The Importance of AWS Marketplace Metering (and Tips for ISVs)
AWS Marketplace metering allows ISVs to charge customers based on usage, whether that is data consumed, users added, time spent, or credits consumed.
For AWS ISVs with solutions that scale up or down significantly based on usage, metering can help you sell solutions to smaller SMBs with lower usage, as well as include discounts for enterprise users with heavy usage.
Here’s everything you need to know about AWS Marketplace metering, as well as how Invisory can help you streamline AWS Marketplace success with API integrations and more.
What is AWS Marketplace metering?
AWS Marketplace metering is handled by the AWS Marketplace and Metering APIs, which require some technical expertise. Some solutions have a baseline charge, with metering kicking in after a certain usage point. For example, you might receive 1000 credits as part of your base package, and then pay $1 for each additional 10 credits.
At the end of a billing period, AWS converts the usage into a price and bills the customer directly to their AWS bill (the same bill they pay for hosting).
Defining AWS Marketplace metering dimensions
If you’re selling a container product with per-hour, per-task, or per-pod pricing, you do not need to define custom metering dimensions.
But if you’re using different properties, you will need to define your dimensions, which appear as Tags. You might, for instance, charge by users (if costs increase by number of seats) or gigabytes transferred (if you’re a database solution).
Tagging also helps ISVs perform cost allocation, which means you can charge for more than 1 dimension.
Key AWS Marketplace Metering terms
- Hourly Price – The price for your product, per hour.
- Dimension Long Term Rate – The total software price over a long-term contract when buyers pay upfront.
- Long Term Duration (Days) – The duration, in days, for the long-term contract.
Once you’re set up you submit meters through the API.
What is the AWS Marketplace metering API?
Amazon Web Services and AWS Marketplace are built using APIs. To get listed and start transacting on the AWS Marketplace, you will need to configure an API that allows your solution to communicate with AWS.
As part of the listing process, the AWS Marketplace Operation team will test your metering records to ensure they work before your listing is live. If your solution fails the test, AWS Marketplace will let you know and give you an opportunity to address the issue.
If you’re looking to sell on AWS without building API Integrations, you will need to partner with a Cloud GTM platform like Invisory, which offers pre-built API integrations that get you up and running in a matter of days, not months.
AWS Metering and Private Offers
Occasionally, you might be near closing a deal with a major brand or enterprise customer, but you need to throw in an extra incentive to sweeten the deal. With Private Offers on AWS Marketplace, you can customize metering to offer discounts after a certain usage point
Invisory for AWS Marketplace metering and API integrations
Struggling to manage your AWS metering? No problem! That’s where Invisory can help.
With the Invisory Cloud GTM platform, you can:
- Submit usage records to AWS and charge your customers
- Verify pricing before submission to ensure you’re correctly billing your customers
- Quickly determine what has been invoiced to the customer
- See a consolidated list of all metering records submitted
- Submit meters manually or via CSV
Looking to maximize your cloud GTM strategy? Invisory also helps ISVs get listed faster, extend private offers, manage metering, create a co-sell strategy, streamline GTM deliverables like 1-pagers, improve cloud marketplace listing SEO, and so much more.
