Lago Blog – Building a Robust AI Billing Infrastructure: Essential Requirements and Key Steps

AI is revolutionizing pricing and value delivery for software companies, moving towards usage-based and hybrid models. Nearly 39% of SaaS companies now primarily utilize usage-based pricing, necessitating advanced billing systems that are accurate, flexible, and scalable. This guide outlines the critical components for establishing a profitable AI billing infrastructure, emphasizing real-time metering of high-frequency events like token usage or API calls. Effective hybrid pricing strategies, combining pay-per-use and subscriptions, help align revenue with actual usage, attracting both enterprise and self-serve customers. Additionally, automated invoicing and tax management are essential for global billing complexities. Developers benefit from an API-first, composable architecture that enables quick iterations and integration with existing systems. Security and compliance remain paramount, with options for both cloud hosting and self-hosting. Ultimately, adopting the right billing infrastructure is key to confidently monetizing AI services and supporting global growth while minimizing manual errors.

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