Orb
Orb Technical Briefing
Published January 10, 2023
Supported by IowaEDA and Brale
Overview
Alvaro, co-founder and CEO of Orb, demos Orb — billing and invoicing built for the hybrid usage-based pricing models common in fintech, cloud infrastructure, and developer platforms. Orb\'s primitive is the event: API calls, sessions, or any product action, ingested via direct API push or warehouse sync from Snowflake/Redshift/S3 with a name and a payload of tags and values. From events, operators define metrics — simple filters and aggregations (count of API calls at a balance endpoint) or full custom SQL for more sophisticated MAU or dimensional cases. Plans compose any number of fixed fees (e.g. a $100k annual platform-access fee) and usage-based fees (flat rate per call, tiered volume discounts, dimensional pricing tagged into event properties), with out-of-the-box support for minimums, discounts, trials, and "phases" that stage fee schedules over a customer\'s onboarding ramp. The payoff: billing becomes a real-time process instead of a month-end batch — live next-invoice previews, transparent customer invoices tied to underlying usage, webhook alerts on cost/usage thresholds (upsell banners, CSM alerts, Zapier/Slack), and a Salesforce integration that syncs usage into opportunity pages for sales reps experimenting with consumption-based pricing.
0:00 Introduction to Orb — billing for usage-based pricing
Alvaro, co-founder and CEO of Orb, introduces the product as "what billing and invoicing would look like if it got created for today's hybrid usage-based pricing models" — targeted at fintech, cloud infrastructure, data, and developer platforms.
0:30 Events as the billing primitive
Orb is built around events — API calls, sessions, or any product action. Events flow into Orb via direct API push or warehouse sync (Snowflake, Redshift, S3) with a name and a payload of tags and values for the dimensions that matter to billing.
2:00 Metrics — filter, aggregate, and full SQL
From ingested events, Orb lets operators define metrics with filters and aggregations (e.g. count of API calls at a balance endpoint). Complex metrics drop into full SQL — so even sophisticated MAU or dimensional aggregations can be expressed without changing the event pipeline.
4:00 Pricing plans — fixed fees + usage fees + tiers
Plans compose any number of fixed fees (e.g. $100k platform-access fee) and usage-based fees (flat rate per API call, tiered volume discounts, dimensional pricing tagged into event properties).
4:30 Minimums, discounts, trials, and onboarding phases
Out-of-the-box pricing levers: minimums, discounts, trials. For API products with integration ramps, Orb's phases feature lets you stage fee schedules (e.g. 3 months at a subset of fees) so invoicing stays automatic as a contract matures.
5:30 Real-time invoice preview and transparent customer invoices
Orb turns billing from a month-end batch into a real-time view: at any moment you see next invoice detail per dimension. Invoices sent to customers tie line items directly back to the underlying usage data, building trust on surprise bills.
7:30 Cost and usage alerts + webhooks
Because Orb tracks invoices in real time, it can fire webhooks when cost or usage thresholds are met — drive in-app upsell banners, alert CSMs, or route to Zapier/Slack for internal workflows.
8:30 Salesforce integration for sales visibility
Orb syncs into Salesforce opportunity pages, giving sales reps full visibility into customer usage patterns — critical for any business adopting or experimenting with consumption-based pricing.
Presented by Alvaro Morales — Orb · LinkedIn · website
Topics: Payments, Developer Tools
