Usage-based licensing allows software to track and enforce customer consumption as part of the licensing system.

Instead of simply granting access to a product, licenses can record usage, deduct credits, and prevent further usage once limits have been reached.

If you want to learn more about the usage-based pricing approach and when it is suitable, please read our full usage-based pricing guide.

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Related Resources

• Licensing Models Overview
• Documentation on Usage-based Pricing
• Video Walkthrough

How Devolens Implements Usage-Based Licensing

Devolens associates usage counters directly with a license.

These counters can represent almost any measurable resource, such as API requests, AI credits, generated reports, or another unit that fits your product.

Applications update the counters through the API, while Devolens stores the usage history and enforces the remaining balance.

This allows engineering teams to keep licensing logic separate from business logic while maintaining a consistent source of truth for customer entitlements.

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Supporting Different Commercial Models

The same usage infrastructure can support several commercial approaches.

Common setups include:

• Prepaid credits
• Pay-as-you-go billing
• Monthly usage allowances
• Subscription plans with included credits

Recurring allowances can be replenished automatically as subscriptions renew, while prepaid credits simply decrease until additional credits are purchased.

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Operational Visibility

Because usage is stored as part of the license, teams can inspect current balances and usage history without building separate administration tools.

This makes it easier to:

• Review remaining credits
• Investigate customer questions
• Add or remove credits manually
• Understand how consumption changes over time

The same data can also be synchronized with external billing or reporting systems when needed.

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Implementation

Usage tracking is implemented through Devolens Data Objects, which provide persistent counters attached to each license.

The Devolens documentation on usage-based licensing includes code examples and guides for:

• Recording usage
• Enforcing remaining credits
• Replenishing recurring allowances
• Integrating usage with your application's licensing flow