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Last week, I was sat in the back of a taxi. We were stuck in traffic, we weren’t moving, but the meter was ticking up.
Every increase felt personal. I was paying to sit still, and I started to feel anxious.
I checked the map on my phone for a faster route, but it was too late to take a shortcut. I considered getting out early so I could walk the rest of the way, but carrying my bags at the last minute didn’t feel like an option. This would only slow me down further. I thought about getting out to jump on public transport but why should I spend more money on an alternative that could take just as long?
So, I sat there, one eye on my map and one eye on the meter, feeling like I had no alternative option.
Why does this story matter? It’s not particularly unique... But that’s exactly the point, it’s all too common to be watching the meter and getting stuck paying for a frustrating experience.
This is exactly how usage-based technology pricing works. In usage-based pricing models, the meter never stops. It can be seductive at first but as time goes by, the meter continues to tick up with every API call, every data pull, every background job. Before too long, your business is innovating with one eye on the meter and the other looking at alternative options.
When Every Click Feels Like a Cost
Transaction-based or metered pricing seems appealing at first but cost overruns, vendor lock-in, and complex procurement processes are all too common. And when technology is priced in this way, it can change how developers, engineers, and product teams behave.
- Engineers avoid running performance tests because they’re too expensive
- Product teams scrap or delay features that depend on usage-heavy infrastructure
- Developers ship cautiously, afraid a spike in adoption could mean a spike in spend
No one wants to trigger the next billing review. Or explain why a burst of user activity doubled the invoice. So, they hold back, they delay, and they avoid risk.
It’s not just the finance team watching the meter—it’s everyone. That’s the taxi meter effect.
Read our full transational pricing vs. non-transactional pricing comparison here.
The Slow Death of Innovation
Usage-based pricing kills experimentation.
But it’s not all at once, it’s a trap that progressively erodes control, alignment, and creativity—ultimately limiting a business’s ability to scale on its own terms. This is what we call the transactional trap.
“Move fast and break things” is no longer the mantra when building technology. Today, it’s more like, “Move fast and pay for everything you touch”. “Can we?” has turned into “Should we?”
As a result, businesses build less, ship less, and learn less, compromising on innovation where the fear of financial blowback undermines confidence.
PAYG: What You Can Do Instead
The problem isn’t your team. It’s the pricing model they’re operating under.
You can’t move fast, test, and innovate if every action has a price tag. But the solution isn’t to stop moving. Here’s how to stop watching the meter:
1. Create a Cost-Safe Space for R&D
Give your teams a development environment where usage doesn’t count against the bill. Use sandboxed APIs, flat-rate dev tiers, or prepaid credits so they can experiment freely.
2. Allocate an Innovation Budget
Set aside a specific spend for testing, prototyping, and experimentation. Make it clear this budget is meant to be used—and that no one’s getting penalised for learning. But watch out for the CFO’s nightmare “bill shock”!
3. Choose Vendors Who Support Innovation
Push your providers to offer more flexibility, for example:
- Trial periods
- Development allowances
- Usage forgiveness for non-production traffic
We wish you luck here. Most vendors that offer a usage-based pricing model simply do not align with your goals and penalise success.
If they won’t change? Find a technology supplier that will.
4. Get Off the Meter Entirely
Where possible, move away from usage-based pricing altogether, particularly for your core infrastructure or areas where usage can fluctuate significantly.
This is what we’ve done at TravelTime: we’ve made the deliberate decision to host all of our services on our own infrastructure. No cloud. No reliance on third parties.
We care about the value users extract from our API, and we believe in building systems that serve them reliably, efficiently, and sustainably. By owning our infrastructure and removing metered billing, we create alignment between cost, value, and service — not just for us, but for our customers too.
TravelTime vs. Taxi Meter Pricing
At TravelTime, we’ve deliberately chosen a different path that frees your team from the stress of watching the meter.
Unlike traditional usage-based pricing, our fixed pricing model ensures complete transparency and predictability. No hidden costs. No penalties for growth. Whether your app receives 1,000 or 10 million location queries, you’ll never be penalised for your success or internal testing.
This isn't just about pricing, it's about our philosophy. We believe that product teams should be empowered to build, test, and ship without hesitation. Taxi meter pricing makes every idea a cost decision. TravelTime pricing turns every idea into a creative opportunity.
Our customers use TravelTime to power mission-critical location features without needing to calculate the financial impact of every API call. That’s because we don't charge by the hit—we charge for the value we deliver.
- Unlimited usage: Run batch jobs, experiments, and spikes in user traffic without fear
- Fixed costs: Predictable budgeting, no surprises
Innovation shouldn’t feel like sitting in traffic while the meter climbs. With TravelTime, you're in control of the route and the cost.
Vertis Innovates with TravelTime
Vertis, a SaaS company providing software solutions for data-driven workforce planning, switched from Google Maps API to TravelTime because the transaction-based model was restricting their ability to release new features.
Jonathan Beckman, Head of Product at Vertis, said: “Google charges for every single travel time... and this can get very expensive very quickly! We have customers with hundreds of offices and tens of thousands of employees, and the projected price to run these scenarios through Google got pretty scary.”
With TravelTime, Vertis has the freedom to test and build without the scary PAYG prices of alternative location APIs.
Get in the Driver’s Seat
No one builds great products while staring at the meter. And no great team thrives in a culture of hesitation.
If your current pricing model is making your teams apprehensive, it’s time to switch lanes.
TravelTime’s unlimited usage location API removes pricing anxiety, so you can experiment freely and build without limits.
Ready to stop watching the meter? Talk to us about how TravelTime’s fixed pricing can unlock your team’s potential.