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Business model · Usage-based fees
Businesses that make money from usage-based fees
The 1M.chat dataset has 41 businesses built on usage-based fees. 24 of them have a revenue figure the founder reported in an interview. Their median is $50K a month, and 38% were at $1M a year or more when interviewed, with a median team of 5 employees. The growth channels founders credited most often were organic social media (54%), SEO & organic search (46%), word of mouth & referrals (39%).
Revenue at interview
| Under $1K/mo | 1 | |
| $1K–$10K/mo | 4 | |
| $10K–$50K/mo | 6 | |
| $50K–$83K/mo | 4 | |
| $1M+ a year | 4 | |
| $1M+ a month | 5 |
Growth channels credited
| Organic social media | 54% | |
| SEO & organic search | 46% | |
| Word of mouth & referrals | 39% | |
| Content marketing | 31% | |
| Communities (Reddit, forums, Slack groups) | 23% |
Share of 13 businesses with channel information; founders often name several.
Industries in this group
| Software & SaaS | 24 | |
| Finance & real estate | 8 | |
| AI tools & apps | 5 | |
| Agencies & services | 2 | |
| Newsletters, blogs & media | 1 | |
| Mobile apps & games | 1 |
Examples
Highest founder-reported revenues in this group
| Business | What it sells | Revenue / month | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transformify: Wor...Software & SaaS | global payroll and contractor payment software | $5Mfounder interview 2021 | United Kingdom |
| shurjoPayFinance & real estate | Online payment gateway services | $2Mfounder interview | Bangladesh |
| VizyPayFinance & real estate | payment processing solutions for small businesses | $1.7Mfounder interview 2023 | United States |
| TextMagicSoftware & SaaS | SMS marketing and communication platform for businesses | $1.2Mfounder interview 2022 | Estonia |
| XPay Life Pvt LtdFinance & real estate | Digital bill payment and transactions platform | $1Mfounder interview | India |
| MrScraperSoftware & SaaS | data scraping automation platform | $756Kfounder interview 2025 | United States |
| White BulletSoftware & SaaS | IP risk protection and ad transparency data | $417Kfounder interview | United Kingdom |
| BrowserlessSoftware & SaaS | browser automation software service for developers | $333Kfounder interview | United States |
| Payment for StripeSoftware & SaaS | mobile point-of-sale app for Stripe | $125Kfounder interview | United States |
| vidbyAI tools & apps | AI-powered translation and video voiceover services | $83Kfounder interview 2023 | Switzerland |
| MoniteSoftware & SaaS | embedded finance APIs and SDKs for B2B platforms | $60Kfounder interview 2023 | Germany |
| SpurwingSoftware & SaaS | Scheduling API for developers | $50Kfounder interview 2021 | United States |
| LabsMobileSoftware & SaaS | SMS platform for companies | $50Kfounder interview 2021 | Spain |
| LivepeerSoftware & SaaS | Decentralized video streaming infrastructure for developers | $44Kfounder interview | United States |
| Geocode.xyzSoftware & SaaS | Geocoding and geoparsing API for developers | $30Kfounder interview 2018 | Canada |
| CarbonClickFinance & real estate | Carbon offsetting platform for businesses | $30Kfounder interview | New Zealand |
| ScreenshotOneSoftware & SaaS | API for automating website screenshots | $24.8Kfounder interview 2023 | — |
| Checkout PageSoftware & SaaS | Checkout and payment software | $24Kfounder interview 2022 | — |
| BlerpSoftware & SaaS | Soundbite-sharing platform for streamers | $20Kfounder interview 2022 | United States |
| PDFShiftSoftware & SaaS | HTML to PDF conversion API | $8.5Kfounder interview | France |
Revenue as the founder reported it in a Starter Story interview, at the interview date; not current revenue. “What it sells” is a 1M.chat summary. Business model is the main way the business charges, as listed on Starter Story or classified by 1M.chat. How this data is built
Questions
How much do businesses built on usage-based fees typically make?
Among 24 businesses built on usage-based fees with founder-reported revenue, the median was $50K a month at the time of the interview. The sample is founders who chose to be interviewed, so it leans toward businesses that were already working; treat it as a range of real outcomes, not an average for everyone who tries.
How many businesses built on usage-based fees reached $1M a year?
9 of 24 (38%) reported at least $83K a month, the run-rate for $1M a year.
How did businesses built on usage-based fees find customers?
Of 13 with growth-channel information, founders most often credited organic social media (54%), SEO & organic search (46%), word of mouth & referrals (39%), content marketing (31%), communities (Reddit, forums, Slack groups) (23%). Channels are grouped by 1M.chat from what founders said worked.
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