This article explains our metrics billing, covering both the current GB-based pricing model and the legacy datapoints-based model. It will also clarify why you might see different metrics in your billing dashboard compared to our pricing page.

How we bill for metrics today

Since 2026, new Better Stack accounts and new metrics sources are billed based on retained data in GB per month:

• $0.50/GB/month (billed annually) or $0.75/GB/month (billed monthly)
• 30 GB included free each month.
• Simple and predictable, you pay for the amount of metrics data we store for you.

This model aligns with how we bill for logs and traces, making it easier to understand your overall Telemetry costs.

How GB-based pricing works

Under the current model, we measure the uncompressed size of your metrics data as stored in our database. This includes:

• Metric names and values
• Labels associated with each metric, stored as LowCardinality(String)
• Timestamp data

We exclude certain internal columns from the calculation to ensure you're only billed for meaningful data.

The measurement is taken based on your current retained data, not ingestion. This means:

• Usage gradually increases as you approach your full retention period with new sources
• Paused sources will keep their metrics usage until the metrics start to be dropped by the retention period
• If you delete a source, the usage will drop as the metrics are not retained anymore

How we billed for metrics before 2026 (legacy datapoints model)

If you created your Better Stack account or metrics sources before 2026, you may be on the legacy datapoints plan. This means:

1. Your billing dashboard shows datapoints (e.g., "1B retained datapoints")
2. Our pricing page shows GB pricing (always showing the current model for new customers)

This is intentional. We kept existing customers on their original pricing plan to avoid unexpected billing changes.

Under the legacy model, we billed for metrics based on data points on a per-source basis, daily.

Data points = aggregations × active time series × retention in days

You can see the used data points in Settings -> Usage or calculate them directly for a given source with SQL as follows:

• Aggregations: Go to Telemetry -> Sources -> Configure -> Extract metrics tab to look up the number of aggregation functions checked. For example, if latency is aggregated as sum and average, you're using 2 aggregations.

• Active time series: This refers to the number of unique combinations of metric names and their associated labels.

  SQL Query for daily active time series count

  Copied!

  SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT (non_aggregated_metric1, non_aggregated_metric2, non_aggregated_metric3, ...))
  FROM {{source}}
  WHERE dt > now() - INTERVAL 1 DAY
  

  For a detailed guide on managing and reducing the cardinality of your metrics to optimize usage, refer to our article on how to manage high cardinality in metrics.

Why we kept customers on original plans

When we analyzed the impact of the pricing change, we found that some existing customers would pay more under the new GB model. To honor our commitment to existing customers and avoid surprise price increases, we:

• Kept all existing accounts on their original datapoints-based billing
• Applied the new GB pricing only to accounts created in 2026 and later
• Made the transition opt-in for existing customers

Switching to GB-based pricing

If you prefer the simplicity of GB-based pricing or believe it would be more cost-effective for your usage pattern, you can request a switch:

1. Contact our support team at support@betterstack.com.
2. We'll analyze your current usage and provide an estimate of costs under the new model.
3. If you decide to proceed, we'll migrate your account.

Important: Switching to GB-based pricing is a one-way change. Once migrated, you cannot return to the legacy datapoints model. We recommend reviewing the cost estimate carefully before requesting the switch.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I see datapoint in my usages?

If you see metric datapoints in your Usage page it means you're on one of our legacy plans, created before 2026.

Contact support if you'd like to consolidate to GB-based billing model.

Which pricing model is cheaper for me?

It depends on your usage pattern:

• GB model tends to be cheaper for more advanced setup, higher-cardinality metrics with many labels, or for intermittenly active labels.
• Datapoints model tends to be cheaper for simple metrics with few time series.

Our support team can analyze your specific usage and provide a comparison.

How can I reduce my metrics costs?

Regardless of your billing model:

• Review the Cardinality page to identify high-cardinality metrics.
• Stop extracting metrics from your logs if not using them actively.
• Remove unnecessary labels from your metrics before sending them.
• Reduce metric retention period if you don't need long-term storage.
• Decrease the scraping interval in your metrics (GB-based billing only).

Where can I see my current usage?

Navigate to Settings -> Usage -> Metrics to see your current metrics usage broken down by source.

Need help?

If you have questions about your metrics billing or want to discuss switching pricing models, let us know at hello@betterstack.com if you need help.

We're happy to help you understand your bill and find the most cost-effective setup for your needs.