then charge a one-off amount onto the live subscription when a customer exceeds it. No second checkout, no new payment method.
- Intervals that match the industry
- Monthly, annual or a custom interval, so billing can line up with a customer's own reporting cycle instead of the day they happened to sign up.
- Tax recalculated on every charge
- A usage charge in July is taxed at July's rate for the customer's country. Rates and thresholds move, and each charge is treated as its own decision.
- Invoices for the utility that bought it
- Buyers who enter company details and a tax ID at checkout receive an invoice by email, on the first charge and every renewal.
- Everything readable over the API
- Subscriptions, payments and orders are all API objects, with webhooks on payment success, failure and every subscription change.
How a metered charge gets made
- 01
You measure the usage
Consumption is counted in your own system, because your system is the only thing that knows what a unit means. We do not ingest meter data or run a metering pipeline.
- 02
You decide what it is worth
Either price the product as pay-as-you-go, or keep a base plan and convert the excess into an amount at the end of the period.
- 03
The charge is applied to the subscription
A one-off amount is charged onto the customer's existing subscription through the API, using the payment method already on file. You can preview the upcoming renewal before it goes out.
- 04
The result comes back as an event
The payment webhook confirms the money moved. Failures are retried and the customer is notified rather than the subscription being dropped on the first decline.
What this cannot be used for
Not consumer bill payment
A utility collecting from households needs bill presentment, account lookup, partial payments, arrears, payment plans and disconnection rules. None of that exists here, and building it on top of a product-sales platform would go badly.
Not a metering system
We bill amounts you calculate. Reading devices, validating consumption and aggregating it into a period total stay in your software, which is where the domain knowledge is anyway.
The tax question is the one worth outsourcing
Software sold internationally on a recurring basis accumulates VAT, GST and sales-tax obligations quietly over years. Because we are the Merchant of Record, those registrations, remittances and audits are ours, including on a usage charge made two years into a contract.
You are not paying for the billing engine
No monthly platform fee for running recurring and metered billing. A flat 5% + 50¢ per successful transaction, and nothing in a month with no sales. Negotiable once you are selling at volume.
What sellers say once they have switched
★★★★★ 4.8/5 from 10 reviews on G2 →
Vadim Finayev “We work with quite a few merchants of record, but none comes close to the support and speed of implementation of Fungies. If you want a payment partner that actually gives you the feeling they want to work with you — rather than leaving you on read for three days or randomly restricting your account — you are in the right place.”
David Elliott “I researched the options and Fungies was the best fit for functionality and customisation within a store builder you can connect to your own domain. Taking a small percentage of sales, instead of charging a subscription for every environment and plugin, is refreshing.”
Elnura Abdimanap Kyzy “The platform is user-friendly, integrates easily with APIs and webhooks, and simplifies managing digital products and subscriptions. We were up and running quickly and support has been responsive throughout. Fungies is clearly tailored to the needs of SaaS businesses.”
Francisco Magnone Rienzi “Fungies has been a great partner — fast setup, competitive pricing, and real humans providing quick answers. They are constantly rolling out new features, and I am excited to see what is next.”
Metered and recurring billing questions
Where the digital part of a sector fits, and where it honestly does not.
Bill for what your customers used
Create a subscription product, add a usage-based offer, and run a full cycle including an overage charge in sandbox mode first.