1. Billing & Usage
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  1. Billing & Usage

Billing & Usage Overview

The WatchDog Security Platform supports both Pay-As-You-Go and Annual Commitment billing models for direct customer tenant. Billing is based on the number of users assigned to billable packages such as Core, Business.
This article explains how usage tracking works, how annual seat commitments behave, and how billing is calculated across both billing models.
Who can use this feature?
All Account Owners and Security Admins
Available on the Free, Core and Business plans

Billing Models#

WatchDog currently supports two billing structures for direct customer tenants:
Billing ModelDescription
Pay-As-You-GoUsage-based billing calculated daily from assigned users
Annual CommitmentCustomers commit to a fixed number of seats for a 12-month term

How Pay-As-You-Go Billing Works#

The Pay-As-You-Go model is designed for organizations that want flexible scaling without committing to a fixed seat quantity upfront.
Unlike traditional licensing models:
Usage is tracked daily
Billing is based on assigned users per package
Charges are calculated from real usage
Billing occurs at the end of the billing period
Users can freely be added or removed throughout the month
Each package is tracked independently. For example, a user assigned to the Business package contributes toward Business package usage only.

How We Calculate Charges#

WatchDog calculates charges using daily active user counts for each package.
1
Track Daily Assigned Users
Every day the platform records how many users are actively assigned to each package.
2
Aggregate Monthly Usage
At the end of the billing period, all daily usage records are added together to calculate total monthly usage.
TotalUsage=Σ(DailyAssignedUsers)
3
Calculate Average Monthly Quantity
The platform calculates the average assigned user count across the billing period using a normalized 30-day billing cycle.
AverageQuantity=TotalUsage÷30
4
Round to Final Billable Quantity
Once the average quantity is calculated, the result is rounded to the nearest whole number. This becomes the final quantity billed for the month.
5
Generate Invoice
The final rounded quantity is multiplied by the package monthly price to generate the invoice total.
MonthlyCharge=RoundedQuantity×MonthlyPackagePrice

Pay-As-You-Go Billing Scenarios#

Below are common real-world examples showing how charges behave.
Scenario 1: Users Added Mid-Month
This scenario demonstrates how billing works when users are assigned licenses midway through a billing cycle.
DaysAssigned Users
Day 1-150
Day 16-3030
TotalUsage=(15×0)+(15×30)=450
AverageQuantity=450÷30=15
Final Billable Quantity: 15 Users
Result: Although 30 users existed at the end of the month, billing is averaged across the full billing period.
Scenario 2: Usage Gradually Increases
Scenario 3: Usage Decreases During the Billing Period

When Usage Starts Counting#

Usage tracking begins as soon as:
Billing is configured
A billable package is assigned to at least one user
Usage is evaluated daily and automatically reflected in billing calculations whenever users are added, removed, or reassigned between packages.

How Annual Commitment Billing Works#

The Annual Commitment model is designed for organizations that want predictable yearly billing with committed seat quantities.
Under this model:
Customers commit to a fixed number of seats for a 12-month term
Billing is charged upfront annually
Seats can be reassigned freely between users
Additional seats added during the term automatically increase the commitment
Additional seats are prorated for the remainder of the annual term

How Annual Seat Commitments Work#

1
Purchase Initial Annual Commitment
During checkout, the customer selects the number of seats they want to commit to for the upcoming annual term.
2
Assign Users to Seats
Seats may be assigned, removed, or reassigned freely throughout the year without affecting billing, provided the total assigned users remain within the committed seat count.
3
Automatically Expand Commitment
If the number of assigned users exceeds the committed seat quantity, the platform automatically increases the annual commitment to match the new usage.
4
Prorated Annual Charges
Any newly committed seats added during the annual term are billed on a prorated basis for the remaining duration of the contract.
5
Annual Renewal Reset
At renewal time, the committed seat count resets to the number of assigned users immediately before the renewal occurs.

Annual Billing Scenarios#

Below are common real-world examples showing how annual commitments behave.
Scenario 1: Staying Within Annual Commitment
A customer purchases an annual commitment for 100 seats.
Throughout the year, assigned usage fluctuates between 60–95 users.
Result: No additional charges occur because usage never exceeds the committed seat quantity.
Scenario 2: Commitment Expands Mid-Year
Scenario 3: Seat Usage Drops Before Renewal

Configure Billing#

This section is used to configure the billing profile and payment method required to activate billable services.
1
Sign in to WatchDog Security
Sign in to the WatchDog Security Platform.
2
Open Settings
Click your profile picture in the top-right and select Settings.
3
Open the Billing Tab
Select the Billing tab to view available subscription plans and billing options.
4
Configure Billing
Select Upgrade to configure the Billing Information and Payment Method required to activate Monthly or Annual billing.
5
Activate Subscription
Once billing is configured, the subscription will begin immediately or automatically activate at the end of the active trial period.
Modified at 2026-05-24 22:11:45
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